#and I feel like stars were not a big part of Javert’s thoughts in the brick

[0zzysaurus]

Just a couple of my favourites from Lynd Ward’s illustrations of Les Miserables

#Les Miserables #the brick #Lynd Ward #Jean Valjean #Javert #if anyone would like to pay the hundreds of dollars I’d need to do actual scans of these feel free #in the meantime be content with shitty screenies from archive dot org #can I also say how obsessed I am with the star imagery even tho like… obvi this was illustrated decades before the musical #and I feel like stars were not a big part of Javert’s thoughts in the brick

[astriexxe]

Here is my very long post about what I think of Les Misérables (2012) after watching it again recently

Tldr: the music which should be great somehow just isn't, the camera angles are fucking weird, Russel Crowe isn't as bad as I expected, Hugh Jackman was worse than I remembered

When I watched Les Misérables (2012) the first time it was the first experience I'd had of Les mis other than the odd YouTube video of one day more (or occasionally do you hear the people sing). I didn't know what it was about I didn't know many of the songs.

I found it fairly boring, the music was ok, the middle section with the revolution was the highlight. My favourite character was Javert followed by Enjolras (but that's biased because I'm a moulin rouge and n2n fan and it was Aaron tveit).

When I watched it back I entirely expected to hate Russell Crowe as Javert but have more respect for the music and the rest of the film as I have since watched the staged concerts and been to see it live and it's fucking great I love it.

I was wrong the music still sucked and I still found it kind of boring despite absolutely loving the stage production.

The orchestra is too quiet I think which means the music loses a lot of it's grandeur and the bad singing is more obvious.

Russel Crowe has a weird tone when singing (this we already knew) and when compared to other Javert's he sucks but when compared to Hugh Jackman it's a relief whenever it's his part because holy fuck Hugh Jackman was bad. Russel Crowe honestly wasn't that bad, I quite like his Javert from an acting perspective and the singing was alright, I know when I first watched the film stars was my favourite song (just imagine how amazed I was when I heard Philip Quast's version). I wish Javert's suicide was better in the film.

Hugh Jackman was far worse than I remembered him being perhaps I have more to compare him to now, bring him home was awful that's not how that should be sung and he had me bored for like the entire bit at the start where it's basically just him (end of prologue/ VJ's soliloquy).

One day more was a bit messy but not as bad as I was expecting.

The scenery was pretty epic like they had some great cinematic shots (ship at the start, the Seine, the cliff during VJ's soliloquy) like a big musical like Les Mis deserves some cool shots like that.

The camera angles were fucking weird. I find how shows use different camera angles quite interesting but I can't figure Les Mis out, it doesn't enhance the story or characters or anything it's just distracting and adds to how boring it is. I thought the camera angles during VJ's soliloquy looked like he was vlogging. Some dramatic shots could have helped that scene a lot I think. The camera angles got a little more exciting but the weird close ups were a theme and I personally think they were poorly used and distracting.

The Thenardiers were pretty good the first time I watched it but like having seen the show since it just doesn't work they're nowhere near as funny.

When my friend watched Les Mis and said she didn't like how all the dialogue was sung and I was like ok maybe she just doesn't like sung through musicals fair enough. No the film is just weird. They like added bits of sung dialogue but they seem to have forgotten to give these bits any tune.

VJ got a new song which was a bit of a shock because honestly I don't remember it from the first time round, I think the concept of the song is pretty cool but poorly written (it was sort of boring and didn't feel like it fit with the musical).

Les Amis were once again a highlight, the pace picks up, the singing gets better, all in all it's a good chunk of the film.

Fantine was better than I remembered and Anne Hathaway went for acting over singing in I Dreamed a Dream which worked but only because it was a film.

Eddie Redmayne was good as was Sam Barks I enjoyed their bits.

Aaron Tveit was also good you can tell which of the actors are theatre actors because they can act and sing at the same time (/hj). And of course respect to George Blagden.

The child actors (I don't know their names) were also great!

Yeah I think that's it if anyone read this to the end congrats on making it

#les miserables #i really wanted to go into watching the film again with more context and try to enjoy it #but it was worse than i remembered

[pumpkinspice-prouvaire]

I have a lot of Thoughts and Emotions about the Les Mis UK and Ireland tour and I am going to talk about them now. I’m not really a theatre kid so these will just be my rambles about fave songs and moments and my emotions. Under the cut for spoilers

First of all we had SUCH GOOD SEATS we were right in the middle of the stalls and we could see e v e r y t h i n g - That isn’t relevant to the tour but it’s important to me that you know

I loved how after Valjean’s Soliloquy as the music for At the End of the Day starts we get the title of the show against the backdrop. I am NOT doing that description any justice but it was really cool and that was the moment where I was like HOLY SHIT I’M WATCHING LES MIS

shoutout to Nic Greenshields’ Javert for just being a SUPER IMPOSING and scary figure like that man is TALL AND BROAD AND I WOULD BE SCARED OF HIM. I liked his performance for the most part. Stars is one of my favourite songs in the show and I think he did a great job of it. I have more to say on Javert’s Suicide but we’ll get to that later. 

Dean Chisnall as Jean Valjean was good, but like tbh he didn’t make a massive impression on me. Some of his songs were very shouty, especially Valjean’s Soliloquy. Props to him though because anyone who can play a role like Jean Valjean is massively talented and deserves all the credit. 

I’m not really a crier at all, but I said to aro-enj before we went to the theatre that if I cried at I Dreamed a Dream they’re doing something right. Katie Hall’s Fantine was fantastic and heartbreaking and I did shed a tear, so good for her. 

omg though at the end of Lovely Ladies, Fantine’s first client was the factory foreman!!!!!! He takes her hand and says “Ah yes, the virtuous Fantine” and I s2g I’ve never wanted to climb down all the seats and onto the stage to punch a character in the face before but I was feeling it there. 

The Confrontation was good, but this production had a lot of like, cheorographed fight scenes with lots of punches etc and ngl I found them very distracting at some points?

omg there was a super cute bit following Castle on a Cloud where baby Éponine and Madame Thenardier were copying each other and doing the same mannerisms in a “like mother like daughter” type thing and it was super funny and cute

Thenardier and Madame Thenardier were fun in general- More on that later- But Master of the House is a bop and sorry if you disagree but it’s true

THEN IT WAS 1832 TIME BABYYYYY- Look Down, Paris is another fave of mine and the staging and everything was amazing and of course aro-enj and I did a major flail when we saw our dude our man our guy Enjolras. Also I was such a HUGE FAN of Gavroche in this production he had so much spunk and personality and he was just the coolest lil dude, I really really enjoyed him.

TIME TO TALK ABOUT RED AND BLACK BABYYYYYYYYYYYY. I really enjoyed Samuel Wyn-Morris’ Enjolras. He was intense and passionate and was not there at all for Grantaire and Marius’ fucking about. There were a good few eyerolls and glares but he also wasn’t overly aggressive which was great to see. Steven Hall’s Grantaire was really great as well- Very rowdy and drunk and floppy- During ‘Lamarque is Dead’ and ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ he was always over at the side of the stage not actually participating in the Revolution which I thought was very very good characterisation. 

And yes, there was ExR. There was a point in Red and Black, I can’t remember when, when Grantaire gave Enjolras a big shit-eating grin and fixed his...Cravat or vest I can’t remember which but I was like YAS. I AM FED. 

ok ok real talk I absolutely adore A Heart Full of Love, I just think it is so damn sweet and romantic and I absolutely loved the staging of it. Marius throws a pebble at Cosette’s window to get her to notice him and I was like omg I cry. They are in LOVE, your honor. 

For me the biggest surprise of the show was how much I enjoyed Will Callan’s performance as Marius. Marius isn’t a character I really focus on a lot but he was the perfect mix of bumbling and romantic and just the sweetest boi and I loved watching him. During In My Life he did a big dramatic twirl thing and it made me giggle because it was just so Marius. 

Nathania Ong’s Éponine was just fantastic. So much personality and On My Own took my damn breath away. I think Éponines are generally cast really well but Nathania’s was playful and young and so so sad at the sad time which is perfect for Ep. And she absolutely made On My Own her own, I had chills. 

omg also I can’t remember what part it was at, I think it was just after A Heart Full of Love? But Marius kind of introduces Eponine and Cosette and they recognise each other which I thought was a really great moment. And there was a part where Eponine has fallen over and Cosette helps her up and it was very sweet

Big fan of Javert’s barricade outfit. How do you do, fellow revolutionaries? 

AGAIN GAVROCHE IS JUST THE COOLEST CHARACTER IN THE SHOW. He straight up gave Javert the middle finger at the barricades and I died it was hilarious. 

SPEAKING OF DEATH, TIME FOR SADNESS THE MUSICAL. 

A Little Fall of Rain was heartbreaking, when Gavroche saw it was Eponine who had been shot he ran over and just stared at her and you could see the shock on his lil face. I always think there’s not enough emphasis on the fact that Eponine and Gavroche are siblings so it was a very nice moment. And when some members of Les Amis lifted Eponine away Enjolras went to Marius and wrapped him in a hug ;_; there were some really good Marius and Enjolras friendship moments in the show in general (aro-enj said they understand Marius/Enjolras shippers now :o)

Grantaire and Gavroche had this really sweet big brother/adoptive father and son relationship, and Grantaire was always trying to distract Gavroche and take him away from the Revolution and it was breaking my heart. During Bring Him Home they fell asleep together in the corner of the stage. I cry. 

AND THEN WHEN GAVROCHE DIED GRANTAIRE CARRIED HIS BODY AWAY FROM THE BARRICADE AND KEPT SHAKING HIM AND TRYING TO GET HIM TO WAKE UP AND IT WAS THE SADDEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN

OKAY SO then it’s the final battle everyone is dying. Marius gets shot and both Grantaire and Enjolras run to help him at the same time. They look up and their eyes meet and they hug. 

I witnessed an ExR hug with my own two eyes and I am literally never going to shut up about it or stop thinking about it. besties I am feral. 

OK SO NOW EVERYONE IS DEAD. The barricade got moved away but Gavroche was left on stage and the cart came out with Enjolras’ body on it and they put Gavroche beside him. Big big big ouch. 

And then Dog Eats Dog. I like Thenardier well enough and he was a great comedic character earlier in the show, but comedy during Dog Eats Dog hits a wrong note for me. This is one of the most sinister and dark parts of the show, so getting a couple of laughs in when 1) you’ve already had a LOT earlier in the show and 2) you have a comedic song i.e. Beggars at the Feast before the show finishes, it felt unnecessary 

OK SO JAVERT’S SUICIDE WAS KIND OF WEIRD???? Nic Greenshields got quite shout-y at some points, and while I understand your acting goals here because of Javert’s despair, I am also going to expect you to like...Hit the right notes. But it definitely wasn’t terrible. Also the staging was super weird for it imo. When he jumped there was a special effect to make it look like he was falling, but his limbs were flailing everywhere and honestly it just kind of looked silly and comical and I actually snorted. Not exactly the dramatic ending for Javert I was expecting. 

EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES RIPPED MY SOUL FROM MY BODY AND KICKED IT TO DEATH. I’ve already said I really enjoyed Will Callan’s performance as Marius, and he was truly excellent here. It was absolutely heartbreaking and his voice and acting were superb, and then when you think it can’t get any sadder Les Amis come out of the shadows and stand around Marius as he sings. At the end Les Amis fade into the background again, and Marius shares one more look with Enjolras before he disappears. SAD. 

Also Thenardier changed the “this one’s a queer but what you gonna do?” line in Beggars at the Feast to “this one’s a queer but I’ve tried it too.” Thenardier is bisexual it’s canon now. 

ok so FINALE TIME. @ the person whose phone rang LOUDLY during the Bring Him Home reprise if I ever find you I’m going to BITE YOUR ANKLES. 

But anyway. One thing I really really loved is that when Fantine came back SHE HAD HER LONG HAIR AGAIN. It really annoys me that Fantine cutting her hair is a symbol of how far she’s fallen, and yet oftentimes when she comes back in the finale when she’s at peace she’ll still have her short hair???? Make it make sense???? So I’m really really glad they fixed that. 

The Finale gets me every damn time man. I think I’m going to get through it and then I hear “And remember the truth that once was spoken...” And I lose it. So yes more tears were shed, which again means they did it right. Also Valjean saw the Bishop again during DYHTPS and they hugged and it was wonderful, I love seeing the Bishop and Valjean meeting again in heaven. 

BUT YES THOSE ARE MY THOUGHTS the show was so so excellent and so worth it. Stand out performances for me were Katie Hall’s Fantine, Nathania Ong’s Eponine, Will Callan’s Marius and the Gavroche we had that day (not sure which actor we had). But really the whole cast is gonna live in my head rent free from now on. There’s probably a lot of moments I enjoyed that I’m missing but hopefully @aromantic-enjolras will catch any I missed if they do a post about the show. I don’t even know what else to say just stan Les Mis and eat your vegetables I guess. 

#les mis 2021 #les mis uk and ireland #long post

[captainenjolras]

Me actually dropping a Valvert fic? It’s more likely than you think! This ones based on a little headcanon for Javert that I have :) no warnings (aside from some angst that is Javert’s past and self image), just some really fluffy stuff

Stars

“Are those tattoos?!”

The sound of the loud voice startled Javert, causing him to jump. Turning, he saw Valjean staring at him, a mixture of confusion and wonder in his deep brown eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

“On you’re back, where you’re hair ends!”

