Les Misérables 1991 Master of the House

Drew Eshelman as Thenardier, Rosalyn Rahn as Mme. Thenardier
[DRINKERS/DINERS]
Come on you old pest
Fetch a bottle of your best
What's the nectar of the day
[THENARDIER]
Here, try this lot
Guaranteed to hit the spot
Or I'm not Thenardier
[DRINKERS/DINERS]
Gissa glass a' rum
Landlord, over here!
[THENARDIER (to himself, then out loud)]
Right away, you scum
Right away, m'sieur
[DRINKERS/DINERS]
God this place has gone to hell
So you tell me every year
Mine host Thenardier
He was there so they say
At the field of Waterloo
Got there, it's true
When the fight was all through
But he knew just what to do
Crawling through the mud, so I've heard it said
Picking through the pockets of the English dead
He made a tidy score
From the spoils of war
[THENARDIER]
My band of soaks
My den of dissolutes
My dirty jokes
My always pissed-as-newts
My sons of whores
Spend their lives in my inn
Homing pigeons homing in
They fly through my doors
And their money's good as yours
[DRINKERS/DINERS]
Ain't got a clue
What he put in this stew
Must have scraped it off the street
God, what a wine!
Chateau Neuf de Turpentine
Must have pressed it with his feet
Landlord, over here
Where's the bloody man
One more for the road
One more slug o' gin
Just one more
Or my old man is gonna do me in
[THENARDIER (greeting a new customer)]
Welcome, Monsieur, sit yourself down
And meet the best innkeeper in town
As for the rest, all of 'em crooks
Rooking their guests and cooking the books
Seldom do you see
Honest men like me
A gent of good intent
Who's content to be
Master of the house, doling out the charm
Ready with a handshake and an open palm
Tells a saucy tale, makes a little stir
Customers appreciate a bon-viveur
Glad to do a friend a favor, doesn't cost me to be nice
But nothing gets you nothing, everything has got a little price!
Master of the house, keeper of the zoo
Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two
Watering the wine, making up the weight
Pickin' up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight
Everybody loves a landlord
Everybody's bosom friend
I do whatever pleases
Jesus! Won't I bleed 'em in the end!
[DRINKERS/DINERS/THENARDIER]
Master of the house, quick to catch your eye
Never wants a passerby to pass him by
Servant to the poor, butler to the great
Comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate!
Everybody's boon companion
Everybody's chaperone
[THENARDIER]
But lock up your valises
Jesus! Won't I skin you to the bone!
[Thenardier greets another customer and takes his bag.]
Enter Monsieur, lay down your load
Unlace your boots, rest from the road
This weighs a ton, travel's a curse
But here we strive to lighten your purse
Here the goose is cooked
Here the fat is fried
And nothing's overlooked
Till I'm satisfied
Food beyond compare, food beyond belief
Mix it in a mincer and pretend it's beef
Kidney of a horse, liver of a cat
Filling up the sausages with this and that
Residents are more than welcome, bridal suite is occupied
Reasonable charges plus some little extras on the side
Charge 'em for the lice, extra for the mice
Two percent for looking in the mirror twice
Here a little slice, there a little cut
Three percent for sleeping with the window shut
When it comes to fixing prices
There are a lot of tricks he knows
How it all increases
All those bits and pieces
Jesus, It's amazing how it grows
[DRINKERS/DINERS/THENARDIER]
Master of the house, quick to catch your eye
Never wants a passerby to pass him by
Servant to the poor butler to the great
Comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate
Everybody's boon companion
Gives 'em everything he's got
[THENARDIER]
Dirty bunch of geezers
Jesus, what a sorry little lot
[MADAME THENARDIER]
I used to dream that I would meet a prince
But God Almighty, have you seen what's happened since?
Master of the house? Isn't worth me spit!
'Comforter, philosopher,' and lifelong shit
Cunning little brain, regular Voltaire
Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there
What a cruel trick of nature
Landed me with such a louse
God knows how I've lasted
Living with this bastard in the house
[DRINKERS/DINERS/THENARDIER]
Master of the house
[MADAME THENARDIER]
Master and a half
[DRINKERS/DINERS/THENARDIER]
Comforter, philosopher
[MADAME THENARDIER]
Don't make me laugh
[DRINKERS/DINERS/THENARDIER]
Servant to the poor, butler to the great
[MADAME THENARDIER]
Hypocrite and toady and inebriate
[DRINKERS/DINERS/THENARDIER]
Everybody bless the landlord
Everybody bless his spouse
[THENARDIER]
Everybody raise a glass
[MADAME THENARDIER]
Raise it up the master's ass
[ALL]
Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house

[@vietnguyenquoc9173]

I love how they have the part before the song between, most concert after 2000 just cut it, especially the movie,

[@siopaonom961]

so good. i really love how he looks and sounds so evil and the slick acts they do are so damn clever, one’s attention will always be there

[@maryfreebed9886]

He really, really makes the role look like a lot of fun. The thing that would make this song even more hilarious would be if Thenardier himself joined in the part about him robbing corpses.

