Who: the blog bestie Aleshea and I

What: Les Misérables, the musical theatre classic

When: June 2016

Where: Imperial Theatre, New York

Why: It was Aleshea's first Broadway show so we kept it classic

Thoughts: Let me preface this with a little about me: I've always loved musical theatre (I grew up on the classic The Rodgers & Hammerstein films), but I haven't really had access to live theatre until around 2014. I'd never seen many shows considered classics, Les Mis included. My first experience with Les Mis at all was the 2012 film.

All that being said, I think I'm fairly easy to please. I've seen 7 shows on Broadway and I've walked away from each one satisfied. Except this one. This was the first time in my life I'd ever seen a live show and thought to myself "the movie was better." Yikes. In all fairness, it sounds like previous productions of Les Mis were better than this "scaled down" version we saw, but that doesn't help a first timer coming in with more grandiose expectations. The production felt more like a concert than a Broadway production; there were lots of stunning voices and performers making their Broadway debut (I should note that the production had already announced it's closure and most beloved performers had already departed the show), but you could constantly see the performers looking to the conductor to stay on track and I never felt completely immersed in the story.

It's hard to say this because the story and the music of Les Mis are stunning. While I have no other live productions to compare to, this one just seemed kind of blase. I hope future revivals can find a way to be more engaging and of Broadway-caliber quality. Also, this opinion may only be mine. Ask Aleshea and she may have very different opinions.

Have you seen Les Mis live? How did you like it?

Want more? Check out the Les Mis original cast recording here, or take a look at other shows I've seen here.

Over the summer, I received a notification on Nextdoor that a neighbor owned a Presa Canario (the same breed as Anise) who needed a playmate. I was ecstatic and jumped at the opportunity for Anise to play with a dog her size and an owner who understood the breed and wouldn't be intimidated.

For the last two months, we've been meeting up regularly for doggie play dates and enjoying chatting while watching the pups burn some energy.

Anise's collar (similar)

A few days after our most recent play date, I was perusing facebook when I noticed something strange: RIP posts on our neighbor's wall. We don't know what happened, but it didn't take much time to confirm that it was indeed true, our neighbor had passed unexpectedly. 

We were happy to help with the 3 pets left behind: we fostered two kitties for a week until they found their forever home, and when family mentioned that the dog Raider would need a new family, we immediately signed up.

These are sad circumstances but we are so glad that we met and are able to help. So, meet Anise's brother and our newest family member, Raider!

Who: My MIL, my neighbor, and I

What: Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Weber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera

When: October 2017

Where: The Hippodrome Theatre, Baltimore, MD

Why: How could I miss this show's US debut?

Thoughts: LND was announced back in 2008. Fans including myself were infuriated at the thought of a Phantom sequel, especially one based on a fan fiction novel that was so different from the original story. The show didn't last long at all on the West End and it looked like curious US theatre nerds would never see the show, set in Coney Island 10 years after the original Phantom. I did get my hands on the original cast recording, so I have some reference for comparison.

Thankfully (maybe), the show was re-worked and a new production launched in Australia in 2011. It was screened in movie theaters briefly by Fathom Events where I saw it for the first time (I've since bought and now on the blu-ray disc of this production).  By this time, my original emotions had calmed enough that I could watch the show and enjoy it for what it was. While parts of the story (mainly drastic alterations of character) still irked me, the music was gorgeous, and if you could ignore the inconsistencies between stories, it was still an enjoyable show (there's no denying this is a sequel, fans will notice musical themes from the original Phantom are present in LND).

That brings us to now, nearly 10 years later. It's 2017 and LND has made it to the states in the form of a national tour. Will it ever make it to Broadway? Who knows.  The tour made a super short stop in New York state before coming to Baltimore for a preview engagement (the official opening is technically at the tour's next stop in Detroit). Tickets sold surprisingly quick, indicating interest for this production stateside is huge. I ended up going to the show on a Tuesday instead of my usual Thursday as seats had sold so quickly.

Like in Australia, many changes were made to the production, mostly changed lyrics and added themes from the original Phantom. I thought the themes struck a nice balance in the previous production, but in the US tour, it felt like overkill. It seemed like they tried to stuff an original Phantom theme into every single scene and it cheapened LND as it's own show. A few lyrical and dialogue changes did answer questions I had from the previous version, but overall I'd say I many changes weren't needed. I personally feel that the Australian production is  the strongest version of this story after being familiarized with the 3 major productions (there have been other productions in Germany and other non-English speaking countries that I can't comment on). One strong change wasa slight re-staging of the finale; I found this version to be the strongest of the 3 I'm familiar with.

Technically, the show I saw was a preview performance which is good because some things need to be worked on. I got a sense overall that the cast wasn't comfortable or confident in every scene, there were some sound balance issues, and even some blocking issues, one of which really made part of the finale not make sense. I'm sure all of these will be resolved with feedback and practice. The cast is super talented, but my one complaint is that the Phantom, Gardar Thor Cortes, has a lovely voice but also has a thick European accent that makes his lyrics difficult to understand. For a US tour, this doesn't seem like the best casting choice to me.

Overall? See it because you're curious. The bottom line with LND in my opinion is that the music and visuals are stunning but the story is just a pig that the production team is constantly trying to put a new shade of lipstick on. I think said pig looks loveliest in the Aussie production, but there's nothing like a live show, so you be the judge!