Oh. Those.

If he was being honest, he had nearly forgotten about them. To be fair, he’d gotten them many years ago, when he was still a teen.

“It appears they are.”

Ignoring the jest, Valjean clambered over to the other side of the bed, moving the man’s long curls away to fully reveal the art. There, on the stern inspector’s back, where hundreds of tattoos. Constellations.

“My god, Javert! How have I never noticed this?”

“There’s a few reasons I grow my hair out,” muttered the younger, moving so that the stars over his back were once again covered by inky black waves. His hair fell like velvet around his waist, hiding galaxies behind it like a curtain hide a stage; Valjean was the eager audience, hoping for those great veils to move and reveal a world.

How could he have never noticed this? They had been living together for almost a year, dating for just half of that. Like Javert had implied, long hair was good at hiding things, but this was insane.

“I can feel you staring at me,” spoke Javert, who had moved to the other side of the room to dress in his night clothes. “Is it really that big of a deal? It’s not like they’re anything spectacular.”

“You never even told me about them!”

“I didn’t think you’d be so interested; it’s just some doodles.”

“It’s art, Javert!”

“It’s ink I can’t get rid of.”

Pulling on pair of night trousers, Javert made his way to his side of the shared bed, climbing in and taking Jean’s hand in his.

“It’s not that interesting,” he said, staring intently into Valjean’s eyes. “I’ve had them since I was 17. I’m surprised they haven’t already faded. Besides, they’re not even beautiful or interesting.”

Releasing his shocked lover’s hand, he laid down and rolled over to go to sleep, even though he knew he would be getting plagued with questions.

“How come you’ve never showed me?”

“It wasn’t intentional, I just forgot about them.”

“How do you forget about- forget about that?!”

“The same way I forgot about my piercings.”

“Your what?!”

Javert couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Rolling over and culling Valjean’s broad face in his slender hands, he let him know that the latter was a joke.

“Like I said, it’s not a big deal. I have no clue why you’re so shocked over this.”

“It’s just- I would have never thought-“

“You’d have never thought I’d get a tattoo in my youth?”

“I never thought you’d get tattoos.”

“Well, I did and that is that. It’s really not surprising; they’re ugly things anyways.”

Ugly? Did he truly think that?

“Why would you say that?”

“Cause they’re a part of me, and every part of me is ugly.”

Javert looked away and turned back to face the wall, a small bit of shame rising in his heart.

Goodnight, Jean.”

“You say that like it’s true,” pressed Valjean, gently taking the man by his shoulder so that they were looking at each other again. “How many times have I told you not to say stuff like that?”

“I’m an adult, Jean; I don’t need someone to tell me what I can and cannot say.”

Javert’s tone was bitter, eyes annoyed and mouth scowling. Valjean let out a frustrated huff before gently hooking his arm around the others bare waist, pulling him closer.

“It’s not true. You can say it over and over, but it’s not true in the slightest. You’re beautiful, and so is the art on you. You might think I’m lying, but I’m not. You have a beauty that is incomprehensible. I just want you to know that.”

In his past, he wasn’t an easy person to break; but now, every compliment Jean gave him ignited his heart, the heat rising to his face in a blush redder than the roses in the garden. It were as if Valjean was a furnace and Javert was Iron, heating up until it melted.

“...Everyone who I ever showed them to hated them. When I first joined the force, we were made to change in one big room. Another officer there saw them and announced how disgusting he thought they were. He said it made me look barbaric. This was when I had short hair, so there wasn’t much I could do whenever we had to change. Another time I some friends, and I suppose my collar was a bit low. The barmaid must have seen them, and she wouldn’t stop staring at me the rest of the night. I was used to stares, but...that hurt more than I could explain. From then on I made sure to leave my hair down and wear shirts with better collars, even if it was warm out. I’ve accepted that they’re ugly, and I just wish to forget about them.”

Valjean looked down at him in shock. The man he held in his arms shifted so that he faced the wall once again. The only sound in the room was soft breathing, and Javert assumed that Jean had accepted the words and gone to sleep. However, he realized this was not true as soon as he felt his hair being moved over his shoulders. Gently, Valjean began to trace the designs with a calloused finger.

“Ursa Major...Ursa Minor...Virgo...Javert, these are incredible. You have a galaxy on your skin; a beautiful, incredible galaxy.”

He continued to trace them, stopping to press a kiss to each new cluster of stars. He tried his best at remembering their names, occasionally mispronouncing one in hopes to make his beloved laugh. After a few more attempts, he heard that familiar voice again.

“It’s ‘Sirius’ you dimwit, not ‘psoriasis’.”

At that, neither of them could contain their laughter. They laughed until they were shaking, facing each other once again and playfully shoving. After a few minutes, they both managed to catch their breath, foreheads pressed together. Valjean spoke again, voice soft and a smile evident.

“I love them, Javert. And I love you. You’re beautiful. Every bit of you is beautiful, including your tattoos. If I’m being honest, there more fascinating than the actual stars themselves. Like you. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, maybe then you’d understand why I love you so much; but since you can’t, I’ll have to find another way. Just know that you’re the most amazing thing to ever happen to me, and I love every bit of you. Even if you don’t like those parts...I do.”

Valjean closed his eyes, pulling Javert in close. He placed a hand protectively against the back of his head and the other on his back, arm resting against his waist. They fell asleep like that, holding each other close and smiling softly. Valjean held a galaxy- a beautiful galaxy- in his arms, and that galaxy held him back.

And they wouldn’t want it any other way.

#heysisksksklsks I hope y’all enjoy #I never posted a full valvert fic here #oh well #there’s a first time for everything #valvert #jean valjean #Valjean #inspector javert #Javert #javert x valjean #valjean x javert #romani javert #Javert with tattoos #protective Valjean #valvert fluff #Les mis #Les miserables #valvert fic #valvert angst #but mostly fluff #kinda self indulgent #I want constellation tattoos as well #should I post a reference photo? #maybe on a different post #I’ll go into more detail about them #oh and the piercing joke? #wasn’t a joke #he just didn’t want to shock Jean even more

[miserablesme]

The Les Miserables Changelog Part 4: 1987 Australian Tour

Hello, everyone! This is the latest edition in my attempt to chronicle all of the musical and lyrical changes which the show Les Miserables has undergone over the years. Unlike previous parts, this one is not focused on any official libretto changes affecting all productions of the musical. Rather, it looks at a set of changes applied specifically to the 1987-1991 Australian tour. While the tour mostly followed the normal 1987 libretto discussed in the last part of this blog, it did add a few unique touches that are worth discussing here. Many would never make it outside of this particular production; however, a few would in fact be used in later productions of the musical too. Without further ado, let's get started!

The first change I am aware of is in the prologue. Usually the Bishop tells Valjean, "Now God's blessings be with you". In the Australian tour, he instead states "May God's blessings be with you". Not a big edit, but an edit nonetheless.

The next change comes at the beginning of "Lovely Ladies". While originally a sailor sings that "seven days at sea will make you hungry for a poke", the Australian tour switches this to "seven weeks at sea". I suppose this would be a more realistic timeframe for a sailor at the time to be away, and it also makes him come across as slightly less desperate. Having said that, the original sense of desperation fits the mood of the number perfectly.

The very next scene, "Fantine's Arrest", also has a very slight change. While usually Valjean requests "A moment of your time, Javert, I do believe this woman's tale", the word order is swapped so that he instead asks "Javert, a moment of your time, I do believe this woman's tale" in the Australian tour. Not a huge change, nor do I quite know what it was supposed to accomplish, but interesting nonetheless.

In "Who Am I?" Valjean usually asks regarding his workers, "How will they live if I am not free?" The Australian tour changes this slightly to "How will they fare if I am not free?" This slightly changes the mood from a life-or-death situation to a more subtle question of looking out for others' well-being, though it's not a huge difference.

Then, after "Who Am I?" a bit of spoken dialog is added for this tour. Perhaps in acknowledgement of the "You know where to find me!" used in the West End at the time, Valjean shouts "You will find me at the hospital St. John!" after his high note. Similar in spirit to the mostly-scrapped original declaration, though now he doesn't actually trust Javert to figure out his location (which makes more sense to me than the original).

The preamble to "Master of the House" mixes up the genders regarding the bar crowd's lines. First off is the opener, which usually goes as follows:

(FEMALE PATRON)

C'mon you old pest

(MALE PATRON)

Fetch a bottle of your best

(MALE PATRON)

What's the nectar of the day?

In the Australian tour, this is how it goes:

(MALE PATRON)

C'mon you old pest

(MALE PATRON)

Fetch a bottle of your best

(FEMALE PATRON)

What's the nectar of the day?

Usually this was how a later part went:

(MALE PATRON)

One more for the road

One more slug of gin

(FEMALE PATRON)

Just one more

Or my old man is gonna do me in

The Australian tour swapped the sexes of some of those lines, leading to a slightly different final lyric:

(MALE PATRON)

Landlord over here

Where's the bloody man

One more for the road

(FEMALE PATRON)

One more slug of gin

(MALE PATRON)

Just one more

Or her old man is gonna do her in

The ending to the "Waltz of Treachery" has an interesting lyrical edit. Usually Valjean proclaims the following:

Yes, Cosette

Yes it's true

There's a castle just waiting for you

However, the Australian tour gave him this line instead:

Yes, Cosette

Yes it's true

A world of surprises is waiting for you

This gives a much more general promise to Cosette, and is a less direct response to her "Will there be children and castles to see?" question. I'm not sure which I prefer to be honest.

A very small change occurs during "Look Down"; namely, a line originally sung by the ensemble is now sung by just one person. Originally this is how the sequence goes:

(BEGGARS)

See our children fed

Help us in our shame

Something for a crust of bread in Holy Jesus' name

(SOLO BEGGAR)

In the Lord's holy name

(BEGGARS)

In His name, in His name, in His name

However, for the Australian tour, "Something for a crust of bread in Holy Jesus' name" is sung by one single beggar woman (who is distinct from the beggar woman who sings "In the Lord's holy name"). This change would be adapted into the official libretto much later to account for a staging change in which the beggar singing the line walks by Marius and Enjolras to ask them specifically for some extra cash (as opposed to asking for help more rhetorically, as was originally the implication). I'm curious as to whether or not the Australian tour used a similar staging difference earlier on, or if there was some other reason to make the line an individual one.

A few changes are made to "The Robbery". First off, Thenardier tells Valjean "God rewards all the things that you do" as opposed to the normal line, "God rewards all the good that you do". I slightly prefer the original, though it's not a huge difference.

Finally, Eponine's "It's the p'lice, disappear, run for it, it's Javert!" is bizarrely changed to the rather repetitive "It's the p'lice, disappear, it's the p'lice, it's Javert!" I have no clue what this was supposed to accomplish, because it makes the line far messier than it was before. Perhaps this was the intention, in order to highlight Eponine's unrefined self? Though that doesn't seem particularly relevant to the scene... who knows.

Some significant changes occur during "Stars". Not long after the song's start, Javert's declaration is changed from its original:

A fugitive running

Fallen from grace, fallen from grace

Into the less repetitive:

A fugitive running

Fallen from God, fallen from grace

Personally, I have a soft spot for the original repetition, but i do understand why some would prefer the Lord's name being used instead of the vaguer concept of grace.

Soon afterwards, a few conjunctions are removed. Originally Javert declares:

He knows his way in the dark

But mine is the way of the Lord

And those who follow the path of the righteous will have their reward

However, the Australian production (and the London production not long afterwards) simplified the sequence to:

He knows his way in the dark

Mine is the way of the Lord

Those who follow the path of the righteous will have their reward

I suppose the conjunction-free variant is likely to be easier to sing, since the lyrics are a little less rushed. This variant also separates the lines so that they come across as separate sentences, instead of one long run-on one. However, it does slightly bug me that the later line "And each in its season returns..." maintains its conjunction while the opening verse does not. That strikes me as somewhat inconsistent.

By far my favorite change to "Stars" happens towards the end. Originally, Javert sings:

And so it has been

And so it is written

On the doorway to paradise...

However, the Australian production changes the first line in the sequence:

And so it must be

For so it is written

On the doorway to paradise...

The revised line is much more dramatic and forceful, and makes Javert's final promise all the more powerful. It also sounds less passive, which seems more appropriate for Javert's character.

Philip Quast, who originated the role of Javert in Australia and later returned in 1991, changed the line "We'll be ready for these schoolboys" into "I will join these little schoolboys" during "One Day More". This line arguably makes his intentions a bit clearer, though it carries less threatening implications than the original lyric. Interestingly, however, Quast's replacements in the tour revert to the original line.

A very slight change occurs in "Drink with Me". Instead of Grantaire's "Can it be your death means nothing at all?" he asks "Could it be your death means nothing at all?"

Something weird happens during "Dog Eats Dog". For whatever reason, instead of the usual musical interlude that plays as Valjean carries Marius through the sewers, a similar but slightly different (and in my opinion inferior) variant plays instead. It sounds quite messy in my opinion. I wonder whether or not there was some difference in staging to inspire this different version of the music, or if someone inexplicably just thought it sounded better?

Similarly, the usual music that plays as the Thenardiers awkwardly feign sophistication during the wedding scene is given another in my opinion less polished edit. Nothing much to say here that I haven't said in the context of the last change.

