REV (3rd Tour Oct 95)

This was definitely one of the weaker performances of Les Mis that I've seen. But there were a couple of performances that stood out. William Solo was the very first Valjean I saw back in 1988. But his performance in this company wasn't too strong. He had a hard time hitting his high notes like during "What Have I Done". And the rest of the time, he just sang very lightly. Kristen Behrendt as the Fantine understudy had the perfect vocal quality for her character. But she seemed lost on stage. Then, there was one part at the end of "I Dreamed a Dream" where she sang the last note off-key. Ron Baker as Javert sang his part very straight and sounded very tired. The new Mme. Thenardier, Kelly Ebsary was fantastic. She really added terrific comic relief to the show. Robert Vernon as Enjolras was alright. But the best person in this whole production was Andrew Redeker as Marius. He had a terrific pop/theatre voice. And his acting was first-rate and very natural. Caren Lyn Manuel as Eponine was weak in her role. She sang everything very straight and with little style. She also sounded like she was vocally fatigued. And her voice was deeper than most other Eponines. Gina Feliccia as Cosette gave a weak performance as well. But the overall sound of this production was very strong. The ensemble sounded great when singing together and the orchestra was flawless. This sound quality was similar to the last time I had seen the show in New York.


	3rd Tour Sacramento, CA (Community Theatre, Oct 1995) REVIEW Valjean (William Solo) Javert (Ron Baker) Fantine (Kristen Behrendt --understudy) Thenardier (David McDonald --understudy) Mme. Thenardier (Kelly Ebsary) Enjolras (Robert Vernon) Marius (Andrew Redeker) Eponine (Caren Lyn Manuel) Cosette (Gina Feliccia) This was definitely one of the weaker performances of Les Mis that I've seen. But there were a couple of performances that stood out. William Solo was the very first Valjean I saw back in 1988. But his performance in this company wasn't too strong. He had a hard time hitting his high notes like during "What Have I Done". And the rest of the time, he just sang very lightly. Kristen Behrendt as the Fantine understudy had the perfect vocal quality for her character. But she seemed lost on stage. Then, there was one part at the end of "I Dreamed a Dream" where she sang the last note off-key. Ron Baker as Javert sang his part very straight and sounded very tired. The new Mme. Thenardier, Kelly Ebsary was fantastic. She really added terrific comic relief to the show. Robert Vernon as Enjolras was alright. But the best person in this whole production was Andrew Redeker as Marius. He had a terrific pop/theatre voice. And his acting was first-rate and very natural. Caren Lyn Manuel as Eponine was weak in her role. She sang everything very straight and with little style. She also sounded like she was vocally fatigued. And her voice was deeper than most other Eponines. Gina Feliccia as Cosette gave a weak performance as well. But the overall sound of this production was very strong. The ensemble sounded great when singing together and the orchestra was flawless. This sound quality was similar to the last time I had seen the show in New York.