Critical Review at Hennepin Arts

“Prologue” - Nick Cartell as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables . Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmeran While wandering through the Orpheum crowd on the opening night of Les Misérables , I stood for a moment and listened. Friends reminisced about the first time they saw the show. Parents told their children how it made them fall in love with theater decades ago. I couldn’t help but smile at how generations connected over this timeless story of resilience. One of the most acclaimed musicals in the world, Les Miz needs no introduction. Directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, the North American Broadway tour is in Minneapolis for a two-week run. Whether you’ve seen it a dozen times or never before, it’s more than worth a few hours of your time. Les Miz effortlessly transports its audience to 19th century Paris, catapulting them into the most exhilarating moments of the characters’ lives. While all technical aspects were phenomenal, the light and sound design completed this tra...

Framed within the context of the 19th century, the reborn, not-so-dream of a production, Les Mis é rables proved disappointing as it took the Orpheum’s stage for the North American Tour. Directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, the lack of cohesive storytelling and substandard artistic choices were disenchanting for a first-time Les Mis goer. Beginning its journey as a novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1862, Les Mis é rables explores themes of justice, love, and redemption. The novel's able to offer perspectives of the human condition against political turmoil and eventually the story was adapted into a concept album by Alain Boublil—laying the foundation for the stage musical. Despite its rich history, the North American Tour of Les Mis é rables failed to capture the essence of the historical tale, leaving me to question the musical theater community’s shared love for the show.  The lack of emotion due to rushed storytelling was a glaring issue for the entirety of the perf...

If I had to pick one word to encapsulate the current National Tour  of Les Misérables , it would be “art”. The lighting, designed by Paule Constable, transformed every scene into a painting, I could almost feel the sunlight on my face. The darkness was also used to the show’s advantage, leading to a shadowed opening; Prologue , where the low, rhythmic chorus deeply communicates the tragic circumstances the main character finds himself under. Imprisoned for simply stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family, Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell) breaks his parole and flees, leaving him to be chased by a relentless Inspector Javert (Nick Rehberger). Along the way, we meet Fantine (Lindsay Heather Pierce), her daughter Cosette (Emerson Mae Chen, Greta Scheafer, and Delaney Guyer in various ages), and others fighting for France in the Paris Uprising of 1832.  The story is told mainly through song, which, while it does demand more of the audience’s attention to follow the story, really h...

  LOOK DOWN, LOOK DOWN, DON'T LOOK ‘EM IN THE EYE. So begins Les Misérables , continuing its National Broadway Tour stopping in Minneapolis for the fourth time since 2010. LOOK DOWN is also an apt description of my viewpoint on the show— I sat near the farthest back row of the balcony and was expecting the usual messy audio and hard sightlines that plague upper seats. Refreshingly, I didn’t have any of those issues: I was fully invested in the show for the nearly 3 hour runtime. As you might know, the plot follows convict Jean Valjean throughout decades of his life and eventually rebellion against the monarchy, introducing a smorgasbord of characters and dark moments that highlight the true brutality of love and war. Despite being set in the early 19th century, it felt relevant. I was rooting for Jean Valjean as he struggled from the opening number onwards. I was pleasantly surprised by every cast member. Precise direction by Laurence Connor (School of Rock, Miss Saigon) and ...

Anyone who knows me knows how much the story of Les Misérables means to me. When I went to France over the summer, I bought an old copy of the original 1862 Victor Hugo novel the show is based off of and it proudly sits atop my bookshelf. It is easily one of my favorite musicals. So when the National Tour of this worldwide sensation came marching into Minneapolis, it’s safe to say that I leaned in, eyes watering, and heart full the entire time. There are so many reasons why Les Misérables continues to be the smashing success that it is, and this National tour highlights them.  While the show itself hasn’t changed much since its original production, what keeps the show fresh and exciting is the cast, and this one certainly does not disappoint. Nick Cartell (who I’d seen when the tour was last in Minneapolis in 2022) once again delivers a stellar performance as the main role of Jean Valjean, electrifying crowds with his strong belt in numbers like “Valjean’s Soliloquy,” but also...

LL "One Day More" from Les Misérables. Photo by Matthew Murphy. Les Misérables , or Les Miz (or Les Mis), is an astonishing show. Set in France in the early 1800s and covering a span of over twenty years, the characters grow and change as the show progresses. The story about Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell) being hunted by a police officer, Javert (Nick Rehberger), for years shows both characters’ determination to uphold their principles and encourages the audience to do the same. Opening on November 19th for a two-week stay at Minneapolis’s Orpheum Theatre, the show came with an exciting energy that could be felt throughout the theatre as the 1987 Tony award-winning show returned to Minneapolis with Claude-Michel Schönberg’s incredible music. As Valjean lifts a runaway cart to free a person trapped underneath, Javert approaches him and tells him of an arrest of someone who looks similar to Valjean with strong strength, a key trait of his. Valjean then questions whether or not to ...

How much magic can come from hiding in the dark? Everybody loves a big, bright spectacle that pops, but what happens when you play with the opposite? When your attention is moved not from brightness, but rather because everything else is invisible. Les Misérables is on its North American tour and showed at the Orpheum in November of 2024. It is one of the most popular musicals ever produced, and there's a reason for it.  This show has lasted so long because it endlessly excites us. People are afraid to be dramatic, today those things just become confused with being obnoxious. Les Misérables is so loved because it doesn’t do that. The difference is it carries significance, not mindless drama. It pulls you in and doesn’t let go. Even during Intermission, the house doesn’t go to half, the music starts and before you know it the lights are down and the show is on. So we keep going back for it, over and over, and it lives on. This show uses very little actual lighting. Paule Constable,...