New 'Les Miz' a revolution

Everything old is new again in the Cameron Mackintosh production of "Les Miserables" that opened Tuesday at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts.

More than 25 years have passed since the musical, based on Victor Hugo's novel, set the theater world ablaze. It now holds the status of longest running musical in the world and third longest running in Broadway's history. So after all this time, what's changed?

"Les Miz" fans may expect to see and hear the Broadway production, or one of the three national tours. Some may look for a revolve (a Lazy Susan-type stage device), which was featured prominently in previous shows. Some may pause at the orchestration, while others may unexpectedly imagine themselves outside of the "black box" theater flying overseas to the French countryside and 19th-century Paris.

This version of "Les Miz" has, in fact, yielded to its own revolution, resulting in a larger and more physical, visual and dramatic production.

It's the year 1815 in France, where Jean Valjean has been released on parole after a 19-year imprisonment for stealing. He breaks his parole and adopts a new identity as a factory owner and the mayor of a small river town. Years later, he's rearrested but escapes. At the same time, he rescues Cosette, the daughter of a dying prostitute. He had promised the mother he would look after her daughter upon her death.

Valjean becomes a man on the run, hiding in the sewers during the 1832 Paris Uprising and eventually revealing to Cosette that he's an escaped convict.

In past productions, all of that movement warranted the revolve, which enabled the cast to rotate on stage and gave audiences the illusion of watching a panning movie camera. In this production, however, there is no revolving stage.

"We set out to not use the revolve because of the kind of tour we knew we'd be setting up," said Laurence Connor, who shares the director's chair with James Powell. "A revolve would slow us down. We also looked at using projection to give a visceral sense. It gave us real spaces."

The projections are based on Hugo's paintings and drawings — a collection of moody renderings that capture the grit and grime of a country in crisis. These tangible impressions help the audience fathom the story's underbelly. A rural image of a tree, for example, establishes the prologue, when Valjean is imprisoned on a boat.

"We liked the idea of him being incarcerated, leaving the water and put into a landscape. By giving an absolute location, you get the breadth of his freedom," said Connor.

Previous productions relied on signs to indicate to the audience a change in time and location. In this production, Hugo's buildings set against the city streets of Paris give a more realistic sense of urban energy. In the town where Valjean is mayor, images of chimneystacks evoke industrial power.

"Let's not tell the audience we're in Paris. Let's show them we're there," Connor said.

Besides lending a new visual palette, the artwork also illuminates a creative side of Hugo that often goes unrecognized.

Such broad visual changes dictate a change in orchestration. Before, the score had a circular energy to parallel the revolve's movement. Now, Connor said, the passion and energy are still there, but there's a different dynamic to the music.

Disregarding grand descriptions of the exciting new set design and orchestration, the best endorsement for this production really comes in the form of an anecdote.

"What's interesting is that Cameron [Mackintosh] discovered this show. He had seen it done one way over 25 years. The day we ran this show for the first time, he stood up with tears in his eyes and said that he hasn't felt this kind of emotion [for 'Les Miz'] in 25 years. It made the company emotional. It was a special moment," Connor said.