Broadway at TPAC
Les Misérables is Marvelous!
I was delighted to get to see Les Misérables at TPAC opening night, Tuesday January 20th. I had seen this show on tour almost ten years ago and I hoped it would live up to my memory. It did not disappoint. The house was sold-out to an equal mixture of elderly and young people, and there was wild applause after each big song. The music is so well-crafted, the orchestra played wonderfully, and the performer’s renditions were absolutely perfect. Each and every cast member is a standout performer, and above and beyond the usual excellent Broadway talent we see at TPAC. Each singer is incredibly technically and artistically skilled. This show is beloved for good reason, and this cast showcases the musical’s place as one of the most popular of all time (their US Tour website states that over 130 million people have seen it). 
The staging of the musical is impressive. The show makes excellent use of darkness, evoking the pre-lightbulb time period, and the poverty of many of its characters. This darkness adds vividness to the real candles, torches, and guns firing blanks (the battle scene at the barricade is given extra intensity by the smell of gunpowder wafting through Jackson Hall). When characters die, a spotlight blast of white light shines on them to great effect. The backdrop is a giant projection wall and the production uses this exactly as they should: as a backdrop. Watercolor impressions of the scene’s settings match the mood of the story. Only in a few moments does the projection move: to add clarity to when Jean Valjean goes through the sewers of Paris, and when Javert dies dramatically (they still use the startling and impressive practical effects too). They avoided the increasingly frequent sin of live productions thinking that we are impressed by digital effects. The entire show uses only what effects they need to emphasize story moments, practical or digital.
Les Misérables is based on a 1862 novel by Victor Hugo (you’re probably familiar with another musical adaptation of one of his books, The Hunchback of Notre Dame). This book is famously long; my copy is almost 1,500 pages. The musical stage adaptation originated in France in 1980, was translated into English and expanded, finally hitting Broadway in 1985.
The plot is familiar, but most of us have no idea what is going on in the historical background of the story. I’m guessing that many of you share my almost nonexistent understanding of French history. We tend to assume it to be similar to our own straightforward national history: one revolution and the formation of the USA. French history is very different.
Here’s my quick summary as a non-historian. The French Revolution against Louis XVI began in 1789 and was violent and unstable. Leadership of the new Republic of France changed frequently due to bloody coups d’état until Napoleon gained power in 1799 and turned it into an empire. He conquered much of Europe until he was defeated at Waterloo in 1815. The allied forces who defeated Napoleon put Louis XVI’s younger brother on the French throne. After he died his younger brother Charles X succeeded him. Deciding to expand royal power, Charles X began strict censorship and other oppressive policies. This led to the July Revolution in 1830, when protestors took to the streets of Paris, erected barricades, and forced Charles to abdicate the throne. A distant cousin of his, Louis Philippe, was proclaimed king. Two years later, the June Rebellion was set off by the funeral of a beloved critic of the monarchy. Republican revolutionaries took to the streets of Paris again, making barricades and hoping for the success of the July Revolution, but the uprising was quickly quashed. This is the doomed rebellion in Les Misérables that Marius participates in. Louis Philippe remained king until 1848, when the French Second Republic was founded. France is currently on its Fifth Republic. Now you’ll probably get this joke from Paul Johnson’s history Modern Times, which goes like this: A man went to the library and asked for a copy of the French constitution. The librarian replied, “We don’t carry periodicals.”
I just gave you a lot of information that doesn’t exactly fit the rubric of “theater review,” but learning this cleared up a lot of my confusion about what is happening in the show. It also helps our appreciation of the story, seeing more clearly the juxtaposition of Marius, representing the republican tradition of idealism and rebellion, and Javert representing the shallowness of heartless enforcement of the regime. Between those two extremes stand the Thernandiers, who criminally take advantage of the violence and social unrest. Jean Valjean, Fantine, and Cosette are those for whom the regime changes don’t matter: they are crushed in the brutal cogs of its deeply flawed justice system no matter who is in charge. Instead of relying on governmental justice, they do their best to uphold individual virtue in service to their community, despite their suffering. The story is a masterful blend of social critique and inspirational characters, and it reminds us that no matter what political madness occurs, like Jean Valjean, we always have the power to make a difference.
I want to urge you to go see Les Misérables at TPAC. But it’s sold out and there’s a massive winter storm coming. So check out the tour website to see future venues, and keep up with Broadway at TPAC; this killer season continues!
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A Nashville native and MTSU graduate, Grace Krenz is a reader, a writer, and an arts enthusiast. She lives in Nashville with her husband and two children.
