My group is coming to an end to our season at the Pantages. We only have 2 more shows left and they are both in July. After that, one friend and I will be continuing for the next season which will be starting in October. But I will miss the group we have this year because it’s been so great (I miss my group from last year too). It has been a great season this season and I’ve said it many times that I’m loving seeing classic shows again or shows that I’ve seen before. And this week the show was another show I was familiar with.
Before this week, I think I had only had seen “Les Miserables” one other time on stage. I saw it when I went to NYC with a high school group 19 year ago. It was an amazing trip and I got to see some incredible shows. One of the other shows I have left for this season is a show that I saw on that same trip (although that show is one I’m not as familiar with). But even though I’ve only seen the show on stage one other time, I have seen other adaptations of it since then. There was the movie a few years ago which did a great job of keeping the adaptation close to the stage show. And I’ve heard the songs in other shows I’ve gone to. Since the show is almost all singing, knowing the songs pretty much means knowing the show.
We were seated up in the mezzanine this time since we were not attending on our usual night. But we were almost in the center which is a nice treat. I do think I still prefer being close to the stage and to the side because I like being able to see the actors’ faces, but being in the center and not having any part of the stage blocked is good too. And even being almost in the back is still close to the stage compared to other theaters. I know that next season won’t be the same because some of the shows are at the Dolby and that’s a much bigger theater. But hopefully our seats there won’t be in the far back.
“Les Miserables” requires some incredible singers. Not only does the show pretty much only have singing and no dialogue, but there are so many songs that I know are technically difficult. I’m not a singer at all, but I still know when a song is tough to sing. So having strong singers is a requirement for the show to succeed. And this touring cast really did have some talented performers! I was getting chills at times during some of the more dramatic songs. I was prepared to cry while watching it since I know I have cried before with this show. Somehow I was able to hold it together, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t emotional or didn’t enjoy it. I just think I was so focused on watching it that I didn’t have the time to have the emotions hit me or make me react.
Something I’ve been enjoying with all these shows I’ve been able to see is how the sets work. I know with touring shows the sets can’t be as elaborate as they are on Broadway or if a show is staying in a theater for a long run. I think most of the shows I’ve seen the past few seasons have had very interesting sets and I’m always fascinated to see what they do and how they use what they put on stage. This show was no different. They used the depth of the stage in a unique way and used the buildings in the town almost like curtains to block the stage to change the sets. Since they didn’t use the regular curtains and had a set acting as them, the show didn’t have to stop when the sets changed and they were still able to use lots of different set options. And they had a screen on the back of the stage that they used for a few moments to convey motion. The first few times they used the screen it surprised me. And toward the end of the show when they used it to show movement in the sewer it was so perfect and I loved what they were able to do without making it look like a movie or theme park ride.
This show was one that my entire group was familiar with and I think we all went into it knowing we’d enjoy it. Obviously with it being a sad show we didn’t leave gushing about how much we liked it or talked about things too much. We all kind of took time to let it sit with us. But even though we weren’t saying it, I think everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
I’ve got a bit of time now before my last 2 shows this season. But with how quickly time is flying by, I’m sure it will be here before I know it!
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