Les Misérables Review

Living so close to London, I have been lucky enough over the years to see a lot of West End shows. The first one I saw when I was young was Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion Theatre which was amazing! It was my favourite film as a child and the show really brought it to life. I loved it! Unfortunately it is no longer touring in London, boo :( 

Other shows I've seen include Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Thriller, Hairspray and Grease which again were all great. In more recent years I have seen Wicked, Billy Elliot and The Lion King. In my opinion these 3 are an absolute must see! 

This year, Cameron Mackintosh's Les Misérables is the musical which I have become... shall we say slightly obsessed with! I saw the film when it was released and thought that it was amazing but the show never really appealed to me. I'd heard good reviews however the fact that it was 3 hours long did put me off slightly. 

However, myself and my sister were given tickets by our parents as a birthday present. We went to see the show back in May 2015 at the Queen's Theatre and loved it so much that we went to see it again on Wednesday night, dragging my boyfriend along too! 

The music itself is absolutely incredible! It brings goosebumps to your skin and tears to your eyes. As for the cast, words cannot describe how talented they all are. On both visits to the show Peter Lockyer played the role of  Jean Valjean who's performance brought me to tears! Unfortunately on Wednesday he had to leave after the first act. His understudy, Adam Bayjou took over during the second act and gave an incredible performance too! Carrie Hope Fletcher and Rob Houchen also did a fantastic job of playing the roles of Éponine and Marius. 

The theatre itself is quite intimate which is perfect for this type of show as you really do feel as though you're part of it. The cast do a fantastic job of grasping your full attention with their performances. Everyone was so engaged with what was going on, you could almost hear a pin drop.

You experience so many emotions during this show. At times you'll be crying however there are a few funny parts in there too. Phil Daniels has taken on the role of Thénardier who's character will definitely have you laughing!

The show ended with a well deserved standing ovation from the audience. I again, along with many others, left the theatre in tears but I could have quite easily sat there for another 3 hours and watched it all over again! So don't let the fact that it's 3 hours put you off. It is worth every single minute of your time there!

On the way to the station we also managed to get a photo with Rob Houchen (Marius). After a day of performing two shows he was still more than happy to have a photo with us, showing that Les Mis has such a lovely and humble cast. 

It sounds silly but I have seen negative reviews of this show with people saying they were disappointed with the amount of singing in the show. So yes, here's the warning... if you don't like shows where there's constant singing and no dialogue then maybe this isn't the show for you. 

However, I would strongly recommend this show. I can definitely understand why it has been running for 30 years! Please be aware that the cast changes so don't forget to check the performers' holiday dates on their official websites. You'll still be singing the songs days and days after you've seen it. It's now up there at the top of my favourite musical list. It even got the seal of approval from the boyfriend too :)