'Les Misérables' - Survivor, Battler, Sufferer

The longest running show in musical theatre at 23 years, Les Misérables was based on the novel by Victor Hugo (1802-1885). It is not difficult to see why the show has been a success for so long. The drama, depiction of the human condition and the music continues to resonate with the audience, long after the curtain has fallen.

For those unfamiliar with the story, it follows the plight of many of the poor, the unfortunate, the miserable: chiefly through the life and trials of Jean Valjean, but also the luckless Fantine, Eponine, the villainous Thénardiers, the righteous Enjolras and Marius, and little Cosette.

Hugo wrote, "People reduced to the extremity of need are also driven to the utmost limits of their resources, and woe to any defenceless person who comes in their way. Work and wages, food and warmth, courage and goodwill - all is lost to them. The daylight dwindles into shadow and darkness enters their hearts; and within this darkness man seizes upon the weakness of woman and child and forces them into ignominy. No horror is then excluded. Desperation is bounded only by the flimsiest of walls, all giving access to vice and crime...they appear utterly depraved, corrupt, vile and odious; but it is rare for those who have sunk so low not to be degraded in the process, and there comes a point, moreover, where the unfortunate and infamous are grouped together, merged in a single fateful word. They are 'Les Misérables' - the outcasts, the underdogs."

Cameron Mackintosh's production was amazing. With a professional cast, of course the acting and singing were excellent. I particularly liked the portrayals and voices of Jean Valjean and Eponine. The use of the stage space, which was fairly limited for the number of cast members was resourceful. The lighting effects were used in a way that created three-dimensional space from a two-dimensional wall, in one scene. And the fantastic use of slow-motion by the actors created a really cinematic atmosphere, particularly in the last barricade scene.

The musical was almost all in song and musical, much like The Phantom of the Opera, which I didn't realise, but enjoyed anyway. I have to admit too that the story, characterisation and songs/music made me cry (especially in the second act). This is normal for me when I go to musicals - a good musical should tug at the heartstrings, in my opinion.

Having read part of the novel, which I really like, despite struggling with the detailed French political history, Hugo's mini-essays on everything under the sun - from religion, morals, ethics, to society, human nature and the famous section on the sewers - and the long passages where the story seldom seems to progress; I notice that they are two different experiences. The book and the musical differ on quite a few points, sometimes in characterisations (e.g. the Thénardiers are more villainous in the novel, less comic relief), sometimes in the narrative of the story, although they generally begin and end in the same place. It is natural for such a long novel to be reduced in some way when adapted for a 2 -3 hour performance. But the depiction of humanity and inhumanity don't differ that much, which is probably one of they reasons why both the novel and the musical have survived for so long.