Play review for Les Miserable.

            On October 7^th, I went to a musical drama for the first time. It is called Les Miserable at the Bushnell Center for The Performing Arts in Hartford. The director of the play is Brian Eads.

            In the play, a salve called Jean Valjean finished his imprisonment of 16 years and went back to a normal life. However, no one would accept him because his ID shows that he was a prisoner. He was angry and hopeless until the Bishop of Digne provided him a shelter. He stole Bishop’s silver wears and ran away. When the police caught him and took him back to the Bishop, the Bishop said that he gave Jean Valjean the silver wears and forgot the silver candles. The bishop gave the silver candles to Jean Valjean and told him that his soul is saved. Jean Valjean changed his life since then and became a wealth mayor of a small town. In the town, he is also the owner of a factory. Fantine works at Jean’s factory. However, she was kicked out of the factory because she has an illegitimate daughter. She then had to sell her body to get money and support her daughter. One day, Fantine was angered by her custom and the custom called the police to put her in jail. Jean arrives and saved her. After Jean sent Fantine to the hospital, he promised Fantine to take care of her daughter. Fantine passed away peacefully. Jean’s past was almost found out by the inspector, Javert. He brought Fantine’s daughter, Cosette, with him and raised her up.  After several years, the French revolution started. Lots students joined the revolution.  One of the students, Marius fell in love with Cosette. He asked Eponine to help him to send a letter to tell Cosette and let her know that he’s going to fight for France.  Marius doesn’t know Eponine loves him until she died for saving Marius from a gunshot. Eponine told Marius she loves him and asked for a kiss. Marius kissed Eponine and she died peacefully in his arms. Lots people sacrificed in the revolution except for Marius and Jean. Jean saved Marius and sent him to the hospital. The inspector saw Jean and wanted to take him to the jail. However, he was touched by Jean’s kindness and started to doubt about the justice that he had been holding. He suffered during this struggle and jumped into the river, ending his life. When Jean told Marius that he had once been a salve, Marius was surprised. Jean decided to leave him and Cosette so that they don’t get ashamed by Jean’s identity: a slave. Nevertheless, Marius later found out that Jean was the one who saved him and he felt so grateful for it.  Therefore, Marius and Cosette went to find Jean. Jean felt released by their understanding and was led to the heaven by Fantine’s soul in the end.

            In my opinion, the main theme is to discuss the kindness remain in the world during the war. Even though the France seems like a living hell for people at that time, there are things that make people want to live for: love, mercy, children, liberty, and so many other kindnesses in the world. The most important thing that the director wants to emphasize is the passion that people have. They have the passion to fight for what they want to get or protect. For example, Fantine took care of her daughter by working really hard to support her. After she was kicked out of the factory, all she wished was to make money to raise her child and nothing else. Her body was already too weak to support her life, but she still endured until she had confirmed that Jean would help her to look after Cosette and give Cosette a happy life. Another example is that Eponine knew that Marius doesn’t love her; she protects him anyways, using her life to show her love to him. These two brave woman both tried their best to protect the people they loved. They feel satisfied with their death.

            The staging of the show is really impressive. During the most time in the show, the lighting was kind of dark. This color helped set a sad, hopeless emotion for the production. At the same time, whenever there is a solo part for the characters, they would be spotlighted so that the audience can clearly see who was saying the solo. Sometimes, when the characters on the stage are dressed almost the same, it would be difficult for the audiences to distinguish among characters. The spotlight helped a lot by attracting people’s attention to the actors and help people see the characters more clearly. The things that are important to the scenes are highlighted by their bright colors: French flag, the leading flag of the revolution. A bright red flag and the power it contains can help show the passion that the people had and also make the audience want to cheer them up and be excited about the things that are going to happen as the story goes on.

            Jean and Marius were placed to a similar estate because they both contain kindness and passion toward the revolution. They hope people can win so that the French people can have a better life. They are both the people who really care about others too. They are not satisfied by the happy life they have. They want to help others to get rid of their suffering too. Jean and the inspector were placed in opposite positions because Jean was really doing things that can help people to live better and save them from death. On the other hand, all that the inspector did was to follow the law and put people in jail, regardless of what they are going through. The inspector was just following what the law thinks is right while Jean was following what he thinks is right. The law doesn’t have a life while humans are alive and have the ability to think of ways emotionally.

            My favorite character in the play is Eponine. In my opinion, she is braver than any other man in the play. She loves Marius, but she didn’t want anything from him. She helped Marius to chase after his lover so that Marius can be happy. She put herself after Marius. If Marius can be happy, it doesn’t matter if it hurts her heart.  In this cruel world, such a simple love seemed, even more, pressures in my mind. No one is not afraid of death, but she sad to Marius that she’s not afraid as long as Marius is by her side. She died for Marius, but she only asked for a kiss. This selfless love touched me a lot.

            Overall, I liked the play a lot. It showed me not only how cruel people can be but also showed me how strong people are. To fight against authority is never an easy thing, but people go for it anyways. Because of their sacrifices, we are able to live in this peaceful world now. The music in the play was not only amusing but also touching. The emotion contained in each song made me more into the play and even feel like I’m part of it. The lighting and other techniques the director used made the play more ornamental. The support that the audience gave was significant too. During the how to show, the audience had been very quiet and concentrated to the show. They weren’t talking or using their devices either. The actors, director, and the audiences together made this experience so great and unforgettable. So, I feel extremely excited for the winter musical now!