Les Miz

Kelly and I went to see the musical Les Misérables last week.

Now I’m not an expert on the theater. It’s the first time that I’ve seen Les Miz. Also, it’s only the second time that I’ve seen a professional stage performance, and the first time that I’ve ever seen a performance by the touring company.

So I might be inexperienced, but this was easily the highest quality stage production that I’ve ever seen. The orchestra was great, and the singers were really good, and the sets and costumes were amazing.

I honestly think the set was the best part for me. I think it completely made the ambience and mood of the play. Plus they had some really cool effects that added to its believability. In a few scenes they had a projected backdrop that would move with the actors, and it really looked like they were moving in a world bigger than the stage.

Despite all of the things that made it the best play I’ve seen, the funny part is that I’m not sure if I liked it.

First off, it was incredibly hard to follow. The dialogue was hard to understand and I don’t think the plot made sense in all parts. Kelly says that the lyrics aren’t normally that hard to understand, so it’s possible that all of the actors were just mumblers. All the same, I don’t think I would have understood what was going on if I wasn’t already familiar with the story.

The other thing was that it was kind of boring. Mostly just at the end. After Javert dies and you think the main plot line is resolved, it just keeps going and going for like 5 more musical numbers. In fact, I think it kind of ruined the end for me. The final song seems like it would have been really powerful and moving, except that I’d already stopped caring because the story seemed like it should have been over.

But to reiterate, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it. It just means that I don’t know if I liked it. Something funny happened in the days after we saw it that I think explains why people like this kind of thing.

The first thing that happens is that the songs get stuck in your head. And that is its own vicious cycle because as they get stuck in your head, you sing or play them, and so does your wife, and then they just get more stuck in your head.

Then the second thing happens. As you hear or sing the songs, you start getting reminded of various parts of the play, and then you start thinking about it more and more. And before long, everytime you hear one of the songs you think something like, “Oh, yeah, that part was cool.”

So that’s it. I’m not sure if I liked it as much as a lot of people seem to, but I can imagine that if I kept being reminded of it over and over by the music that I’d probably convince myself after the fact that it was the best thing ever.