One of the more impactful changes in the long run comes in the epilogue. Originally Fantine and Eponine sung the following line together:

Take my hand

And lead me to salvation

However, the Australian tour gave them the following line instead:

Take my hand

I'll lead you to salvation

This makes a lot more sense, since they have been dead for years and only now is Valjean joining them. Some have argued that because Valjean has become the epitome of good, an almost Christ-like figure, it ends up that he continues to save people even after they have passed away, hence the original lyric. I personally don't buy this at all. I think Fantine and Eponine were clearly good people doing the best they could, and if they still need an outside influence to be considered worthy of salvation that speaks quite poorly of whatever God may exist! The revised line is far better in my opinion, and fortunately it would become the standard worldwide in a few years.

And that just about sums this part up! (Man, it feels good to make such a short, easy post after the hours that went into the last one!) If I missed anything feel free to let me know, as my goal is to create a changelog as thorough and complete as possible. I plan on making more parts in the near future covering all the changes that have been made in the show up until this day (discounting concerts). Any feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

As a side note, both for this project and my own enjoyment, I want as complete a collection of Les Miserables audios as possible. I already have most of what’s commonly circulated, but if you have any audios or videos you know are rare, I’d love it if you DMed me!

Until the turntable puts me at the forefront again, good-bye…

#les mis #the les miserables changelog #les miserables #valjean #javert #changelog #1989 #australian tour #fantine #marius #cosette #eponine #enjolras #thenardier #gavroche #musical

[meta-squash]

Brick Club 1.8.3 “Javert Satisfied”

I know this is technically a “good thing” since otherwise Valjean’s testimony would be for nought, but everyone except the prosecuting attorney agrees that Valjean is the real Valjean. I guess some part of me would expect for everyone to still think that Madeleine had gone crazy, or to somehow still be affected by the respect and veneration for Madeleine as mayor. But that’s not the case, and pretty much everyone believes that Madeleine really is Valjean.

Quick note that the lawyers also try to pull in all sorts of nitpicky bullshit to try and get Champmathieu indicted anyway, which courts still do today.

“This sentence, containing a great many ‘of’s, is the prosecuting attorney’s, written by his own hand, on the minutes of his report to the attorney general.” Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like the comment on all the “of’s” goes hand in hand with the earlier critique of the provincial language of the courts.

“...although the judge was a kind man and quite intelligent, he was at the same time a strong, almost zealous royalist, and had been shocked when the mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer, in speaking of the landing at Cannes, had said “the Emperor” instead of “Buonaparte.” A supposedly impartial person whose impartiality is a requirement for him to do his job well, actually be affected by his personal opinions and biases. I mean, that hasn’t changed in 150 years, that’s for sure. *cough Amy Coney Barrett cough* But it’s such a tiny little thing. Would the order of arrest be granted so quickly if the judge hadn’t caught that little honorific slip-up? It’s also just an example of the kind of knife-edge that things like someone’s life sits upon when in the hands of the courts. This is probably not the first case where a tiny, unrelated detail like that weighted the balance between life and death or freedom and prison for someone in this court.

Okay I don’t know anything about couriers and letter-sending and doing things quickly. If this is an official letter sent by courier, would that be one person riding horseback, without a carriage? Surely that would be faster than a horse pulling a vehicle? Especially since the deliberation went on for a little while after Valjean left the courthouse, and then the judge went in with the prosecutor, and then the letter was written and sent, but it got to Javert in M-sur-M soon enough that Valjean only had time to send his letter to Lafitte and briefly see Fantine. I’m just trying to figure out the timing of all of this.

“The buckle of his leather collar, instead of being at the back of his neck, was under his left ear. This denoted extraordinary agitation...For his collar buckle to be awry, he must have just had one of those shocks that could be called inner earthquakes.” I know the descriptions of Javert a few paragraphs later as being overjoyed means that this “agitation” is most likely shocked excitement, but I don’t know, something about this description is so weird to me. It’s the “inner earthquake” line, I think. That feels a lot more “negative” than excitement. Javert’s entire world has been shaken by this information. Perhaps it’s because this is so big. Really, it gets treated with such flippancy within the narrative, but a respected, well-known, charitable member of society in a mayoral position ends up being a wanted convict, and Javert was not only right about it, but right about it twice. That’s big for Javert himself, but it’s also big in general because it’s probably the first time Javert has ever uncovered something like this and been right about it and then told he was wrong and then proven right again. Plus the fact that he was hiding his convict identity the whole time while being a high-ranking, well-loved, leader of the community. Like, a “criminal” government official isn’t just corrupt in the usual way, he was fully a convict the whole time with a hidden identity and everything. It must be mind-blowing for him. And it’s interesting, Valjean is the only one who’s able to deliver multiple earthquake-status blows to Javert’s world throughout the book. (Valvert shippers, I’m starting to understand your perspective a lot more in this read-through than my last two.)

“...Javert turned the knob, pushed the door open as gently as a nurse or a police spy...” What an odd comparison to make. Nurse or police spy? Those are two incredibly disparate professions with totally disparate morals. Nurse implies a calm gentleness, a gentleness that is maybe nurturing or healing or at least positive in some sense. Police spy implies a much more cautious gentleness, one whose purpose is sneaky and definitely not positive towards those behind the door. How is Javert both a nurse and a spy? Unless he’s Harold Shipman, I’m not sure what to make of the connection to the nursing profession.

“Properly speaking, he did not enter. He remained standing in the half-open doorway, his hat on his head, his left hand in his overcoat, which was buttoned to his chin. In the bend of his elbow could be seen the leaden head of his enormous cane, which disappeared behind him.” Okay So this paragraph in context with the chapters before and after it are really interesting. He doesn’t enter the room at first, just stands in the doorway. He only enters the room after both Fantine and Valjean have noticed him. I’m sure there’s a good horror movie example out there, but it’s like he’s not allowed to enter until he’s noticed. Like he’s not allowed to exist for others until they see him. Does that even make sense?

“There is no human feeling that can ever be so appalling as joy. It was the face of the devil who has just regained his victim.” Man, I like the Hapgood translation of that second sentence so much better: “It was the visage of a demon who has just found his damned soul.” Like, it’s not Javert who has singularly persecuted Valjean (I mean it is, but not really), Valjean isn’t Javert’s victim. Valjean is persecuted by society, Javert is just there to collect someone already marked. He’s not the only one doing the marking. So I like the symbolism of a demon collecting a damned soul.

“Javert’s satisfaction radiated from his commanding attitude. The deformity of triumph spread across his narrow forehead. It was the full quotient of horror that only a gratified face can display.” I love this chapter for its bizarre contrast of ugliness and grandeur. Everything Javert does in this chapter is this gross, twisted version of divine justice. His joy, which should be a beautiful and pure emotion, is perverted by its circumstance. And the description of how scary a satisfied face can be is so good because it’s so viscerally descriptive. You see that exact face on every video of a cop being a racist, condescending, sanctimonious, power-hungry cunt to people on the street. That face of “I’m better than you and I have power over you and there’s nothing you can do about it so ha ha I win.” It’s more evil than antagonists who know they’re evil because Javert fully thinks that his actions and thoughts are right. And Hugo points it out here. Triumph and glee for the wrong reasons doesn’t make a person beautiful, it deforms them.

I actually love the description of how joyful Javert is because it’s clear that this is personal for him. When he arrested Fantine and sat down at his desk to write out her sentence as a one man judge-jury-executioner, he wasn’t gleeful like this. He wasn’t sad about it, he just was. He was doing a duty and Hugo even says that he was very thoughtful about it and spent time cataloguing what he saw in order to decide what to do. This isn’t the same type of detached judgement and condemnation. This is fully personal glee at being able to be vindicated.

“At that moment Javert was in heaven. Without a clear notion of his own feelings, yet with a confused intuition of his need and his success, he, Javert, personified justice, light, and truth, in their celestial function as destroyers of evil. He was surrounded and supported by infinite depths of authority, reason, precedent, legal conscience, the vengeance of the law, all the stars in the firmament; he protected order, he hurled forth the thunder of the law, he avenged society, he lent aid to the absolute; he stood erect in a halo of glory; there was in his victory a trace of defiance and combat; standing haughty and resplendent, he displayed in full glory the superhuman beastiality of a ferocious archangel; the fearful shadow of the deed he was accomplishing, making visible in his clenched fist the uncertain flashes of the social sword; happy and indignant, he had gnashed his heel on crime, vice, rebellion, perdition, and hell, he was radiant, exterminating, smiling; there was an incontestable grandeur in this monstrous St. Michael.”

I have multiple things to say about this passage so I think I’m going to break it all down into different paragraphs because there’s A Lot of different things in my brain.

First of all this is an echo--this time righteous and vindicated--of Javert’s feelings from 1.5.13. Madeleine lets Fantine go and Javert has this thought: “Or, in view of the enormities he had witnessed over the last two hours, was he saying to himself that he had to resort to extreme measures, that the lesser had to make itself greater, for the detective to turn into a magistrates, the policeman become a judge, and that in this shocking turnabout, order, law, morality, government, society itself, were personified in him, Javert?” In 1.5.13, Madeleine’s authority overruled him, protected Fantine and humiliated Javert. In 1.5.13, he is forced to accept defeat. Now, he has all of the authority, all of law and reason and justice behind him because Madeleine no longer has that same power. Javert is again the personification of justice, law, society itself, but there is not Divine Authority to stand up for Valjean as there was for Fantine. Javert is vindicated here for his earlier humiliation, with all levels authority backing him up this time.

“Without a clear notion of his own feelings, yet with a confused intuition of his need and his success, he, Javert, personified justice, light, and truth, in their celestial function as destroyers of evil.” Okay hold on wait. In 1.5.13, Javert has a moment of nearly breaking the fourth wall, nearly deciding that he needs to become a Symbol in order to restore the balance of authority and justice that he feels Madeleine has knocked askew. He is very much aware of his potential to personify Law and Justice etc. But here Hugo says that he does all of this with “confused intuition” and without a clear idea of how he feels. Interesting that when he is conscious of being able to become a symbol, he is prevented from doing so, but when he actually becomes a symbol, he’s unaware of it. Also, here’s another moment of Javert clearly Feeling Something but not fully understanding it, again a thing that only Valjean seems to provoke in him. (Oop more Valvert fodder.)

I don’t really know what to make of the superiority complex that Hugo describes here. Obviously Javert thinks that he is righteous and that he is doing a Great And Grand thing and that he is avenging society by ridding it of the scourge of the evil deceiver convict Jean Valjean. But the way Javert’s righteousness is describes feels like almost more of a “nanny-nanny-boo-boo” feeling. Is your righteousness truly righteous if you’re feeling personal satisfaction and personal superiority about it?

Javert is literally the Angel Of Death here! I know in my last post I talked about Javert as the grim reaper entering the room. His comparison to St Michael confirms this. Michael is a seraph, which are winged celestial beings with a fiery passion for doing God's good work (which is interesting to me considering how much Valjean’s symbolism is associated with fire). In Roman Catholicism Michael is the Angel Of Death who descends and gives the person the chance to redeem themselves before dying. He is also the one who will weigh people’s merits on Judgement Day. Except! Javert is Michael without mercy or patience! He judges without allowing a chance for redemption. We saw this in 1.5.13 when he sat down and wrote out Fantine’s sentence while she simultaneously explained her situation and begged for mercy. We see it now. Javert as St Michael is “monstrous,” he is the St Michael that defeated Satan, not the healing protector Michael. We even have the sword imagery. Michael used the sword to best Satan in battle; except this time the sword is “social” and to Javert at this moment, Valjean is the personification of Crime-As-Satan.

(Side note: something I love about Javert is that he as a human being isn’t really portrayed as an avidly religious person, at least not in the ways that Valjean or the bishop are portrayed as religious people. But his symbolism sure is religious. I think that’s one of the drastic differences between book Javert and stage Javert. Stage Javert is portrayed as a religious person but his symbolism is more human.)

“Probity, sincerity, candor, conviction, the idea of duty, are things that, when in error, can turn hideous, but--even though hideous--remain great: their majesty, peculiar to the human conscience, persists in horror. They are virtues with a single vice--error.” Hugo’s thought about duty done in error is so interesting. He says something similar when talking about Problem of the monastery: “To mistake a grave error for a duty has a grandeur of its own.” For Hugo, the fact of having such strong conviction alone is a grand thing. Having conviction, having a sense of duty is always a good thing--the error is not in the sense of duty itself but in what that allegiance might be to. The virtues of duty or honesty or conviction are by themselves inherently good, but they can be misused and misinterpreted and made wrong.

(Side note: This is actually a really interesting thought re: Grantaire! Hugo holds not just having beliefs but having faith in and conviction about your beliefs in such high regard. Which makes Grantaire, who is conviction-less and faithless, in the midst of all these people who are so loyal and committed to their beliefs and ideals, not a mild contrast but a massive one.)

“Without suspecting it, Javert, in his dreadful happiness, was pitiful, like every ignorant man in triumph. Nothing could be more poignant and terrible than this face, which revealed what might be called the evil of good.” God I love this line. “The evil of good” is a concept that really, really, really needs to be common usage. I feel like this line specifically really needs some in depth analysis but also I don’t really know what to say about it except that it’s just so true. Regarding Javert being “pitiful” in his happiness, this kind of reminds me of Mme Victurnien? Both think they’re doing a “good thing” and their deeds ruin lives; their triumph and feelings of righteousness are pitiful for this reason. Again, it’s the equivalent of a “ha ha I win” bully moment, but with much worse consequences. Man, I feel like this chunk needs more analysis than this but I don’t know what to give it.

