REV (Toronto 91)

I had just seen the New York production a week earlier and was disappointed with their Ensemble and Orchestra. But this Toronto production really turned that around. This was one of the best productions of Les Mis that I've seen. Michael Burgess as Valjean had a great voice and gave a heartfelt performance. I especially liked his Bring Him Home. Gorden McClaren as Javert was terrific. He sang with a great pop/theatre style. Susan Gilmour as Fantine was not quite as strong as I had seen her in LA. But she still gave a great performance. Graeme Campbell and Janelle Huchison as the Thenardiers weren't that funny. There wasn't a lot of humor in their performance. They came across as nasty and mean instead of funny. Ian Simpson as Enjolras was one of the best I've seen. He really looked the part, his acting was good, and he was terrific vocally. He sounded great on "One More Day Before the Storm....." and "Let Others Rise to Take Our Place.....". Vance Avery as Marius was great in his role. And Cara Hunter as Eponine was great as well. Hunter and Avery had terrific chemistry together. They added a lot of nuances to their characters that I really enjoyed. Their interpretatation of A Little Fall of Rain was the best I've ever seen. As Cosette, Cara Chisholm was one of the best I've seen. She had a terrific pop-soprano voice and her acting was great as well. This production had the strongest orchestra I've ever heard. The synthesizers were really pumped up on numbers like the Sewer Scene and Confrontation. And the music was especially loud during the Final Battle. This added to the intensity of the show. The ensemble was also fantastic. When they sang together on the big chorus numbers, they had great volume and blended terrifically.


	Toronto (Royal Alexandra Theatre, Jul. 1991) REVIEW Valjean (Michael Burgess) Javert (Gordon McClaren) Fantine (Susan Gilmour) Thenardier (Graeme Campbell) Mme. Thenardier (Janelle Hutchison) Enjolras (Ian Simpson) Marius (Vance Avery) Eponine (Cara Hunter) Cosette (Cara Chisholm) I had just seen the New York production a week earlier and was disappointed with their Ensemble and Orchestra. But this Toronto production really turned that around. This was one of the best productions of Les Mis that I've seen. Michael Burgess as Valjean had a great voice and gave a heartfelt performance. I especially liked his Bring Him Home. Gorden McClaren as Javert was terrific. He sang with a great pop/theatre style. Susan Gilmour as Fantine was not quite as strong as I had seen her in LA. But she still gave a great performance. Graeme Campbell and Janelle Huchison as the Thenardiers weren't that funny. There wasn't a lot of humor in their performance. They came across as nasty and mean instead of funny. Ian Simpson as Enjolras was one of the best I've seen. He really looked the part, his acting was good, and he was terrific vocally. He sounded great on "One More Day Before the Storm....." and "Let Others Rise to Take Our Place.....". Vance Avery as Marius was great in his role. And Cara Hunter as Eponine was great as well. Hunter and Avery had terrific chemistry together. They added a lot of nuances to their characters that I really enjoyed. Their interpretatation of A Little Fall of Rain was the best I've ever seen. As Cosette, Cara Chisholm was one of the best I've seen. She had a terrific pop-soprano voice and her acting was great as well. This production had the strongest orchestra I've ever heard. The synthesizers were really pumped up on numbers like the Sewer Scene and Confrontation. And the music was especially loud during the Final Battle. This added to the intensity of the show. The ensemble was also fantastic. When they sang together on the big chorus numbers, they had great volume and blended terrifically.