Shortly after this the stage production came to Manchester and I just had to go and see it. I went on my own one night because no one else was interested in going to a musical. This was the first time I had been to a theatre in years. I was entranced from the opening bars, and I still say that the Jean Valjean in that production is the best I have heard. I had never seen anything like it before and I still haven't. The way the barricades appeared on stage and the sound of the trumpets as the soldiers call to the young revolutionaires are two of my favourite moments. Javert singing Stars and Valjean with Bring him Home. I was in tears at the end, and I wasn't alone. That final scene moved me so much. The staging of it; the music; the feelings I had for the characters after watching them for two and a half hours.
The next time it really affected my life was about eight years later when the production came to Manchester again. Rebekah was ten years old and we heard about them having open auditions to find girls to play the young Cosette. As you probably know, Rebekah has been a pretty good performer from a young age and jumped at the chance of being in a professional production. The auditions were at the Bridgewater Hall and the first thing you had to do was pass the height requirement test. There were people on the door with a height marker and as the girls entered the building they had to be below the line. Some poor things got turned away because they were too tall. Rebekah was just short enough.
There were several rounds of auditions on the day with successful girls getting called back. Rebekah passed the first round and then we found out we needed a passport size photo to go on her audition form, so we had to leg it into Manchester centre to find a photo booth to have one taken. I still carry that photo around in my purse.
She did very well and got down to the final six girls out of several hundred. Unfortunately she didn't make the final cut.
When the production opened, Robert and I went to see it. This was our first theatre experience together. Something we didn't get to repeat until many years later, but now we go as often as we can. Of course we scrutinized the performance of the young Cosette on the night, and I know my Bekah could have been just as good if not better. Once again I cried at the end, and this time Robert was crying with me.
Four more years and it touched me again. BASICS theatre school were putting on the school production for their show that year. All my girls, apart from Kirsty, have been involved in BASICS, and Rebekah was thrilled to get the chance to be in it. She didn't get a principal role, but even so she gave it her all in the chorus. These are just teenagers, albeit talented ones, but not professionals and not fully mature. Having said that, the show was wonderful with some excellent performances by these young people. Yet again I cried at the end. This time it was also because I was so proud of the kids that I knew.
I've had the opportunity to perform some of the music several times myself in concerts with different choirs I have been involved in. I still find it some of the most moving and stirring music I have ever heard.
With apologies to my older girls, Katy has been quite spoilt since they left home, simply because we have a bit more cash available these days, so she gets to do things that they never did. I do feel bad about this sometimes, but what can I do? When they were young, we were pretty skint. I mention this because we took Katy to London to see Les Mis, about 18 months ago during their 25th year in the West End. The whole trip was a surprise. We didn't tell her where we were going or why. When we got on the train at Preston she figured out where we were going but still didn't know why. We went out for something to eat in Covent Garden and then walked to the theatre, still not telling her where we were going. We were a bit early for the performance so as we walked down Shaftesbury Avenue we went past the theatre and carried on walking. Katy was very confused by this time as she had started to think we were going to the theatre but couldn't work out why we were going past them all. Eventually we turned round and went back and in. She was literally jumping for joy when she finally knew. This time I didn't cry at the end.
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When I heard that they were making a film of it I was very sceptical. How could it possibly live up to the theatre experiences I had had so far? Then I started to hear snippets of it and again thought maybe I would give it a miss as the singing was just not going to measure up. But of course it was Les Mis. so I couldn't resist, especially after I found out that all the singing was done live rather than recorded in a studio and added to the soundtrack later. The actors sung to a piano track as they were filmed and the orchestra was put in post production. Of course it had to be experienced in Imax.
It was better than I expected it to be, although I still don't know why on earth Russell Crowe was cast as Javert. His voice was just not on the same level as everyone else. Katy was unfortunately sitting next to someone who couldn't help himself from singing and whistling (yes whistling!) along. I was singing along in my head and I think I noticed every time they had changed the words around or missed a bit out. I didn't love everything about it and it had its faults, but on the whole it was a success. I didn't cry, but I could hear people who did.
Am I at the end of my Les Miserable journey, or will it continue to be a part of my life?
I have never seen it! Though I have read the book, does that count?
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