#les miserables #les miserables meta #brickclub #lm 1.8.3 #les mis #les mis meta

[montmartre-parapluie]

Top Ten Queries for Dead Men Tell No Tales That Really Bug Me:

Thanks to @tockamybeloved​ and @intricatecaprice​ for chatting with me about this.

I’m a history nerd. I admit that. And I ALSO admit that I really shouldn’t look for historical accuracy in a movie franchise that includes the Fountain of Youth, mermaids, fish-men, and “Poseidon’s Tomb”.  But hear me out on my delayed thoughts from 2017...

1) The Poseidon Adventure: 

Is the Greek Pantheon actually part of the POTC canon now, re “The Trident of Poseidon”? When (and HOW?) did Poseidon die? Why isn’t it Calypso’s Trident, given how she is pretty much THE all-powerful sea-goddess in the previous movies? Why am I thinking about this when the screenwriters clearly didn’t?

2) The “?” on how Will is still cursed: I’ve seen some really great, detailed headcanons on why this happened, so this is more a niggle directed at the movie.WHY did they press rewind on the AWE small-print on the curse? I thought his freedom all depended on Elizabeth being faithful for ten years - which she clearly was, when he returns in that post-credit At World’s End scene! Is the movie suggesting Elizabeth had a tawdry affair whilst Will was busy being an undead psychopomp? That really takes something away from the reunion scene...

Hi Honey! Sorry about that bonus curse extension...

3) Carina Smyth, “Born of the Devil”:

*weary sigh* What. Just... what. Witchcraft trials. This is about... seventy to eighty years too late for Salem: The Tropical Beach Years, guys. If you’re going to have the British villain arrest and hang your feisty, educated young female protagonist for witchcraft, at least have him do it in a year when that would reasonably make sense. The 18th century is called the age of Enlightenment, people. Your average smelly pirate/superstitious villager might believe in it, but...please don’t have the scientific instrument-seller shouting about witches because your female character knows science . Especially when the actual witches in your canon are more of the ‘human skulls and rats in cauldrons’ type. It looks, and sounds, stupid. 

4) The Tragic Waste of David Wenham

Admittedly, this is more of a hang-up from my old-timey Faramir crush, but WHY? Why waste this pointless cameo role on a talented actor like David Wenham? We get a cardboard cut-out villain who has such stale lines as ‘The Power of the Trident belongs to the British Empire!!’ and not a jot of characterisation. You might as well call him Lieutenant Badguy.

(Not to mention, history niggle here- what is a BRITISH Lieutenant doing on the Dutch/French owned colony of St Martin giving orders like he owns the place? I think the French and Dutch would have had something to say about that, boyo!) 

5) ‘Never Betray the Compass.... apart from the last 1,982,734 times you did.’

I don’t like to count how many times Jack gave the compass to Elizabeth/Will/Barbossa/Jack the Monkey various other characters in the previous movies, only for this rule to turn up now and suddenly be a big deal. This is a plot-hole as big as Poseidon’s Tomb, and it’s not getting any smaller the more I look at it. (Also: What exactly counts as ‘cheating on’ the compass? Is this strange rule based on not hurting the compass’ feelings?) 

6) Elizabeth doesn’t bother to rescue Will? SERIOUSLY?! 

This should be further up the list near point 2.We had three movies all about the power of Elizabeth and Will’s love. THREE. This was NOT a small plot point - these two adorable idiots take on the East India Company, the dead, fish-people, heck, and most of piratedom, just to be together. There is no way in HELL Elizabeth is just sitting, chin in hands, in her lighthouse, letting Will carry on being cursed for no good reason, AND letting her young son risk his life trying to find a cure. That is just... NO. BAD MOVIE. BAD/

7) Join the queue for “Vengeance on Jack Sparrow”

If point 5) was true, shouldn’t Salazar and his crew have been freed way back during Dead Man’s Chest? Is there some sort of turn-based persecution rules for all the undead revenants Jack has pissed off over the years? And why don’t they all get together over drinks and REALLY try to stamp him out? I’d enjoy a ‘Supernatural Unionisation event’ where Salazar and Davy Jones put aside their squishy undead differences to “really I mean it this time” kill Jack for good. All you need to do is communicate and co-operate, zombies of the deep! 

8) “I AM yarr father!!”

This could have been a whole movie in itself. Granted, a weird movie, but it would have been different to anything we’d seen before. Barbossa - our snarly pirate villain, from the original movie - falling in LOVE, people. Barbossa trying to juggle a steady relationship with his questionable career choices! Harrassed Single Pirate Dad Barbossa trying to plunder the Spanish Main AND manage a hyperactive toddler!

 The comedic/dramatic/tragic character possibilities were all WASTED for a quick perfunctory reveal that felt like an unearned cheesy Star Wars rip-off. Plot point FAI.L

9) The Tragic Waste of Javier Bardem

Oh, POTC, what you do?! If you’d played your cards right, you could have had a villain who could have seen you through another three movies AND helped more character development for Jack! Salazar could have started out as a Spanish Norrington who slowly sank into darkness through his pain and rage, whilst Jack could actually face the impact of his some of his crimes. We could have had a nuanced Valjean/Javert vibe. It would have been so good! Javier Bardem is a good actor. Plus another opportunity for Penelope Cruz to show up again.

Nope. Brushed over and a comedy ‘anchor to the head’ second death. Gee. Thanks.

10) The post-credits DMTNT scene.

Er... way to undo MORE of the original trilogy without it making a lick of sense? And messing up your own ‘All Curses Are Broken” logic at the same time?  

#PotC #i love DMTNT #but OY do I want to do a rewrite #general thoughts #dead men tell no tales #jack sparrow #potc5 #potc dmtnt #salazars revenge

[elliepassmore]

The Court of Miracles Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: heists, France, morally grey characters, gangs, Les Mis, Six of Crows I was kind of wary of this book going in, because the premise sounded awesome, but there's been so many alternate!Europe stories, particularly w/ France and England, that I wasn't sure how to feel. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. This book is AMAZING. It has ruthless characters, heists (though not many), revolution, and found families. I adore Nina, who is the narrator and Grant's way of giving Eponine a better ending, and is 100% batshit crazy, but in a good way. I enjoyed the little folktales that setup the different parts of the story and thought they were cute ways to give exposition without being obnoxious. The setting was fantastic as well, though I may have a weakness for any setting that utilizes sewers and catacombs as hideouts, and you could really feel the tension in the air of Paris as the book moved through the years and things just kept building on top of one another until it reached the boiling point. The Les Mis aspect of the book is pretty obvious, we have characters named Eponine, Thenardier, Cosette, Javert, Valjean, etc. who play relatively similar roles, though not exact, to their roles in Hugo's book. There is, also, of course, the revolution aspect that flares and dies throughout the book until the last part where it comes full force. The Jungle Book aspect was slightly harder for me to figure out, though I think I probably just wasn't looking for it since it's actually pretty obvious. Each of the Guilds has a different crime, such as stealing or killing, but also different roles with associated animals/creatures. Nina is a Cat, some of the assassins (I think they were assassins) are Hyenes/Hyenas, and the Big Bad is Tiger. I haven't read the Jungle Book, so I can't really say plot-wise what was borrowed from it, but I'm going to say that Nina = Mowgli and Tiger = Shere Kahn, with the Thieves Guild playing the part of the wolves who save Mowgli/Nina. Nina, Eponine, our main character has wretched luck. Her father, Thenardier, is abusive, much like in the original, but unlike in the original, her older sister, Azelma, is the one that gets sold into prostitution in order for Thenardier to make some money. Poor little Nina is only 9 when the book opens and is forced to confront some very nasty truths very quickly. While her luck does get somewhat better, thieving seems to be the only thing she doesn't really have to work at being 'lucky' at. Nina is no-nonsense, interested in her own motives and means, and for the entirety of the book, those center around saving her sisters, first Azelma and then Ettie (Cosette). She falls into one of my favorite tropes/literary techniques *SPOILER* the unreliable narrator *SPOILER END* and Grant plays that piece so perfectly that while you can see some of it coming, you can't see all of it. Nina is just so damn clever and ruthless and I very much enjoy characters who are like that, so she's a favorite in the book. Ettie, Cosette, is already super gorgeous in this one, though she remains naive and infatuated with the idea of love. She's your average 12-year-old, chatty and easily scared, though she does a good job at pretending to be brave until she is. You can really see Ettie's character growth as she moves through the book, culminating with "Beautiful Ettie, who was always afraid. She's not afraid anymore." (388). Nina and Ettie are really the only characters we spend a great deal of time with, though St. Juste/Enjolras, Montparnasse (who I'm convinced is a better Marius and is part of 'Eponine deserved better'), the Tiger, and Thenardier also play rather significant roles in the story. St. Juste, Montparnasse, and the prince are set up to be potential love interests, though it's subtle enough that you can ignore that aspect of the story if you want. St. Juste is, of course, the revolutionary who just won't shut up, but unlike Enjolras, is completely unaware that his revolution is doomed and is actually quite nasty about it any time reality is brought to his attention. Oh well. St. Juste is well-bred, and despite his revolutionary tendencies, has carryovers from being well-bred, such as thinking the Guilds/Court of Miracles requires a revolution to save them and looking down on Nina because she steals (though he at least seems apologetic for that. Montparnasse is the Master (lieutenant, essentially) of the Assassin's Guild and somehow takes a liking to Nina, perhaps because of her devotion to Ettie. Montparnasse helps her even when the rest of his Guild, and the rest of the Guilds in general, don't. The rest of his character is a bit of a mystery, since he sticks to the shadows most of the time and doesn't reveal much about himself, either through words or actions. Despite that, he might be my favorite side-character in the story and of the potential love interests, is the only one I actually think should/could be with Nina. Thenardier is just an asshole who wants money. No surprises. He does some very terrible things in order to get money, and at certain times I'm fairly certain he's motivated by the revenge over Nina preventing him from getting money for selling Ettie (and some other things, but those are spoilery). He's a terrible person, but he's not Tiger-level bad, and so he's the character you love to hate. I'm very intrigued and also incredibly nervous to see where he goes in the next book. The Prince is...well, a prince, but he remembered Nina from when she stole a crown jewel from around his neck when they were kids and seems rather infatuated with her as a teenager/adult. He is, however, completely unaware of the famine and the horrible things the nobility do to keep the commoners down and is actually occasionally complicit. Beyond that, he's annoying. While he lets Nina be Nina, thief and all, he's undeniably spoiled and privileged and can't understand the struggles of non-nobles, though he does an admirable job helping Nina without that full understanding (and beyond that I just don't like him and probably wouldn't be able to stand him being in the sequel more). The book wrapped up perfectly, in my opinion, and though there are some unanswered questions at the end (mainly re: Thenardier, but also w/ Javert and Jean Valjean), I wold say I'd be fine if this book ended as a stand-alone instead of the first of a duology. That being said, I'm definitely reading the sequel.

#book #books #book recommendations #book review #the court of miracles #nina thenardier #eponine #cosette #ettie #les miserables #the jungle book #characters of color #disabled characters #grey morality #kester grant

[esteliel]

Les Mis - The Staged Concert

Review time!

In case you're going to sit in the grand circle, don't worry - the strange construction of lighting rigs rises up as soon as the music starts, and from the second row side seat I had a good view of basically the entire stage.

I went with a cheap seat since I'm not a fan of Boe & Ball, and, well. Alfie Boe is exactly as he was when I last saw him in the role on Broadway, meaning that he sings it BEAUTIFULLY - truly, technically his Bring Him Home is to die for! - but he's just not much of an actor and I think it's that lack of expression that makes him come across as lowkey pissed off during the entire show. I was wondering if the concert staging would help, because that is basically how he's always sung his big numbers even on Broadway - as if he weren't acting in a show, but singing Who Am I or Bring Him Home contextless in a concert setting. I think it does help a little - thanks to all the cuts/lack of staging, he doesn't get to have aggressive interactions with Cosette, for example - but since everyone else does act, I still really feel the lack of it from him; the artfulness of his singing just stands out a lot more to me. YMMV, of course; his Bring Him Home is so otherworldly beautiful that I'm sure just about every reviewer will give him 5 stars, but I just need more of an emotional presence in addition to the singing to connect with it.

Michael Ball as Javert - oh dear. In basically 90% of his scenes, he's a somewhat hammy, nice Uncle Ball who has decided to dress up as Javert. His Stars wasn't bad, I thought - it was the only time I felt any sort of determination coming from him. Which, given that this is JAVERT he's playing, umm...

His Suicide wasn't terrible either, but again there wasn't much of an emotional connection. I never once had that sensation of being drawn into this emotional maelstrom of despair alongside him - I was just watching Michael Ball pretending to be Javert, instead of watching Javert, if that makes sense.

For those who care about costume details, Ballvert has a ponytail, and he comes out for the sewer scene with his hair loose and a gun in his hand which he points at Valjean. I always like stagings where Javert gets to threaten Valjean with a gun in the sewers but there was just so little emotional turmoil involved here that it didn't do much for me. :(

Furthermore, his recitative parts (and actually large parts of this production) are sung SO SLOWLY that it felt incredibly strange to me. Especially because there are so many cuts of scenes that are vital for the plot/the atmosphere, and yet the songs are slowed down so much that I feel like 30 minutes out of the 2:30 runtime is thanks to the slowness. I wonder, did they slow it down intentionally, or is it because the concert version score is from before they sped up the production...?

