Les Miserables (School Ed)

EMU’s presented Les Miserables (School Ed) at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton. This celebrated West End classic is a show that I personally hold in very high regard, having provided many fantastic performance based memories. Not only am I in awe of the fantastic music and emotionally gripping storyline, I had the rare experience of performing on the Palace Theatre Stage; whereby I got to ‘play’ with the fantastic set, witness the barricade up close and toy with death on the heavily raked revolving stage. As my first encounter with Schools Edition, I attended with great excitement, combined with a sense of apprehension and many questions over how this production could be transposed onto an amateur stage. I am pleased to say, EMU’s managed to settle any doubts with immediate success and provided an outstanding production, which was a complete joy to watch.

The artistic vision of the entire production team is something that EMU’s should be immensely proud of; evidently a clear strength for this group. Chris Renshaw, assisted by Alysha Gomes, did an excellent job in providing continuous action, clever setting, spatial consistency and visual variety throughout; coordinating both principal and ensemble action with great craft. The orchestration and sound from the pit was superbly controlled and executed; displaying experience, passion and ability from the Musical Director, Dave Dallard. Whilst Carol Lawson showed her class, providing just the right balance of choreography with understated movement: great to watch.

For a show that needed strong principle performances, EMU’s certainly delivered aided by an extremely talented cast and ensemble. Bringing the house down with his rendition of ‘Bring Him Home’, Zac Charlesworth (Valjean) performed with conviction, providing nice vocals throughout, whilst counterpart Sam Chell (Javert) acted the nemesis well. Jess Bridge (Fantine) moved the audience with her emotional and vocally mature performance of ‘I dreamed a dream’ and show stealing character performances were provided by lovable rogues Matt Biddulph (Thenardier) and Hattie Kemish (Theanrdier). Oliver Wheddon (Marius) displayed impressive vocal ability (definitely one to watch out for in the future), who was equally matched in passion by his counterpart Hayden Fletcher (Enjolras). Katie Lawson (Eponine) and Laura Allen (Cosette) provided nice character interpretation and pleasant vocals. With Grace Deaken (young Cosette) and Ethan Fletcher (Gavroche) delivering with youthful enthusiasm and fine performance.

The set was superb. There are three defining West End moments of ‘set magic’ in the London production; the revolving stage, barricade and bridge. EMU’s creative team managed to incorporate elements of these epic visuals within their production; displaying great homage and passion for the original show. Costumes, use of makeup and props were well sourced, consistent and appropriate, adding to the overall visual enjoyment. Backstage work was generally handled well and provided minimal interruption to the performance. Technically the use of sound, CGI and lighting worked well, were nicely controlled and enhanced the overall production.

Simply put: an outstanding effort by all, reciprocated entirely by the audiences standing ovation.

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