Do You Hear The People Sing? I sure did : loud and CLEAR by Madelynn Barnes

In my Psychology class, we are learning that it can take children up to 20 tries to use a new phone before they actually know if they like it or not. It turns out that three times was my magic number of times I needed to see Les Misérables to like it. Les Misérables is undoubtedly one of the most well-known shows and has been back to Minneapolis three times in the last four years, which begs the question: Does it need to be seen more than once? Sitting at an almost three-hour-long run time and filled with what could best be described as a dense and intense plot and score, I would actually make the argument that it only gets better with time. My most recent viewing of Les Misérables was at the Orpheum on February 17th, 2026, and it is safe to say it was my favorite performance by far.

 My main issue when seeing the show for the first time was straight-up confusion, with the large amount of characters and wordy songs making up most of the plot points, I had a hard time following. This time was different, however, not only because I understood the plot with a strong sense of familiarity but also because of the incredible diction found throughout the entire cast. The first time that this became very clear to me was the ensemble number “At the End of the Day,” a song with fast-paced words and over 20 people singing together, which can easily get lost in the sauce, but instead was a powerful performance that could be presented as a masterclass on the power of diction. Not just the ensemble, however, showcased this but also most notably Jean Valjean (understudy Randy Jeter) delivered an incredibly emotional and vocal performance andt I could actually understand his every word. Gavroche (Cree-Silver Corley) was not only adorable as usual, but yet again had great diction, which is sometimes hard to find in child actors.

For me, two performances that I didn’t end up loving as much were Cosette (Eden Mau on opening night) and Javert. Cosette felt a little too “Glinda-y” and just inconsistent overall, with too much overbearing vibrato that took away from the music. As an understudy, inconsistencies are understandable, and I don’t think they poorly impacted the show as a whole, although the actor for Jean Valjean was also an understudy and his performance did not feel impacted. As for Javert (Hayden Tee), there was no moment that was bad by any means; he played the character well.owever, songs such as “Stars” in Act I and “Javert’s Soliloquy” inct II had previously been stand out favorites for me but I felt almost bored and unenthused from his performance of these songs for a reason I could not quite place. 

​As I watched the entire show, I began to be filled with nostalgia promoted by the recurring themes throughout the show that tie the entire thing together. The second act hits hard, especially considering the current political climate and the fighting songs instilled almost a patriotic feeling that I haven’t felt in a long time. I don’t know if it was the cast, the current political issues, the repetitiveness, or a combination of all of it, but I now would definitely consider myself a Les Misérables fan.