Carrie's Fantine left me cold. I was sad about that; her Eponine never did much for me, but surprisingly I REALLY enjoyed her in Heathers. Her Fantine was just... barely there. She was more Carrie on stage than Fantine, which was always how I felt about her Eponine as well. And she couldn't even make the most of her one big moment with I Dreamed A Dream; I don't know, she just seemed quite weak in the lower parts of her song.

Matt Lucas as Thénardier does the same stupid adlibbing that I hate so much about Thénardiers. With the slapstick humor for the Thénardiers that Cammack productions go for I'm usually at least mildly entertained the first time I see someone in the role, and it's only when you see them do the exact same stupid slapstick routine again and again and again that I really start to hate them, but Matt Lucas annoyed me right from the start. The audience LOVED HIM though, he got HUGE applause for basically everything he did and played with the audience, asking for more applause, telling them to stop it, but I really didn't enjoy him at all. And with the concert staging, you can't even focus on the antics of the ensemble during Master of the House, sigh.

Shan Ako as Eponine: her On My Own was lovely, she sang it very well - but I think her character was the one most affected by the concert cuts because I don't think she even gets to do more than just On My Own and then dying in Marius' arms (plus her bit in A Heart Full of Love). There's no young Eponine in the show at all, so we first see her show up in Paris, and I wonder, if I didn't know Les Mis so very well, what I would have made of her as a character?

And the thing is, one of the reasons I love Rob Houchen so much is that he usually has a lot of chemistry with everyone he interacts with, but since in this staged concert version, she has to die standing up while hugged by him, I really didn't get as much emotion out of that scene as even mediocre Eponines can do. Which is a shame, because after her On My Own I really believe she could do a lot more with the show, if the cuts/the concert staging didn't take away most opportunities to do so.

Lily Kerhoas' Cosette is a letdown, she's just very weak throughout; both singing- and acting-wise she really paled next to Marius and Eponine. I wish we could have had Amara in this, who always had SUCH presence on stage. :/

Simon Bowman's Bishop is so lovely! His powerful voice! <3 It's so good to see an actual older Bishop on stage instead of the usual under-30 ensemble member.

And I've been so looking forward to FINALLY seeing Earl Carpenter on a stage again, and he is SO good as Bamatabois - he's clearly really having fun with the role, and he's giving 1000% acting every second he's on, but at the same time this is what makes it really frustrating because argh, to waste Earl on Bamatabois who has 2 minutes on stage? A crime. ;___;

I've already talked about how much I love Rob Houchen, but honestly, everyone knows that I'm not in this fandom for the amis, but the most joy I've felt in this production was at the start of ABC Café when Rob Houchen, Bradley Jaden and Raymond Walsh were on stage together for the first time. That combination is the true dreamcast in this production. My favourite Marius, Enjolras and Grantaire ever. And all of them were so good! <3

Raymond is such a good actor, but again due to the staging he doesn't get to do most of the small amis interaction details that always make him such a joy to watch on stage when I usually dislike most Grantaires, but he makes good use of what opportunities he gets.

Rob is lovely - pretty much the only actor I've ever seen who can imbue the bloodless role of Marius with an endearing, youthful charisma and who usually manages to have beautiful chemistry with his Cosettes. (That he doesn't really this time is the fault of the not very present Cosette, alas.)

He does have great chemistry with Enjolras and Grantaire though, and his Empty Chairs was beautiful.

There were only ever two Enjolras' in my life I have truly, deeply loved - Bradley Jaden and Wallace Smith. It's been so long since Bradley!Enjolras that I was starting to question myself - was he really that good? Was I maybe remembering wrong? Has he maybe aged out of the role now, after his year as Javert?

And then he came onto stage for the first time and I knew that I hadn't remembered wrong at all. He has this incredible stage presence and charisma that draws you in and commands the stage, and where his Javert is weirdly emotional about stars, lol, and incredibly, insanely, fiercely obsessive and emotional about Valjean, his Enjolras hits all the emotions JUST RIGHT. The litmus test for a good Enjolras for me is that he needs to have enough charisma on stage to make you want to join the revolution - there have only ever been two in my life that have pulled that off. He does it so effortlessly, it's incredible, just watching him there on stage being Enjolras with every fibre of his being.

But OMG, the orchestra is GLORIOUS! Getting to hear the score played by 24 musicians for once is such a treat! I haven't heard this show sound so well since I saw it in Austria played by the entire orchestra of Linz's opera house. <3 OMG that string section. There were violin lines and oboe parts that I never even consciously heard before, and I've seen this damn show so often.

Also stage door was CRAZY, but my favourite part of it was that despite the huge, screaming crowd no one but me recogized Claude-Michel Schönberg when he came out of the stage door ahahaha. (He then hugged Raymond Walsh so clearly he has good taste. <3)

Audio to follow later today, once I've had time to track it!

#Les Miserables #les mis concert #Alfie Boe #Michael Ball #do I need a theatre tag

[maraschinocheri]

A novel no one needed on the Les Mis filmed concert: 1,800+ words of stuff and nonsense.

The first thing that jumps into my head is that I am so glad the concert run is over, and the second is that it’s a very strange feeling when the strongest vocal performances on stage seemed to belong to Enjolras, Eponine, and … Cosette. But let’s get the rest of it all over with first.

• Alfie Boe’s acting has improved since he last played Valjean, thankfully, but good lord, he really needs to not get involved in any even moderately extended run of anything, because he clearly cannot hack it physically or vocally. And while it may seem churlish to say so, I am so bored of his Valjean. Warble warble warble, seeming so out of place with everyone else’s voices, and just. Enough. He looked lovely, of course, and I’m sure his fans truly enjoyed this repeat of him in the role, when … he was actually there, but he sounded absolutely exhausted. I’m afraid I spent a lot of his performance wishing I were watching JOJ on film instead.

• Michael Ball’s mention during the encore that this was his last performance as Javert seems a fair thing; he is not—and never was— meant for this role on any level (I maintain he has all the threatening menace of Snidely Whiplash), though Stars was not bad, especially because he left himself, you know, sing and not bark or growl or spend so much damn time and energy trying to not be *~MICHAEL BALL~*. The gritted teeth “m’sieur! mayor!” was just a boring choice, the Confrontation was a muddy mess, the Intervention played too much for comic effect (though MASSIVE POINTS for bringing back the original why the hell did he run? instead of why on earth did he run?), the barricade scenes had too little punch, the Sewers had so much potential that disappeared, but … 

But. While Ball’s is not my preferred style of Javert and never could be, I have to take a deep breath and blinkingly applaud his wild leaping commitment to batshittery in the Suicide. I mean, if you’re going for full on batshit at that point, you have to really sell it, and with any luck make it a different range of batshit than previous batshit Javerts, and he did. My dad, the sole member of my family not much prone to show commentary, said “That was excellent.” firmly after the Suicide, and a part of me grudgingly agreed. But please, never again, Michael. Honestly I think he’s relieved it’s done.

(Also honestly, the most amusing moment of the entire concert experience for me was my mother’s interval exclamation that she had “a new boyfriend!” Assuming she meant Bwadders, I laughed and asked oh really, who? And she said … Javert. After I recovered myself, I reminded her that Javert was Michael. Ball., who has been at one stage or another my—and everyone else’s—mother’s boyfriend since 1985. She had entirely forgotten he was playing Javert in the concert and was bizarrely fooled by wig and costume, but assured me that even now, she “could swim in his dimples.” My mother, everyone.)

• Shan Ako was a marvelous Eponine, and I loved her On My Own. She’ll be great fun to watch in the actual production, I think, and I so appreciated a tough cookie Eponine with old school vocal power but newer school technique and touch and oh my god subtlety without losing anything in characterization, even given the limitations of a concert performance. Houchen’s Marius wouldn’t have deserved her, anyway.

• Speaking of Houchen. You know, I was fond of Rob while he was in his actual run as Marius, but he’s absolutely checked out of it mentally and emotionally, and it shows. He still has a lovely voice that really works as Marius sometimes, but there’s nothing … there underneath the pretty sheen, and after the few years’ distance since his proper run, I’ve seen enough Marii who enjoyed the role and found substance in it that the lack of depth in Rob’s take was disappointing. However, I acknowledge that some of Marius’ actual-show chances of showing range don’t happen in the concert version, and perhaps if they’d been included my opinion would change. He knows he’s aged out the role now, however, and I highly doubt he’d ever want to do it again even if invited to do so. But who knows.

• I walked into the concert film with no opinion of Lily Kerhoas’ Cosette other than knowing she could sing it beautifully, but I was actually impressed—and sort of want to sit nearly every principal Cosette of the last, oh, decade in front of her performance and say, see you’re allowed to act; it can actually work—and I look forward to her work in the proper show as well, especially if they get her some costumes that actually fit and don’t look made of tissue.

• God, I hate Matt Lucas. The end.

• Katy Secombe has added some different touches to her Madame T, some good, and some—obviously Lucas-influenced—bad. It’s unfortunate that some of the Thenardier ~comedy absolutely cannot work in a concert setting—the wedding was awful—but she made a decent hash of a bad deal.

• Which brings me to Bwadders. Oh, Bradley. He’s just so very, very good at Enjolras, and always has been. This concert!jolras, however, had one very different vibe from his run’s take on the role, which was … a hopefulness, maybe? A joy and breathless hope running beneath the passion passion PASSION that’s always been there, and it was beautiful to watch in his eyes and mannerisms. The concert contained Bradley somewhat, in that his strong physicality wasn’t allowed to sort of fill the room (and barricade) as it had at the Queens, and I missed that. Also—and there is no getting around this, sadly, for me—that manbun still ain’t it. (Gingerfather—whose fave character in the show is Enjolras—just sighed heavily and said that there should’ve just been one of the Ponytails of Yore instead, and you know, he’s not wrong.) Bradley also nailed two of the three Big Notes, but his until the earth is free was done differently from how he approached it during his real run, and not for the better (the Ghost of THAXTON giveth, and it taketh away). And yet … it didn’t matter. It truly didn’t. He was the best of the principals, and at least for me would probably have been even if he’d bollocked the other two Big Notes as well. Anyway, Bwadders. A thrill to watch, and alive with energy so much of the show otherwise lacked.

• You will note no mention yet of Fletcher. I refer to the point above re: Matt Lucas.

• The Amis, as one. I am aware that many, many people adore Raymond Walsh’s Grantaire, and I entirely understand why. He was fine. Craig Mather’s Combeferre and Niall Sheehy’s Courfeyrac both allowed both actors to show off some real oomph in their voices, though I’m still much too rattled by a Courfeyrac wearing Joly’s clothes. I love Vinny Coyle because he’s just so obviously, thrillingly in love with the show, but he’s also a fabulous Feuilly, and I merrily handwave the not-so-great we’ll be therrrre because a) it’s a horrendous note few people can carry well, and b) I’ve seen and heard him do it brilliantly so many other times when he was covering Feuilly as a swing. And it was delicious to see Will Jennings as a background onstage SwingAmi. Everyone else was just sort of … there, though all very pretty. It was extremely clear who had been in casts properly educated and invested in the show, but that’s a record I’ve played enough.

• I will never not love seeing Sarah Lark, Jo Loxton, and Tamsin Dowsett. I also deeply appreciate seeing Oli Brenin doing everything, everywhere, all the time.

• It is never not wonderful seeing Earl Carpenter bishoping, but my god EARL WHAT EVEN with that Bamatabois. What even. There was active squeaky recoiling happening in my row.

• Gavroche was excellent and adorable and GINGER. Full marks.

• And so to the encores. The only point I could see to the coat handover from Michael to Bradley was to give Michael a Moment along the lines of the Valjeanfest, as it’s not like the role of Javert is new to Bradley. However, I was fascinated by the strangeness of the harmonized Stars, and I think I need to watch and listen to it again about a thousand times to really confirm my proper opinion. I know Bradley doesn’t sing Stars that high for real—and certainly doesn’t need to—and what they did here doesn’t really … show his approach to the role, but it was interesting, and I give them credit for the try. (I did attempt to imagine others—let’s be real, I was imagining THAXTON—even being asked to make a go of this, and my imagined Thaxtonic response will make for excellent nightmare fuel.)

• Then, then, then. All Valjeans all the time, including some Potato in a tour costume that still has me hissing at its wrongness. Anyway! Leaving aside Alfie—whose section just really sounded like jesus christ I cannot believe I have to do this again; I just want to lie down for a thousand years and block Cameron’s number from any further contact with me put to music—I found the whole thing much more palatable than the 25th anniversary Valjeanfest, perhaps mostly because of my fave part of the whole concert—the whole two lines JOJ and Killian shared—but also because the four Valjeans not actively praying for their own deaths all seemed to have physical, emotional, and vocal respect for the role, the show, the audience, and each other. It was a strange joy to watch.

Which, truly, this concert was as well, in enough places to ensure that I will buy the inevitable DVD. On some occasions I may even start its playback before Look Down (Paris). Maybe.

(One more small thought, though, on this concert and why I am glad it’s over: I know the run sparked a lot of joy for a lot of people, but if I saw one more bitchy tweet from the cast members I might have screamed. Are some audience members dickheads? Absolutely. Then enforce the fucking rules. Train and allow your FOH to go after those people (and force the management to back the FOH staff up!), remove them, throw one of the old pest catcher boxes from under the Queens seats at them, whatever. But shut up. I don’t even follow any of the whingers I saw! Twitter just enjoyed throwing their tweets into my feed like a toddler’s wall-splattering food. #blessed)

Anyway. That’s that done. The show’s world turns, though obviously it no longer revolves.