[@Heroball299]

This guy was great

[@that_one_guy_you_walk_past]

😂

[@ehsanluqman]

Old maybe, but.. Golden definitely.

[@ChillGamerBlue]

A damn good performance!

[@moseseteisina6189]

Everybody raise a glass.

[@yummycoke3237]

1:27 idk why but this line is just so satisfying and smooth to hear😭 shame many modern productions leave this whole beginning part out

[@lampyrisnoctiluca9904]

To me the best is at 1:17. Says so much about the character. Doesn't care about morals. Just about satisfying his own needs and wants as better as he is able to.

[@lunainmadnessland]

These are some of the best Thenardiers I’ve ever seen!

[@that_one_guy_you_walk_past]

🤣

[@alanlane3670]

Excellent.........well done...

[@frogswithbenefits6650]

That raspy and raw voice is just perfect for the role

[@mosshart21]

Omg! Drew Eshelman was my first Thenardier ever! I saw him on tour at the Pantages Theatre when I was still in grade school! So amazing! Thank you for posting!

[@detectivefiction3701]

He was the one I saw on Broadway when I was 14 (this was in August 1992). I also saw him as one if the ghosts in A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Ford's Theatre here in Washington, DC.

[@xpa-beads501]

oh thenadier is delightfully vile here!

[@ACMallet]

I’m glad you’re enjoying these .. and feel better

[@xpa-beads501]

@@ACMallet Thank you! Just finished getting through all of them, had a wonderful time and definitely made my day a little brighter :)

[@pikachugamer2158]

Love them as this role!

[@devanmoran]

bravo

[@zolanh]

Had not seen this version… not bad at all! 😘

[@that_one_guy_you_walk_past]

No, not bad, terrible

[@lamisere8337]

This just proves how British Cockney accents are NOT necessary to do this role justice. So many people think it's the only way to do the role and that's something amateurs do; professionals create, amateurs imitate. It's one thing when the show is performed in England; Cockney is their way of portraying the lower classes so it's suitable but professional American casts have never used them because they aren't needed. This is a great example of how effective the role remains when performed in American accents.

[@RameausNephew]

Giving Thénardier himself (less so his family) a lower-class accent is a bit of an odd choice to begin with; in the book, he actually has a very polished and flowery style of speech, and pretensions towards being a man of letters, something he never really gives up even when he falls into abject poverty and petty crime. A key part of Thénardier is that he *desperately* wants to move up the social ladder (and Hugo assures us that he has the intelligence and talent to be a millionaire if fortune had placed him on greener pastures), but due to a combination of bad luck and a society that punishes poverty with more poverty and debt with more debt (much like it punishes breaking the law with making an lawful life impossible to lead), he keeps sliding further and further down instead, and becomes progressively nastier and more embittered as a result (basically what Valjean was on the path to becoming before the bishop showed him an unexpected kindness). And the incessant, gnawing feeling that he was made for *better* things than the shoddy hand life dealt him is the prime motivator in pretty much all his schemes.

[@detectivefiction3701]

Rameau's Nephew. That's VERY interesting!

[@detectivefiction3701]

La Misere. Eschelman in the role actually reminds me of a Mark Twain character.

[@adamo1528]

Why would cockney accents be necessary? The man is French...!

[@that_one_guy_you_walk_past]

Yeah but it sounds comically worse

[@alfonsoc.950]

Why everyone here has more than one Thernadier? Is it that common to see the live musical more than once?

[@ACMallet]

Absolutely. I myself saw it 11 times between 1988 and 1995 in several cities including NY, LA and London; and I plan on seeing the new touring company when it plays Los Angeles.

[@lamisere8337]

Yep. I've seen the original production 30 times. Seen all three original national tours, the original Broadway production, and the original London production. I saw the new production once and was very, very disappointed with it. However, they have made some tweaks to it since I saw it in 2011 and they've restored a lot of the original orchestration so I think I may put aside my reservations with what they did to my beloved Les Mis and try to enjoy it as much as I can. It's been many years and I think I'm ready to make peace with the new production. Doesn't mean I will like it but I will see it with a much more open mind. I couldn't even contemplate seeing it again before due to how angry I was at what they did, so planning to see it again is a major development to me, hehe.

[@maryfreebed9886]

"Must have pressed it with his feet" Sir, it is EXTREMELY generous of you to assume that actually has grapes in it. If he found a cheaper alternative to grapes, I can assure you that he's used that instead. I strongly advise you not to drink it, really. Enough of it could probably make you go blind.

[@luigicavallo270]

Drew Eshelman is the best Thenardier!

[@that_one_guy_you_walk_past]

You have to be joking

[@that_one_guy_you_walk_past]

Sounds so bad