Evil_Herbivore I don't think anyone can doubt that Les Misérables has by now become a classic piece of musical theatre. It is a truly epic musical, both in its scope and in regard to its themes. It touches a number of universal issues, such as poverty, love in its many different shapes and forms, mercy and forgiveness, and law versus justice. Claude-Michel Schönberg's symphonic music is perfect for conveying such a story. It makes a viewer feel a myriad of emotions - from pity to amusement to sadness - depending on what a particular song is about. Both the music and the lyrics are a perfect fit for the story that is being told and the combination of the two creates a musical unlike any other. The cast we see in this performance was selected from a number of productions of Les Mis and it can really be called a dream cast. Colm Wilkinson's Valjean is an embodiment of Christian mercy. Philip Quast's Javert is a truly imposing figure. Ruthie Henshall's Fantine is willing to do anything for her child. Michael Ball's Marius is charming and in love. Judy Kuhn's Cosette is innocent and equally in love. Lea Salonga's Eponine is lonely and heartbroken. Everyone is perfectly cast and all of the characters are really believable, even though the musical is staged as a concert and not as a full show with choreography, scenography etc. It is a living proof that with good actors all these other things are just decoration and are not necessary to create a truly memorable show.There is only one flaw in this production. Namely, the musical was awfully abridged. Sometimes this takes the form of omitting a few verses of a song, which, while annoying for the die-hard Les Mis fans, could be forgiven. What is harder to overlook is the fact that some songs were cut completely, which is not only strange seeing that the concert was meant as a celebration of the musical, but also creates plot holes and huge leaps in respect to the characters, their behavior and knowledge of the events. Explaining such holes with short texts on screen is truly unsatisfying. I realise that performing the entire score would make the concert about 3 hours long, but I do believe that the musical deserves to be seen in its entirety.

Leszek5 It is my favorite musical and one of my favorite DVD. But I made mistake. I had seen DVD before I saw London performance. The problem is, that this performance is cut comparing to stage score. Not to much, but significantly. I understand of course, that score was to long for TV broadcast. But in my opinion too many important songs were cut. F.eg. solo of Valjean from "Thenardier Waltz of Treachery" and ending of this song (with young Cosette), first meeting of Marius and Cosette (The Robbery), and definitely duet of Marius and Valjean in "The Wedding". Lack of these songs and lack of stage movement causes understanding of full show difficult. So do not watch this movie before watching theatrical performance. Stop complaining. It is really extraordinary performance. Singers are doing their best - Wilkinson, Quast, Henshall, Galloway, Salonga, Ball and Armstrong are simply breathtaking. Definitely best performances I have ever heard. Chorus consisting of 200 singers singing a cappella is incredible. 17 Valjeans ending show give you unique impression how different tenors might be good performers of this score. This DVD is perfect reminder of stage show. I hope 25th Anniversary performance planned on 3rd October 2010 in O2 Dome will contain stage movements and will be recorded for DVD broadcast too.

frozenchocolatemoose What can you say about Les Miserables ... such beautiful music. The cast is generally outstanding, as well, as I go role by role down the list.JEAN VALJEAN (Colm Wilkinson) -- See, he's why this is a 9 out of 10 and not a 10. I expect fully to be tarred and feathered for this, but Colm was simply not very good. His "Bring Him Home," a usually touching song, was -- dare I say it? -- hilarious, due to his physical acting and facial expressions. Currently, John Owen-Jones is a far superior Valjean. I will say that Colm does an outstanding "Who am I?" JAVERT (Philip Quast) -- Wow. Really, that's all I have to say. Wow. His voice is absolutely breathtaking. In my opinion, best performance of the night.FANTINE (Ruthie Henshall) -- Another outstanding cast member. Her voice is so gorgeous and wrought with emotion.MARIUS PONTMERCY (Michael Ball) -- Michael Ball strikes the perfect balance between "bashful, adorable schoolboy" and "passionate tenor." He was a perfect Marius, and his "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" is heart-wrenching.COSETTE (Judy Kuhn) -- Ah, Judy. Her voice is beautiful, and she seems to bring just the right youthful freshness to the character. "Every Day/A Heart Full of Love (reprise)" is one of my favorite songs in the show, and she sings it perfectly, including that killer soprano C at the end. Definitely a favorite.EPONINE (Lea Salonga) -- My feelings on the character of Eponine are generally "meh." Similarly, I feel rather "meh" about Lea's portrayal. She is quite adorable, yet Eponine is not an adorable character. Her voice is good, however perhaps too harsh.ENJOLRAS (Michael Maguire) -- Another favorite. His portrayal of the student revolutionary was strong, passionate, and, if I may, sexy. Very sexy. Perhaps his vocals aren't as technically perfect as Anthony Warlow's, but Maguire is believable. He embodies the role perfectly.GRANTAIRE (Anthony Crivello) -- Very strong, touching "Drink With Me."THENARDIER (Alun Armstrong) -- Hysterically funny. Perhaps too funny, and not quite dark enough. But still. Hilarious.MME. T (Jenny Galloway) -- Great performance here. Watch her facial expressions in the "Waltz of Treachery." Priceless.YOUNG COSETTE (Hannah Chick) -- AWWW so cute. And a very convincing young Cosette, perfectly mixing hope and desperation.GAVROCHE (Adam Searles) -- *claps* What can I say? He shone with a very small role. Perhaps he was a bit old, but you could definitely see traces of his stint as the Artful Dodger (Oliver!) in this performance.As for ensemble members, Matt Cammelle's Feuilly was outstanding; also watch for the Factory Foreman ("At the End of the Day"), the Bishop of Digne ("Prologue/Valjean Arrested/Valjean Forgiven"), and the young prostitute ("Look Down").

calixtah11252-2 I'm assuming that this viewing was so tedious for me because it was a concert version.I am one of the few people on this planet who has never seen the musical "Les Miserables" in its entirety. I used to watch bits and pieces of this concert version as I walked along in the Mall in a midwestern city I grew up in, because it was constantly being piped in on an overhead TV from a store that sold PBS/Masterpiece Theatre type products.As I used to catch sections of it, I used to think "euuuuuwwwww... what a boring bombastic thing this is, at least from what I can see. The singers keep standing in front of microphones over-dramatically blasting away as they sing. And people in costume who aren't singing are sitting on chairs in the background, (discreetly) scratching their noses and swinging their feet." (Plus, the chorus members singing all wearing T-shirts with the Les Miz logo on them.) Weird.So......I finally rented it from Netflix. I got that same "euuwwww" feeling times 50, because it runs for 2 hours and 45 minutes.I honestly want to love this musical. So many people rave about it. But something is definitely wrong with the way it is presented here. THe audience members who praise it, I imagine, have probably seen it played out in a theatre with dialogue (I HOPE there's dialog to move the narrative along) and the actors always in character.I'm not an idiot and I'm a great fan of a LOT of musical theatre. I probably sound like a total idiot, but I just don't GET "Les Miz," at least from viewing this.