#ginger is headed this way with an opinion #natter natter natter

[bbclesmis]

No singing allowed

Victor Hugo’s epic novel Les Misérables might be best known for its musical adaptations, but a new small-screen adaptation produced for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS feels more like a western, as exec producer Bethan Jones and director Tom Shankland explain.

When Victor Hugo sat down to write his epic 19th century novel Les Misérables, including in it a searing indictment of the divide between rich and poor and the travails of revolutionary political movements, he was probably considering a more distinguished legacy than an often-derided musical in London’s West End.

For when one thinks about Les Misérables, it is the bathetic tones of I Dreamed a Dream and carefully choreographed dance-acting that spring to mind. And although Anne Hathaway’s rendition of I Dreamed… in the 2012 Hollywood film did give a sense of the pain and despair her character Fantine was supposed to be feeling, the fact remains that this ambitious novel is often reduced to a collection of show tunes and the diminutive appellation ‘Les Mis.’

This is one of the reasons adaptation supremo Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride & Prejudice, Middlemarch) has taken on the project for UK pubcaster the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS in the US, alongside producers Lookout Point and BBC Studios, which is also distributing. When discussing the adaptation a few years back at the Hay Festival, Davies called the musical a “shoddy farrago” of Hugo’s original work, adding that he hoped his take would champion the book for its depth.

“Andrew loves being contentious, that’s his thing,” says Bethan Jones, exec producer on the series for BBC Studios. “For me, you take a big book like this and you adapt it to the form you are servicing. Inevitably, the musical has to have its baddies, its goodies, its romantic interests – it has to follow that journey. It has a certain amount of hours to fill and you have to tell a musical story. A film adaptation will be a very different thing again. What we’ve got in six hours is the opportunity to dig down a little bit more into those characters than potentially shorter adaptations have time to do; to explore the relationships and themes between the characters and their particular journeys.”

Part of this sharper focus on the source material is a strict ‘no singing’ policy, with Davies pointedly declaring at Hay that his cast would not “yell great things like they do in the musical.” Jones diplomatically says the musical and the BBC series – which lands on screens in early 2019 – are “two very different, but equally valid” ways of representing the book.

Pared down, Les Misérables tells the story of prisoner Jean Valjean and his continuous battle with police inspector Javert following his release from prison for stealing bread. After further run-ins with the law, Valjean attempts to change his ways and live life as a decent man. Interspersed with his long road to redemption are stories of family, love, rebellion and commentary on the social and political class system of post-revolutionary France. Its intricate plot has spawned – beyond the aforementioned takes – more than 60 adaptations across film and television, which raises another question about the BBC’s forthcoming production – do we need another?

Jones reiterates Davies’ desire to go back to Hugo’s original text and “draw out more of the real stories, themes and characters” and the book’s timelessness as justification. “We also felt it was timely in as much as while there is still poverty, hardship and degradation in the world, books like this will still be relevant. It feels timely to be looking at a classic text that deals with a complicated period and the division of rich and poor but through the eyes of brilliant characters.”

Director Tom Shankland (The City & The City, The Missing, Ripper Street) admits he hadn’t seen a single adaptation of the book before he took the helm, and thus hopes his is a fresh perspective. “For me, it felt like an epic western,” he says. “I’ve always loved westerns. There are all these fantastic characters – the bad sheriff, the wanted man, the hunted fugitive. It was everything I loved about that genre – the adventure and emotion of that.” Simply being thrilled by the plot isn’t enough to hook a director completely, Shankland points out, but he was snagged “emotionally and thematically” by Valjean’s quest for redemption and a “simple desire to be good in a bad world.”

The BBC has assembled a premium cast for the series, with The Affair star Dominic West taking on Valjean, Selma’s David Oyelowo playing Javert, Lily Collins as destitute young mother Fantine and Adeel Akhtar and Olivia Colman as petty criminals the Thénardiers. “David absolutely felt there was something around Javert’s role as a bit of a thwarted outsider with frustrations and drive to move up in the world, as well as being this person with a real ideological commitment to the belief that people are either born wicked or good,” Shankland says. “He kept on looking and finding, in extraordinary ways, the humanity – however twisted and bitter – in Javert. By the end, I’m almost in tears for him. In my wildest dreams, I wasn’t sure we’d get to that place with a character like that. David dug so deep.

“When I watch what Dominic does to take Valjean to this unbelievably brutalised place, which is almost a wordless, inhuman place, to where he ends, he makes me believe every part of that journey.”

Davies has a knack of turning a classic literary work into a TV drama that resonates cinematically and does not seem anachronistic. In 2016, he received universal acclaim for his BBC adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic historical novel War & Peace, in which he successfully brought chaotic battle scenes, aristocratic opulence and sweeping landscapes of 19th century Russia to the small screen. Furthermore, within that epic scope, Jones says Davies has a rare ability to portray relatable characters that “speak to” a contemporary audience.

“Andrew’s scripts made these characters feel modern. That was nothing to do with having them speak in a very modern way or changing their behaviour, he just found the humanity and earthiness of it,” Shankland says, recalling a scene in which Fantine and her companions urinate in a Paris park. “I thought, ‘Oh god, they’re going to pee in Les Misérables, that’s exciting.’ It was these little things that Andrew did to make these people feel real and have an immediate presence that made me think that it wouldn’t be like doing a conventional, polite period piece. We’d be doing something that had a real connection with today.”

Filming has taken the production to far-flung areas of the French-speaking parts of Europe, from southern Belgium to Sedan in the Ardennes region of north-eastern France. In Sedan, Shankland says, they found back streets acutely reminiscent of the period Hugo was writing about. Jones and Shankland both note that the filming of key scenes, such as the political uprising, where students revolt and erect barricades in the narrow streets of Paris, were inspired by contemporary riots such as those that took place in London in 2011 and in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the 1960s.

“I wanted the images to resonate with the audience, so they’d be thinking, ‘Oh hang about, that doesn’t feel like [post-revolutionary France] even if they might have guns that are somewhat 19th century,’” Shankland says. “Actually, what happened in a street battle – the energy, fear and chaos of that – is very modern. I tried to let modern events into the imagery. In some ways, we never thought of it as a period piece.”

“It does speak to that modern world. It’s not the French revolution; it’s a small, failed skirmish. That’s the tragedy of it. It’s a group of people desperately trying to assert themselves in a situation where the state is so much bigger than them. That’s still very relevant,” Jones adds.

Considering Les Misérables’ hard-hitting topics, one might expect the series to comprise six hours of unremitting tension and misery. But Shankland is quick to reassure this isn’t the case. “For all that the story is full of these epic, intense themes, there’s so much humour in it, and not in a way that I felt was ever crowbarred in. However dark times are, there’s always room for lightness and romance. It’s just a beautifully textured piece.” And all without a songbook in sight.

(x)

#les mis bbc #bbc les mis #tom shankland #bethan jones #Interviews #articles

[rosesutherlandwrites]

I Miserabili (1964)--episode one

Holy crap. I am so glad I’m watching this (and  a huge shout out to @adorablecrab for helping me make it happen with my incredibly awful tech skills) Especially after watching episode one of....erm...certain other adaptations really recently. This is SO MUCH BETTER! I tried to (kinda sorta) live tweet my way through so I’d have at least a record of what i thought, but i made a bit of a hash of it. But here is some kind of order of thoughts on the first episode (there are ten in total so hooray i have something to keep busy with for a while):

Even before getting into the adaptation part of things, this is making my occasional filmmaker heart happy. It’s just SUCH GOOD FILMMAKING. The pacing is amazing, the lead actors are KILLING IT, and even the things that are a little weird from todays perspective are interesting (no incidental music at all! Nothing trying to manipulate your feelings, everything you get is JUST THE STORY and i am telling you, i choked up bad for Fantine.) or weirdly entertaining (sudden changes of location without a transition, the non existent special effects in the Cart Incident ).

They definitely didn’t start with waterloo. But I was also surprised that they didn’t go to Toulon either? But it was really smart(and also from a budget perspective saved a ton of money) to start in the village of Digne, which has the sort of silently suspicious inhabitants that wouldn’t be out of place in a transylvanian village downhill of a vampire castle. All the key points get hit here...JVJ is a big guy btw. I have never seen a Valjean who so truly looked like he could indeed perform superhuman acts of strength. 

Both Mme Magloire and Baptistine made it into this adaptation! The bishop is really great. Quite gentle and saintly, but firm in his beliefs...he isn’t quite as humorously unconcerned about things as Derek Jacobi was, which i actually kind of missed? But really, he was great. He and JVJ have such a good conversation that i thought at one point: how the hell is he gonna turn around and steal the silverware? I should have trusted it would make sense, this is a damn good adaptation. (aside--when JVJ sees the candle sticks, his reaction to them cracked me up) After everyone goes to bed JVJ got a full on Shakespeare-style soliloquy! Which was unexpected and maybe odd by todays standards, but i loved it--a great way to give all the history of his crime, the what and the why of it and his punishment, and that he agrees--he was guilty--but that he feels the punishment was unjust (well yeah) and that society is to blame. Anyhow...the rest goes as it always does. (the silverware basket!) The stunned reaction and confusion of Valjean when the bishop doesn’t narc on him is amazing, and i have the feeling that it’s going to come around in a nice parallel much later when Javert is released. The bishop has bought his soul for god and

incredibly jarring transition (i.e. none) to Fantine and her girl gang (time and place well labelled, btw, 1815). They are having a picnic and their boyfriends have just left for a surprise--a relief to me in that i will be spared having to look at a second rat-face Tholomyes this week. So, Fantine’s friends are meant to be more girls she knows that Real Friends but WOW these are FIRST RATE MEAN GIRLS and they spend all their time talking about how dumb Fantine is, even to her face. and to be fair, she does seem naive to the point of being not all there to start? At the reveal of what’s happened the rest of them, after a moment they start laughing about this trick, but fantine just can’t and it is heartbreaking. In one major change--she is pregnant NOW and has not already had cosette which i suppose could make felix a bit less of a schmuck if he didn’t know but frankly i don’t care. he’s still trash. jump to just before she and suddenly 3 year old Cosette are about to leave Paris. She is a lovely sweet mom and baby Cosette is adorbs and it is just sad as hell...also the longer we see Fantine the more obvious her acting skill gets.

Thenardiers: the swing! Eponine and Azelma! (Baby C is Zelma’s age here, and Ponine is older) These Thenardiers are not looking likely to be played for laughs. The Thenardiess is a hard looking lady...not much indication of how bad they’ll be from the outset, but how quickly they start adding numbers together is a MASSIVE RED FLAG and personally i don’t trust anyone who can do math that fast just on principle. 

On to M-sur-M where we get an INFODUMP from the mayor’s...i dunno, secretary? overseer, something. whoever his is, he is an uncomfortably close talker in the sort of way that says he maybe wants to wrestle you into a broom closet somewhere. It’s ooky. He is like this with Javert, and...yeah. I would not. But anyway. Javert is clearly WELL CAST. He just seems perfect. there’s some talk of his law and order vibe that is bang on and also disturbing in how very cut and dried he sees things. Will he and the Mayor agree? He’s the mayor, so therefore he is not wrong. eeee. They do some really clever storytelling stuff here--we don’t see Javert and JVJ talk together(and the mayors identity stays secret from unknowing viewers a bit longer, too!), instead we go watch Fantine’s factory stuff play out for a bit--no fights over the letter, she has a girl who reads the letters for her and knows about her child, and this girl seems like...probably not the wisest choice of confidante...maybe Fantine IS a little dumb tbh? When Javert comes out of the mayors office we get Infodump Part 2, The Dumpenning. I think i like this device with the weird secretary? We get a lot of stuff about the mayors backstory, but it all feels really urgent because Javert Has Suspicions.it’s also all very brick accurate--including the mayor having gone into mourning at the death of the Bishop of Digne.

The firing plays out differently from the brick but in a way i enjoyed it because it is, stunningly, Even More Unfair. Also, she has a real reason to be bitter and think Madeleine is a hypocrite (her word here), when actually douchbag secretary is the problem! The girl who is the cause of everything apologises to her on the way out and Fantine’s reactions in extreme close up killed me: It is us little miserable people who always end up hurting each other. This is not a subtle show at times? But it does what it does really well.

The final event is the cart sequence (starring M. le Maire’s glorious hair, Hugoesque high forehead, and a mud mask that truly has to be seen to be believed. We end on Javert’s assertion that he has only ever seen one person who could do what he has just done. A convict, Jean Valjean. End of episode,you cliffhanging bastards. I bet in 1964 there were some SHOOK Italian people freaking right out that they had to wait a week to see what happen next.

So far this is seriously the best adaptation I think i’ve ever seen? It’s super faithful to the source material in both events and tone, and the things that are cut or added are all in service to good story telling. Like--the petit Gervais thing? You don’t need it--you can see Valjean’s whole world shifting in the conversation with the bishop! No need to even show Tholomyes and co, they’ve already left and in four sentences and a ridiculous letter we truly know all we had to about their useless hides. I’m really looking forward to (crying my face off during) Part 2!

#ugh its so long #im sorry #i don't know how to put things behind the cut #les miserables #adaptations #i miserabili #does anyone even WANT to know what i thought about this or am i just being a twit #self indulgent film reviewing #guess what no one peed in a damn park thank god #bbc les mis salt if only in tags #abject nerdery

[theragamuffininitiative]

Given how much of a Ramin fan you are, I was wondering what your exact thoughts are on Phantom 25. Mind giving a review of the glorious perfection that was that concert?

