By JESSICA NEU
Last week, I had the opportunity to tour the Wyoming state capital building, where the Amish handcrafted the building’s woodwork. The Amish believe that the only person who can create something perfect is God, so they intentionally put a flaw in all of their work. If their belief is true, perhaps God had a hand in creating the 40th-anniversary production of the classic musical, Les Misérables. Directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, Les Misérables is nothing short of perfection.
Based on Victor Hugo‘s 1862 novel and conceived by Cameron Mackintosh, Les Misérables made its stage debut in Paris in 1980, then moved to London in 1985, where it still runs in the West End today.
Affectionately known as “Les Miz,” it has become the 6th-longest-running Broadway production of all time. The show has been revamped over time, with the most recent production reflecting Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed 2009 production that celebrated the show’s 25th anniversary.
With music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, original lyrics by Alain Boublil, and English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, Lez Miz features a renowned score that includes such iconic songs as “Do You Hear the People Sing,” “One More Day,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Castle on a Cloud,” “On My Own,” and “Bring Him Home.” Despite the score being translated into multiple languages and performed by everyone from youth recitals to James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” to the most prestigious stages in the world, the 40th-anniversary production of Les Miz is still timelessly familiar but also refreshingly fierce. Part of what makes Les Miz the theatrical juggernaut that it is is the sheer size and scope of the production.
Incorporating some of Hugo’s original artwork, 16 scenic pieces or props automate on and off via the tracks (Matt Kinley, Set Design, and David Harris and Christine Peters, Associate Set Designers). The scenic towers take up a full tractor-trailer, and the final assembly weight of the show exceeds 2,000 pounds. The cast and crew are positioned across three floors of the towers, with two automated tracks that drive the towers on and off stage. Seven deck tracks move scenery and props throughout the show.
The show also uses approximately 1,200 costumes and over 88 wigs, with 40 of them used each night (Andreane Neofitou, Christine Rowland, and Paul Wills, Costume Design, and Stefan Musch, Wig, Hair & Make-Up Design). The production features 148 speakers in total, with 32 hidden on stage (Mick Potter and Nic Gray, Sound Design).
The result of this massive behind-the-scenes team effort is an unparalleled production of Les Mis, whose story takes place seversal years after the French Revolution, leading toward the June Rebellion of 1832 in Paris.
Led by musical director Glenn Alexander II, the orchestra catapults the show into the stratosphere with its opening notes. It is then that we meet Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell). Imprisoned and branded a life-long criminal for stealing a small loaf of bread to feed his starving young niece, Valjean escapes the shackles of slavery led by the strong-armed master, Javert (David Thomas Walker). Despite his escape, Valjean seems destined for a life of theft until a reverend shows him an act of repentance. He uses his newfound goodwill to assist Fantine (Lindsay Heather Pearce). After being abandoned by her child’s father, Fatine is an ill-stricken factory worker who is determined to earn money for her young daughter, Cosette (Lillian Castner/Kayla Scola-Giampapa), who now lives with innkeepers Thenardier (Matt Crowle), his wife (Victoria Huston-Elem), and their young daughter Eponine (Lillian Castner/Kayla Scola-Giampapa). Valjean vows to raise Cosette as Fatine’s health declines. As Valjean’s years with Cosette (Alexa Lopez) pass, the wealth disparity between the haves and the have-nots in France grows. This growing hostility prompts a group of students to represent the proletariat and stage a revolution against the bourgeoisie.
It is this revolution that took place in 1832 that correctly defines Les Miz, yet the show is best known as a musical about the French Revolution. Songs such as “Do You Hear the People Sing” are still used for protests around the world to this day, and the ensemble delivers in these moments. Closing out Act 1 is the profound “One Day More,” which allows the leads to progress their own ethos but also shows the army’s resolve to fight for equality. Long before Hamilton refused to throw away ‘his shot,’ “One Day More,” rang out as a battle cry of desperation and resolve. Forty years later, the song still echoes a powerful sentiment of justice and, with the help of sound and production, has never looked or sounded better, generating cheers that could likely be heard at the Holiday Market across from the Benedum.
While the revolution is the throughline that marked Les Miz in 1985 and still resonates in our current historical moment, individual characters’ nuances offer myriad subplots that make Les Misérables a compelling, timeless story of desperation, repentance, forgiveness, and love.
Although she is only briefly at the beginning of Act 1, Pearce leaves her mark as Fantine. Desperate to both provide for her daughter and maintain her pride, her chilling delivery of “I Dreamed A Dream” speaks to anyone whose life has fallen short of their goals or vision.
Determined to find Valjean and recapture the criminal, Walker is a maniacal Javert who enthralls audiences with his own battle-cry, “Stars.” With a slight rise of his sword at the end of the number, Javert will stop at nothing to bring Valjean to justice. A heartbreaking tale of unrequited love introduces us to Eponine as an adult (Jaedynn Latter) and Marius (Peter Neureuther), a student leading the revolution. Latter shines at the beginning of Act II with the powerful “On My Own,” and Neureuther delivers one of the most profound renditions of “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” that I have seen to date. His bravado soars in this painstakingly haunting number. Crowle is a slick, slimy Thenardier who leads with deceit and ill intent, but brings a delightfully fun drunken revelry to the ensemble number, “Master of the House.”
And then there is Cartell, whose performance is genuinely in a league of its own. His portrayal of Valjean postulates ideas of justified crime, identity (“Who Am I?”), second chances, forgiveness, honesty, power, equity, and justice. From his first moments on stage, Cartell commands the stage with a captivating presence that is perfectly unrelenting ’til the final scenes. His performance of “Bring Him Home” makes you feel as if you are hearing the famous number for the first time, highlighting his gorgeous tenor, falsetto, control, and emotive capacity.
Whether you are seeing Les Miz for the first time or are familiar with the classic show, this production is sure to evoke new emotions and offer an unprecedented theatrical experience. Just as Valjean declares, “to love another person is to see the face of God,” God is apparent in this show as it evokes love, pride, justice, and, simply, perfection.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust‘s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series presentation of Les Misérables is at the Benedum Center now through November 30th, 2026. Tickets available online at the Trust’s official ticket source https://trustarts.org/production/100788/les-miserables
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
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