Les Misérables

Les Misérables has to be one of the most recognised musicals the West End has and for a show that has been playing for more than 30 years, I was pleased to see a full audience on a Tuesday evening. The production itself shows no signs of slowing down and looks to continue for many more years with a huge fanbase following! With the hugely successful film adaptation making the story familiar to many of us, I am not at all surprised the show continues to draw in big crowds and continues to play in many countries across the globe. Much of the energy for this show comes from the delivery by the current cast. Killian Donnelly plays John Valjean who brings a powerful yet touching character. ‘Bring Him Home’ resulted in a number of audience members crying from Killians perfect vocals for this song. I had wanted to see this production for a number of years and it is clear to see why it continues to attract a large audience. However I felt that the production felt rushed during the majority of Act 1, this heightened even more so by the revolve continually being used.  At times I found it difficult to focus on a particular cast member as the set and cast were continually moving. Having watching the filmed I had a good understanding of the show already, however if it hadn’t been for me seeing the film I believe I would have struggled to follow the storyline. The set itself is simplistic yet I was pleasantly surprised with the clever use of set for the barricade. I particularly enjoyed the slow motion sequences which whilst simple, it was extremely effective and touching to the store,  getting across to the audience the emotion of the production. The continued success of this shows comes from its famous score and a number of songs which are known, even by those whom may have not seen much musical theatre or have knowledge of Les Miserables. The live orchestra for this production complemented the score perfectly although I found the drums to sound out of place with the rest of the music. The show comes across as a well run production however because I felt the performance was compromised because of the rushed pace, speed and over use of the revolve and this made me enjoyment of the performance decrease as I didn’t feel the audience could connect emotionally to the story.

Les Miserable was incredible. It is such a classic show and lived up to expectations. As a huge fan of musical theatre I had always been ashamed that I had never seen Les Miserables in London and it did not disappoint. The set was amazing (especially the barricade) and it had a turning floor which was used for scene changes, which I thought was a really creative and innovative idea and it worked really well. Every single cast member (including understudies) were so talented and the singing especially blew me away. The whole house was in tears at the last note of Do You Hear the People Sing at the end of the show. A well deserved standing ovation. Well done to the casting director. I would recommend this show to anyone who has even the slightest love if musical theatre. There were a few children in the audience who I believed were really impacted by this show. The show is almost 3 hours long so if you planned in bringing children take that into account. 5* show!!!

The show itself is brilliant - an amazing musical, emotionally charged, extremely well performed and highly recommended. Seats at the back of the stalls are really not a good idea though because you miss quite a lot of the set - the barricade is the main part of the set and you can't see the top of it, plus it feels as though you are watching a performance from within a tunnel - my photo will show you why, and that certainly caused me to feel disconnected to the show. I've seen it 4 times and the worst seats have been back of stalls. Best advice - pay a little extra money and book seats towards the front of the stalls - up to about row M. They'll be fantastic.

This show never fails to disappoint and is definitely one of my favourite musicals in the West End. It’s the fourth time I’ve seen it and I never tire of it! The songs continue to give me goose bumps every time I hear them and this is what Les Miserables is all about. You just feel the music and the emotion coming through with each performance and I don’t think you get that with many West End shows. Fabulous performances from all the cast with a deserved standing ovation at the end. This is definitely not the last time I will see this production!

Very enjoyable show. It's not difficult to see why Les Miserables has been playing for so many years and still attracts packed audiences. Many well known songs sung beautifully and a good mix of light and shade in such a dramatic time in history. I'd be happy to see it again.

I highly recomend this show to anyone. The performances from everyone involved in this show was nothing short of spectacular. The cast were lovely when I met the at stage door.

The show was superb, absolutely loved it. I did not realise the entire production was in song. I thought it was acted with musical/sung parts. The cast's skill in singing throughout and the beauty and power of some of the songs performed was brilliant to see. I did feel 2 voices, from fairly prominent roles, did not quite lift above the musical score being played. However, I can't recommend this highly enough, a great day out in London. I am very happy Les Misérables is my first theatre watch in 10 years. Amazing sets, great cast and sublime performances.

My fifth time seeing Les Miserables, and each time I see it the emotion just gets to me. The cast tonight were incredible and I still get goose bumps when I hear 'Bring him Home', 'I Dreamed A Dream' and 'Do you hear the people sing?'. I will probably go another five times again as I don't think I can ever tire of this musical. You can easily see why it's the world's longest running musical. - there is nothing out there on the West End stage that compares!

One of my all-time favourite shows, it was incredible as usual and I absolutely love the music & story. I'm so glad to have seen this current cast before the cast change later this week, and I'm happy to have seen Eva Noblezada as Eponine & Rachelle Ann Go as Fantine, as I had seen them together in Miss Saigon previously.