Edit: @eponniia has informed me this ask does indeed say Phantom, not Les Mis, and I'm a moron. XD But. I'm leaving this for now lol.

I have watched it multiple times and there are things I love and things I…don’t as much. XD It’s been a while since one of those viewings though (but my dad did buy me the dvd as a gift, knowing I love it), so I don’t have a detailed review in my pocket.

I think Ramin is great as Enjolras, with all his fiery passion in both acting presence and just his voice itself - though I am forever laughing over the “guyliner” incident. XD Hadley Fraser, likewise, is a fantastic Grantaire lol, bless him.

Unfortunately I am not a big fan of Alfie Boe. He has a magnificent operatic range, but in the (admittedly few) performances I’ve seen him in, he has a tendency to just full-out belt things and drown out fellow performers and sacrifice character portrayal for personal performance. That is just my opinion, I prefer other actors’ portrayal of the character.

Norm Lewis is a genius at everything he sets his sharp acting and velvet tones to do. Heaven bless him. He’s a great Javert (though, on a related note, for this very reason I wasn’t a fan of him also being cast as Chauvelin this year, because the characters are so similar), and his rendition of “Stars” is up there among my favorites.

Look, I don’t have anything against the Jonas Brothers, but we aren’t even going to talk about that unfortunate casting. With some more direction, it might have been ok, but as this was a concert performance with very little character blocking it, uh, was less ok.

SAMANTHA BARKS AS EPONINE I can’t say enough. She’s great. Love it.

Lea Salonga as Fontine is beautiful. I feel like I remember there being something in her performance I didn’t like? But don’t quote me on that, because at the end of the day, it’s Lea Flipping Salonga.

Katie Hall was a good Cosette. Nothing spectacular or earth shattering that I recall, but she was good. (I understand she was a replacement.)

I know a few of the ensemble cast, but only just, and don’t remember their particular performances that night.

I didn’t like the half full-production, half concert-style staging. The actors couldn’t connect with the other characters as they mostly had to stay at their mic stands. Yet they were in full costume and had some blocking. It was awkward many, many times throughout the night. Otherwise, it’s a gorgeous tribute to such a colossal show.

My favorite part of the whole evening however is when the previous casts come out, and dear dear dear Colm Wilkinson is there on stage and sings “Bring Him Home” with his fellows.

(wrong concert, but like, that’s me basically)

And then - AND THEN - when they have the whole original cast come forward to sing “One Day More” and since actor who was Enjolras wasn’t able to attend, Ramin got to step forward and sing that part and he sang it next to Colm and he looked so happy and Colm was laughing and looked so proud askjfhladkjgss Best Part.

#thanks for he ask! #eponniia #les mis #25th anniversary

[enjolraswould]

Chapter 1+2 of “Death Is A Miserable Business”

Read on AO3 or under the cut. Enjoy!

The year is 1961 and Cosette Fauchelevent is on a mission to find her missing father, Jean Valjean. A series of mysterious deaths that may be linked to his disappearance lead her to team up with Inspector Javert, a detective who seems oddly determined to locate Valjean himself. Death itself is lurking around every corner, and if Cosette wants to avoid coming under suspicion herself, she's going to have to face a few of her own demons. -- This is more or less a crossover between Les Miserables and Ray Bradbury's "Death Is A Lonely Business," with a few things changed and a few surprises along the way. If you've ever wanted to read a pseudo-noir tragicomedy where Cosette and Javert are buddy cops, well, here you go.

Chapter 1

-

Paris, France, in the early days of the fifth Republic, was something of an enigma. According to the newspapers, this was a new day for the nation, and the nation was stronger than ever. And indeed, the City of Lights hadn’t seemed quite so bright, nor so lively, since that brilliant time over 50 years past, when the world gathered in Paris to celebrate her beauty, her progress, and her indomitable spirit. So glittering was she now that barely a night passed where the stars could be clearly seen beyond her glow, so full of life was she now that the echoes of the past seemed to quiet in observance of a louder, more promising future.

Yet underneath the music that poured from nightclubs and theaters and apartments was still the steady, languid turning of the Seine. Late at night, with the laughter gone to bed, the last running metro cars rumbled beneath the city and rattled the walls and the ribcages inside the walls with their sleeplessness. And the echoes that were so silent in the day found their voices deep in the alleyways and empty parks of the predawn hours, singly softly only to those still wandering, asking how the streets could be so dark with so many lights.

It was one of these whispering nights, rocketing through the emptiness below even emptier streets in a metro thundering towards the emptiest place of all, home, that I met the Devil.

I had been late at the library and, lamenting the lost time, had begun working on assembling my next lead on the metro, my books and papers spread about me on the seat. No one else was aboard, just myself and my thoughts in the anemic light flickering above. So absorbed was I in my work that I didn’t notice the man who entered the car until he was already seated behind me.

I would not have noticed him except for his mumbling, and even at this I did not turn around to look at him. Anyone who rides the metro knows that to look at a stranger only encourages strangeness. I kept my eyes down on my papers, though I could feel his breath close behind me, crying messily and without rhythm. My attempts to ignore him, however, did little to discourage him.

“Oh,” he sobbed, and I felt his hands grab the back of my seat. Despite myself, I closed my eyes, so better to not hear him.

“Oh, God,” he moaned louder, and even my skin seemed to pull away from him as he leaned closer behind me, something brushing the back of my neck, the tip of my ear.

“Listen,” he cried, and it was a plea issued from the very bottom of a grave.

The metro swung around a turn, sending my books sliding as the lights above shuddered, dimmed, and threatened to burn out entirely. I heard my papers scatter but could not move to gather them, could only hunch blindly forward as the wine-soaked voice behind me gasped, “Death!”

Another turn sent my books thudding to the floor. The rails below screeched but did little to cover the stranger’s voice so close beside my ear, as I heard him again cry, “Death!”

And suddenly all noise, all movement, ceased. The metro had arrived at its next station. For a moment the air hung completely still as the vibrations of the train petered out into idleness. And then he whispered:

“Death… is a miserable business.”

He whispered it so sadly that his very words dripped with sorrow. To my horror, I felt something wet splash against my neck and swim down underneath my shirt collar. Tears? Perhaps. I could not make myself turn to face him. I stayed curled into myself, waiting, praying.

I heard him stand, then, and lean closer. So dearly did he want to be heard, so urgent was his message. And so frightened was I that when his voice abruptly rang in my other ear, I almost began to sob myself.

“Death!” he shouted, and at my responding yelp, he lowered his voice once more to a murmur, “Is a miserable business.”

And trembling, I listened to his footsteps fade as he shuffled from the metro, heading out into the sparkling night somewhere above.

Only when the train began to move again was I able to jerk upright, to rush to the window in order to try and catch a glimpse of the stranger. But it was too late; we had already entered the next tunnel. Whether my tormentor was flesh and blood or a ghost conjured by my own fears, there was no way to tell. I was already journeying into the emptiness again, this time most assuredly alone.

And alone was, at that moment, something I did not want to be.

“You shouldn’t,” I told myself as I gathered my fallen books, “You don’t need a drink. You promised Papa you wouldn’t drink.” But…

-

Chapter 2

-

I had a drink anyway.

I knew of a little run-down, wood paneled, pre-war pub a few blocks out of my way, midway between home and the Seine, and this is where I headed, if only because even if it was empty except for the bartender, at least it would be more populated than home. Which it was, empty except for the bartender, distracted by his reflection in the mirror behind the bar.

“One double vodka, please.”

The request shocked me, though I was the one who had said it. I didn’t even particularly want a double vodka. What I really wanted to do was call Marius, half a world but really only a thousand kilometers away in Venice. I wanted to call him and say that I was alright. But I definitely wasn’t alright, because I was ordering a double vodka. And why? Nothing happened.

Nothing happened except… the world’s emptiest train and a stranger’s desperate sad voice dripping tears down the back of my shirt, and both were likely to creep into my bed with me that night.

Not that this was terribly unusual. Most nights now I was accompanied in the loneliest possible way, by thoughts of Marius away and Papa gone and everyone so scattered and far…

So I drank the double vodka.

“Jesus, lady,” the bartender cursed, reaching for the glass I’d slammed back onto the table just a little too loudly, “Take it easy. You don’t need it that bad.”

“I don’t need it at all,” I coughed, wincing through the burn, “At least now I know I don’t like vodka.”

“You’ve never had vodka?”

“I’ve never had anything more than wine.”

The bartender whistled lowly, cleaning the glass carefully and shelving it again. “Well, I’m honored, but what’s the occasion?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, leaning against the bar, “But I feel terrible. I think something bad is going to happen but I don’t know what or to who.”

“We all feel like that, these days,” the bartender shrugged, then paused to glance at me through the corner of his eye, like he was seeing me for the first time, “Wait, aren’t you the young lady whose father went missing a few months ago?”

It was a common enough question. Ever since Papa had vanished, and ever since Marius and I had begun our search, most of Paris knew me as the girl with the missing father. But I shook my head noncommittally. I couldn’t write every strange feeling off as being part of Papa’s disappearance.

“This isn’t about my father being missing. There’s something bad coming, getting closer all the time. Something is going to happen.”

The bartender looked nervously from me to the door, then absently began wiping down the bar.

“Probably the weather, then. Big storm coming tonight. You ought to go home and stay away from double vodka,” he advised. Neither of us looked at each other as I dropped my money on the bar and gathered my books once again, and I left the bar feeling somehow worse that I had when I went in.

Sometime the winter before, an old police boat had been dumped in the Seine. No one would admit to who had done it; the police insisted they weren’t responsible, but who else could it have been? In any case, the wreck still floundered there, rocking in the sluggish flow of the river. The newspapers had done a merciless job of mocking it, a few small-time politicians had referenced it in their speeches for one reason or another, and then the weather had grown warmer and more important issues had captured the city’s imaginations, and ultimately nothing was done to remove the old boat from its final resting place. Sometimes a few brave children would wade out to it and play on its tilted deck and duck underneath to peer from the submerged portholes, but otherwise the wreck had become just another part of the landscape.

What possessed me to wander towards the Seine that night instead of straight home, I cannot say. One would assume that after the encounter on the train and the unpleasant drink, I would be eager to return to someplace familiar. Yet my footsteps turned me towards the river, and I found myself leaning against the wall above the water and gazing down towards that once controversial boat.

Now, long after midnight with the lights of the city glowing all around, the water took on a curious sort of life, all faintly shimmering waves and shivers. In comparison, the wreck itself was dark and still, a foreign body lodged unwelcomingly in the serene forward motion of the river. Yet not entirely still; it rocked softly in that motion, steadily, as though breathing in its sleep.

Despite myself, I stayed a moment, watching the shipwreck breathe. Underneath the silver shine of full moonlight and dusty golden glitter of more human lights around me, the water was still somehow black as anything, blacker even than the shadow of the police boat. The night rather abruptly felt whole, and wholly focused on this river and the boat within the river.

Perhaps a different vessel further along the river moved, or perhaps it was the wind. But as I moved to turn away and head back into the night, the water suddenly swelled darkly around the wreck. It rocked, roughly, once before settling back into its tired old motion, but something was changed.

My heart pounded once, twice. I leaned over the wall once again, straining to see into the dark. Something was behind one of the portholes, half-submerged; a motion, or a paleness that wasn’t there before. A reflection, I thought, or something like a ghost.

A face. A face, just behind the window, too shadowed to recognize. Disbelieving, I leaned further over the wall, half praying that the river would again surge against the boat, push the shape… closer? To be seen? Or further in, away from sight, so that I may not see?

But as the boat rocked, the shape fell forward. The face pressed itself against the glass, a familiar photograph in negative, empty-eyed and emotionless as a marble bust tossed carelessly into water to be weathered, smoothed, erased…

And it sank once again.

Somehow, my first and only thought was of the stranger on the metro, his words leaping and echoing like stones skipped across the surface of the Seine, dropping finally with great reaching ripples: “Death… is a miserable business.”

It couldn’t be.

But there it- he- was. A dead man, tapping at the window of the police boat.

Worst of all, I knew who he was.

This I contemplated, rather coldly, to myself as more and more lights around me turned on and people began to come running. I had woken them with my screaming.

