REV (3rd Tour 99)

This was one of the strongest productions of Les Mis I've seen. Ivan Rutherford as Valjean improved since the last couple of times I saw him. He hit all of his notes flawlessly and sang with a lot more style. His acting was great too. He sounded especially good on "What Have I Done" and "Bring Him Home". Todd Alan Johnson as Javert also improved since the last time I saw him. When I saw him last in Toronto, I thought he had a great voice but he tended to speak through most of his part instead of sing it. But this time, he sang through his part flawlessly. He sounded fantastic on numbers like "Stars" and "Javert's Suicide". His acting was also great. As Fantine, understudy Cornilla Luna sang with a very soft and sweet sounding voice throughout the entire show. She lacked the vocal power that her character requires. JP Dougherty and Sharon Matthews as The Thenardiers did an excellent job. They really got a great audience response, especially during "Master of the House" and "The Bargain". The real surprise of the evening was Ben Davis as the Enjolras understudy. He did a phenomenal job. He had an incredible pop-theatre high baritone voice and sang with a lot of style. He sounded especially good on "Red and Black" and "One Day More". His Enjolras was one of the best I've ever seen. It's still a mystery to me why he didn't play Enjolras full-time. As Marius, Tim Howar was not quite as strong as I had seen him in Toronto, but he still did a great job. Then the other incredible highlight of the evening was Sutton Foster as Eponine. I can't think of enough words to describe how fantastic she was. Her voice blew me away. She sang all of her high notes with extreme ease. The best was during the last high note of "On My Own". She held that note for what seemed like an eternity. The same is true when she sang "It's Javert......" during "Look Down". Regan Thiel did a good job as Cosette. The choral ensemble sounded extremely powerful. They sang numbers such as "At the End of the Day", "Look Down", and "One Day More" with a great deal of energy. The orchestra was also extremely powerful.


	3rd Tour Tucson, AZ (Centennial Hall, March 1999) REVIEW Valjean (Ivan Rutherford) Javert (Todd Alan Johnson) Fantine (Cornilla Luna --understudy) Thenardier (JP Dougherty) Mme. Thenardier (Sharon Matthews) Enjolras (Ben Davis --understudy) Marius (Tim Howar) Eponine (Sutton Foster) Cosette (Regan Thiel) This was one of the strongest productions of Les Mis I've seen. Ivan Rutherford as Valjean improved since the last couple of times I saw him. He hit all of his notes flawlessly and sang with a lot more style. His acting was great too. He sounded especially good on "What Have I Done" and "Bring Him Home". Todd Alan Johnson as Javert also improved since the last time I saw him. When I saw him last in Toronto, I thought he had a great voice but he tended to speak through most of his part instead of sing it. But this time, he sang through his part flawlessly. He sounded fantastic on numbers like "Stars" and "Javert's Suicide". His acting was also great. As Fantine, understudy Cornilla Luna sang with a very soft and sweet sounding voice throughout the entire show. She lacked the vocal power that her character requires. JP Dougherty and Sharon Matthews as The Thenardiers did an excellent job. They really got a great audience response, especially during "Master of the House" and "The Bargain". The real surprise of the evening was Ben Davis as the Enjolras understudy. He did a phenomenal job. He had an incredible pop-theatre high baritone voice and sang with a lot of style. He sounded especially good on "Red and Black" and "One Day More". His Enjolras was one of the best I've ever seen. It's still a mystery to me why he didn't play Enjolras full-time. As Marius, Tim Howar was not quite as strong as I had seen him in Toronto, but he still did a great job. Then the other incredible highlight of the evening was Sutton Foster as Eponine. I can't think of enough words to describe how fantastic she was. Her voice blew me away. She sang all of her high notes with extreme ease. The best was during the last high note of "On My Own". She held that note for what seemed like an eternity. The same is true when she sang "It's Javert......" during "Look Down". Regan Thiel did a good job as Cosette. The choral ensemble sounded extremely powerful. They sang numbers such as "At the End of the Day", "Look Down", and "One Day More" with a great deal of energy. The orchestra was also extremely powerful.