REV (NY Jul 1994)

This production of the Broadway Company had improved a little bit since the last time. Craig Schulman as Valjean really lightened up his voice compared to the last time when he sang too heavy-operatic sounding through most of the show. He developed a pleasant sounding head-voice. This helped Schulman portray a more sensitive Valjean. Gary Lynch as the Javert understudy was good in his part. But he really wasn't that impressive vocally until he sang the end section of "Stars". After that, he sounded very good. Then, I was expecting Susan Gimour as Fantine to do another fantastic performance like she had in L.A. and Toronto. But this time, it seemed as though someone had told her to completely re-interpret her performance. She sounded entirely different vocally. The last couple of times I saw her, she sang in this very emotive pop/theatre voice. But this time, she sang everything very straight sounding as if she was going for a more legit performance. Her vocal range was still fantastic and her acting was terrific. But it was difficult for me to get used to this changed performance after thinking so highly of her old interpretation. Ron Bohmer as Enjolras was alright. And Matt McClanahan as the Marius understudy was very good. He had a great voice. He sounded especially good on "Red & Black". Then Sarah Uriarte as Eponine gave a mixed performance. First of all, her voice sounded substantially deeper and more mature than any other Eponine I've seen. This made it hard to sympathize with a character who is supposed to be very youthful. And she really wasn't that impressive vocally until "One Day More" . Up until that point, she sang everything very straight. Then after that, she did a good job. Her "On My Own" was fair. But she sounded especially strong on ".......the rain that brings you here is heaven blessed" in "A Little Fall of Rain" . Then after "A Little Fall of Rain" was over, the orchestra used to play the "Drink With Me" melody as Eponine's body is being carried off. But this time, they changed the melody to "A Little Fall of Rain". It was a great orchestration of the song. I was very impressed by it. The overall sound of this company was terrific compared to the last few times when the ensemble sounded very old and tired. Everybody blended great when they sang together. And the orchestra was fantastic except for a few parts in the beginning when it played too softly. This production was finally starting to sound more like the superior Toronto and 3rd National companies.


	Broadway (Imperial Theatre, July 1994) REVIEW Valjean (Craig Schulman) Javert (Gary Lynch --understudy) Fantine (Susan Gilmour) Thenardier (Drew Eshelman) Mme. Thenardier (Gina Farell) Enjolras (Ron Bohmer) Marius (Matt McClanahan --understudy) Eponine (Sarah Uriarte) Cosette (Jennifer Lee Andrews) This production of the Broadway Company had improved a little bit since the last time. Craig Schulman as Valjean really lightened up his voice compared to the last time when he sang too heavy-operatic sounding through most of the show. He developed a pleasant sounding head-voice. This helped Schulman portray a more sensitive Valjean. Gary Lynch as the Javert understudy was good in his part. But he really wasn't that impressive vocally until he sang the end section of "Stars". After that, he sounded very good. Then, I was expecting Susan Gimour as Fantine to do another fantastic performance like she had in L.A. and Toronto. But this time, it seemed as though someone had told her to completely re-interpret her performance. She sounded entirely different vocally. The last couple of times I saw her, she sang in this very emotive pop/theatre voice. But this time, she sang everything very straight sounding as if she was going for a more legit performance. Her vocal range was still fantastic and her acting was terrific. But it was difficult for me to get used to this changed performance after thinking so highly of her old interpretation. Ron Bohmer as Enjolras was alright. And Matt McClanahan as the Marius understudy was very good. He had a great voice. He sounded especially good on "Red & Black". Then Sarah Uriarte as Eponine gave a mixed performance. First of all, her voice sounded substantially deeper and more mature than any other Eponine I've seen. This made it hard to sympathize with a character who is supposed to be very youthful. And she really wasn't that impressive vocally until "One Day More" . Up until that point, she sang everything very straight. Then after that, she did a good job. Her "On My Own" was fair. But she sounded especially strong on ".......the rain that brings you here is heaven blessed" in "A Little Fall of Rain" . Then after "A Little Fall of Rain" was over, the orchestra used to play the "Drink With Me" melody as Eponine's body is being carried off. But this time, they changed the melody to "A Little Fall of Rain". It was a great orchestration of the song. I was very impressed by it. The overall sound of this company was terrific compared to the last few times when the ensemble sounded very old and tired. Everybody blended great when they sang together. And the orchestra was fantastic except for a few parts in the beginning when it played too softly. This production was finally starting to sound more like the superior Toronto and 3rd National companies.