#Les Miserables #Cosette #Javert #Barricade Day #Barricade Day 2018

[shorthaircutsmodels]

Anne Hathaway's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles - 15+ - https://shorthaircutsmodels.com/anne-hathaways-short-haircuts-and-hairstyles/ - Anne Hathaway's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, There's plenty of digital ink pouring in about Anne Hathaway's drastic transformation in Les Mis, mostly showing just how well the actress new fairy cut works. But Hathaway's costar, The always charming and delightful Hugh Jackman, spoke recently about the whole process, saying it's nothing like everyone in the cast going down and getting dirty. Anne Hathaway's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles Anne Hathaway's Short Haircuts and Hairstyles, We had a chat with Jean Valjean recently and he explained exactly what happened with the cut and hilariously described how attached he was to the Hathaway character. At the beginning of Les Mis, you seemed so tired that we barely knew you. How did this transformation hurt you. I'm so glad to hear that. 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She actually lost her long hair in her role as Fantine in Les Miserables and we saw her work the red carpet with short short strands last year. Anne Hathaway love and other drugs hair tutorial Last spring Anne Hathaway cut her hair into a track y shoulder length lobe with layers of Shaggy facial framing in the quintessential 70s. her hairdresser Adir Abergel made the entire Internet swoon after the photo was posted on instagram. Anne Hathaway Messy Short Wavy Bob Haircuts This was perhaps the moment when every IT girl called her own hair guru and told her to give me Anne Hathaway. Anne Hathaway doesn't change her hair often. It usually sticks with a natural brown shade and medium length cut. Short Pixie Hairstyles – Anne Hathaway And when they meet again in the game, probably like five minutes into the game, Javert has no idea who this man is, but it's clear to the viewer that the man is wearing only a grey beard. 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It looks so funny. Short hair Anne Hathaway With her light style preparing for the warm weather and the long burst of framing her face we think she looks better than ever. According to Abergel, the cut is perfect if you have straight or wavy hair. Lucky for us he shared exactly how to look at another post immediately after his comment blew up with eye-loving people. Anne Hathaway hair colors Anne Hathaway has certainly kept her chocolate locks styled in predominantly feminine curls just below shoulder level since growing out of her pixie cut a few years ago. So far this. Anne Hathaway curly hair From Andy Sachs outbursts to Princess Mia's long glossy locks, Anne Hathaway's precise sequencing of her different hairstyles is to leave the truly wonderful dead gorgeous. The bad news: you'll still feel a shockwave because Anne Hathaway's childhood friend has had all her hair turned into a shaggy bob and she looks crazy. Anne Hathaway blonde hair If you haven't obsessively documented Hathaway's hair condition in the past decade, you should know that she almost always has longer chest length for the deciduous lobe.absolutely. But over the weekend the 36-year-old actress cut her hair into short petting haircuts, people everywhere want to get a pair of scissors and seriously go. Anne Hathaway medium hair To town if someone wants to restrain me. When it comes to celebrity hair transformations, it feels like a day goes by without stepping out with a bold new hairstyle. The latest buzzworthy a-list makeover comes courtesy of signature brunette Anne Hathaway. Anne Hathaway hair short The former vegan has certainly kept her chocolate locks just below shoulder. Level since growing her Les Miserables pixie cut a few years ago. Cue cut of adult lovemaking. This hair is the 'Miss Congeniality' of the world and works wonders with every hair type.

[theatricaldynamite]

C o s e t t e x J o h a n n a AU

For

@elviriel

​

I took our main baes and made an au of them where they end up together. 

Starring Devery Jacobs - Cosette Jasmine Cephas Jones- Johanna Barker Jason Momoa- Jean Valjean Gina Torres- Javert Mads Mikkelsen- Judge Turpin Laverne Cox- Benjamin Barker/Sweeney Todd 

Please remember that this is also a Sweeney Todd AU and Judge Turpin is gross.

Larks

Jean Valjean was once in jail.  He did it to feed his family, but that did not stop him from being put in jail for stealing a loaf of bread.  When he was released, his family had perished.  Starvation, it seemed.  Now that he was out of jail, finding good honest work was even harder which is why he changed his name using forged papers and the candlesticks a priest had given him to show him he could change his fate.

He changed his name, his background and his life and was now a successful business owner in a small town in France.  He maintained a low-profile life style which kept him safe for a while.  His former parole officer, it has seemed, has been trying to find him all these years.  When Javert showed up on his door step, Jean thought he was finished.  However, he didn’t seem to recognize him.  In fact, he wasn’t after him, but one of his workers, a young woman named Fantine.  She has been causing a ruckus regarding her daughter who was in foster care. The family looking after her had put in a formal complaint.

Fantine was desperate to get her daughter back so much that she was ignoring cancer treatments- not that she could afford them anyways. Her daughter, Euphrasie, had been taken away from her as she was so young, alone and sick when she gave birth to her.  Euphrasie, or Cosette as she called her, was her main motivation.  

When Jean Valjean heard her story, he was deeply moved and wanted to protect this young girl in the way he wasn’t able to protect his family.  She didn’t last long enough to hear these words from him, but it was long enough for Javert to recognize who he actually was.  He needed to move fast to get to Cosette

Cosette was raised by a number of different people in a number of different houses with nothing consistent in her life but her misery. She did not care for the different places she was put.  Her latest one was even worse than any house she’s been in.  She felt like Cinderella without a Fairy Godmother.  Tormented by the other foster kids and put to work by the guardians.  She was only eight years old but she knew how hard life can be.  

She had hopes; daydreams about her real mother. A castle on a cloud for just her and her mom.  She dreamt of her mother coming to pick her up and whisking her away to a happy life.

A mother never came, but a father did.

As the first snow fell of the season, Cosette was sent to get groceries in clothes that were too flimsy for the snow. She had ten dollars and a list that would not be covered by it.  It would be bad to steal.  It would be worse for her to not.  

“Excuse me,” she heard a deep voice behind her say. She turned to find a large man in nice clothes looking at her.  She wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers. Panicking, she ran.

“Wait,” he called.  “Is your name Euphrasie? Are you Cosette?”

She stopped so fast she fell to the ground.  He knew her name! He was at her side in an instant making sure she wasn’t hurt.  It’s been a long time since she’s seen kindness.

“I’m a friend of your mother.”  He told her.  He told her what happened to her and how he wanted to take care of her if she wanted. He warned her that it might be dangerous because he wouldn’t be able to legally adopt her.  People would think she was kidnapped and they would have to hide. A policewoman name Javert would always be looking for them.  Cosette considered it.  She wanted a new life, but danger scared her.

“Do it, lark” said the voice of her foster-sister Eponine coming out of her hiding spot calling her by the nickname they gave her. “Leave. Get out of this place and never look back. You’ll be more free out there than you would be here. Go be happy.”

“I thought you didn’t like me,” replied Cosette confused on why she was concerned about her happiness.

“I don’t,” she said. “ I knew you would get to leave one day and I would be stuck here forever.”

“You can come with us if you like as well,” piped up Jean.  “I would never leave someone unhappy behind.”

“You’re not kidnapping two kids in one day, mister!” said Eponine. “Besides, they are my real parents and got another baby on the way.  If I go with you, who’s gonna look after my sister and my little brother on his way. Just go.  I won’t tell anyone.  I saw nothin’.”

Cosette did something that she’s never done before.  She hugged her foster-sister.  It wasn’t a big hug, or a warm hug, or even a good hug but it did make Eponine smile. With that Cosette fled with a stranger into a happier life.

They hid in Paris.  Her new papa had friends who hid them away.  It was small but very comfortable. Cosette never knew such happiness.  How wonderful the world was now.  She had time to grow curious, to learn and to explore. Her papa told her if she smiled anymore than she does that she would burst. They stayed there for many years.  Everyday better than the last.

One day she came home to find that her father was packing them suitcases.  They were close to being found.  Javier was hot on their trail.  They needed to move fast in order to get away.  Jean offered her two option like he had done all of those years ago.  She could either stay here as she was almost of age to be on her own. He would give her everything, including his candlesticks.  The other option was to flee with him.  

Together, they went to London to once again make their life anew.

Cosette loved Paris, but London was nice too. It was much darker there and more rainy, but she made the most of it. She like the walks that they went on together. Skipping ahead and waiting for him to catch up. Offering food or money to the needy as they passed.

They were walking down a street that they never had walked through before as they tried to change up where they walked to.  Turney Lane. She felt eyes watching her. She looked up to find a pretty girl around her age looking at her.  Was she crying?  She fled as soon as they made eye contact. Cosette was no stranger to the look in her eyes.  She had that same look when she lived in her foster homes.

“Do you know who lives in there papa?” she asked, not really expecting him too.  He replied as she thought.

“Johanna,” said homeless woman who came up to her to beg for money.  She had seen this woman before. She believed it was on Fleet Street. Cosette tried to emit her into a hospital but she ran off before she could. Cosette felt that she was younger than what she looked.

“I’m sorry,” replied Jean putting money in her cup.  “What was that?”

“Johanna,” repeated the woman in her raspy voice. “Pretty little Johanna.  The witch locks her up in her high tower and brushes her hair.”

“Rapunzel,” offered Jean. The woman didn’t respond.

“Who is the witch?” asked Cosette.

“Judge Turpin that is, that is, that is the witch,” she replied excitedly. Jean paled at the title of Judge.  “Locks her up and throws away the key. Beats up boys who look at her.  Go in to say nice words comes out with a bloody eye.”  She laughed and ran off. She screamed the name again as she ran off. Johanna.  

Who was Johanna? Why was she locked in a tower?

~~~~~~~~

Sweeney Todd was born Benjamin Barker and a biological parent of Johanna who would have loved to raise her if given the chance. She was raised in New York and was a fantastic hair artist. Before she was fully transitioned, she came to London to apprentice a great barber.  While there, she fell in love with a Londoner with bright blonde hair named Lucy. They got married and soon Johanna came along. For a while, their life was perfect.

Lucy has always been in the same social circle as Judge Turpin and tried to avoid him as best as she could. Whenever they were at parties, she could feel his heated eyes follow her, even at age 13. When the judge found out that Lucy not only married transgendered woman, but a black one at that, he was outraged. He had the US citizen Benjamin Barker deported for marriage fraud and sent back to the states for life. Lucy was devastated. Her love was gone. Her income was depleting and she had a year old baby that should could hardly take care of.  After a horrific meeting with the judge to bring her partner back, she was found no longer fit to take care of her baby. ��The judge swiftly came in and took the baby to raised her.

Johanna was raised in a quiet part of London.  One of her first memories was being six and getting her hair dyed blonde. Whenever she asked or complained about having to dye it, all her guardian would tell her is that “he prefered her blonde.”  

She was shut in, homeschool and never ventured outside of London.  She tried to run away, but he somehow always knew her plan.  It was almost like he was always watching her.  She felt like her pet lark.  Caged and unable to sing.  Larks never will, you know, when they are captive.

She was lectured about the evils of men. Warned to keep away from them.  That was fine with her.  She never cared for them much anyway.  

She noticed Cosette while gazing out her window on a gloomy fall day. Everything in her life seemed to be on a gray filter and it was the first sunshine she’s seen in years.  The sunshine practically floated as she danced along the sidewalk and her laugh rang through high and clear. She was walking with a big burly man whom she called Papa.  He seemed to dote on her. By the time the young ball of light noticed her, she was in tears. Making eye contact with her, she fled from the window unable to show her face to someone so pure.

She saw her again the next day. And the day after that. Both of these times it seemed like she was looking for her.  One the third day, she talked to her.

“Hello,” she had greeted her. Shouting from the street. Johanna knew the fates of the men who greeted her, but what of women?  Would the judge hurt her too? He was home today so who knew what he would do. Flustered, Johanna awkwardly waved and once again fled.

A few minutes later, the light was in her room. Her guardian introduced her as Fantine and she was there to teach her French.

“Thank you, Judge Turpin,” said Cosette.  “No off you go, we have work to do!”

No one shushes the judge. Yet she did and she got away with it.  And she was in her bedroom.

“Are you OK?” she whispered urgently as soon as he was out of earshot. “My papa, he’s downstairs, and I are concerned.” Whatever she was expecting it was not that. “I managed to convince that creepo to have me tutor you in French. Oh, my name isn’t Fantine, by the way. It’s Cosette. I didn’t think it was smart to give my name to the guy if I was going to kidnap you.”

“What?” was all Johanna could muster.

“The look in your eyes.  It reminds me of my life from before my papa saved me. So we came here to rescue the princess from her tower, if she wanted. Always need consent and permission to help.”

“I’m…” Johanna started.  Her reflex response was fine.  She was not fine.  She was terrible and trapped. She found herself telling this light everything because she knew she could trust her. Somehow, she knew that she was not a trap from the Judge.  “He watches me. Not just over me but through the walls.  He does it when I sleep or thinks I don’t know he’s there, but I know. I hear him.”

“Hear him doing what?” asked Cosette asked. Johanna shook her head unable to utter the words.  “Oh.”

“I’ll be eighteen soon, but I think..,” Johanna choked out determined not to cry with the Judge downstairs. “I think he’s going to try to marry me.  So, I’ll never be able to leave.”

“I’ll get you out of here. I promise you I will get you out.  If you are OK with the news thinking that you have been kidnapped then we can do it tomorrow if you want.” She was bright, too bright for Johanna.  Colors began to refill her room.  The walls were no longer gray but a deep blue. Her bird even hopped around excited.

“Can I bring my bird? It’s a lark.  I want to free her.” Cosette laughed looking at the bird nodding her head and confirming the lark can come too.  Johanna was getting adventurous now. “And I want to get a short hair cut.  Eventually, grow it out and never dye it blonde again.”

“Sure. I mean, yeah.  Whatever you want,” replied Cosette a little confused. “What would be the best day to break you free?”

“Monday, it’s his longest day! But, why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?”

“My real name is Euphrasie Tholomyès.  I was on the news as a foster care kid who was kidnapped. I wasn’t.  I ran away with a stranger because he knew my mom and it was the best decision of my life.” She grabbed Johanna’s hands. “I don’t know your mom, but I can do that for you, too.” They froze as a voice drifted from the first floor.  It was time for Cosette to leave.

“One more thing before I go and if you don’t like it, I’ll never do it again.” Before Johanna could even respond, she felt Cosette’s lips lightly touch hers. It was over as soon it is began but even more colors in the room started shining. Johanna found herself pulling the girl closer and kissing her as hard as she could feeling the rainbow shine though.  

Cosette left and kept true to her word. On Monday, she was free.  She had finally found her family. Little did she know that as she fled, her biological family returned.  

Sweeney Todd was back in London and she was going to get her revenge.

#mine #Cosette x Johanna