‘Les Mis’ triumphantly returns to the Center

Tom Titus

Maybe it’s time to cut the French a little slack -- at least through

April 20.

After all, they weren’t always a pacifist people. Some of them

exhibited incredible courage and resolve nearly a century ago -- so

much so that the greatest novelist of the time, Victor Hugo,

celebrated their cause in one of the world’s most famous novels,

which would inspire what is arguably the finest stage musical ever

conceived.

This, of course, would be “Les Miserables,” and its latest

incarnation is on view at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in

a new touring production that once again affirms its status at the

summit of musical theater. There are musicals, and there is “Les

Miz,” in a class by itself.

It’s the musical’s third production at the Center, and while it’s

purportedly 15 minutes shorter than usual, you’d be hard pressed to

find anything missing in this latest staging by John Caird and Trevor

Nunn.

If anything, there are a few items added -- such as the moment

Thernardier refers to Cosette in song as “Colette,” drawing a snappy

rebuke, and the biggest laugh of the night.

The epic battle on the barricades rages with considerable fury,

spurred on by powerful orchestral accompaniment under Lawrence

Goldberg’s baton. And the show offers some outstanding individual

performances, starting with Ivan Rutherford’s sinewy turn as the

hunted ex-convict Jean Valjean.

Rutherford, who has three stints with the Broadway company behind

him, is an electrifying presence, and his vocal range is phenomenal,

especially during his impassioned solo, “Bring Him Home” as the

street insurrection reaches its peak.

His opposite number, Stephen Tewksbury as the single-minded

constable Javert, also casts a large shadow, both physically and

vocally. It’s eerie to experience an audience so mesmerized by his

solo, “Stars,” that not one patron thinks to applaud.

This version of “Les Miz” offers something a bit different -- a

Madame Thernardier who outdoes her husband in the comedy department.

Jodi Capeless is a plus-size crowd pleaser in this role, while

Michael Hayward-Jones is strong, but secondary as the conniving

innkeeper-sewer rat who preys off Parisians living and dead.

Tonya Dixon glows as the wronged factory worker Fantine, forced

into prostitution by a leering foreman (Brian Neal Clark) and radiant

in her “I Dreamed a Dream” musical appeal. As her destitute daughter,

Skylar Harden sings wistfully of her imagined “Castle on a Cloud.”

Another youngster, Justin Steinable, shows precocious flash as the

cocky little Gavroche. The young lovers, Marius (Scott Hunt) and

Cosette (Amanda Huddleston), are especially engaging in this

production, and Huddleston’s vocalizing is a particular treat. Hugely

effective in their separate ways are Dallyn Vail Bayles as the

impassioned rebel leader Enjolras and Jessica-Snow Wilson as the

Thernardiers’ grown daughter, Eponine, whose “On My Own” solo is a

certified heart tugger, as is her final scene at the barricades.

Those barricades, by the way, constitute six tons of scenery, an

imposing sight no matter how many times you’ve seen this landmark

musical. The logistics of this touring production stagger the

imagination.

While there’s virtually nothing new in this production, it may be

argued that once you get it right, as composers Alain Boublil and

Claude-Michel Schonberg did nearly 20 years ago -- you don’t tinker.

“Les Miserables” the musical is as much a classic as Victor Hugo’s

novel was a century ago.