There are thousands of reasons why community theaters almost
never produce “Les Miserables.”
It’s a gargantuan show with a daunting score. The chances of
getting dozens of excellent singers, including some excellent child actors who
can sing, all willing to work hard for free, are slim.
The show is iconic, and almost everyone who likes musical
theater has seen a Broadway tour or the movie and remembers great performances.
Comparisons are inevitable.
The sets and costumes are necessarily elaborate and expensive.
They’re demanding for designers and would strain the finances of a lot of
regional professional companies, let alone community theaters.
In short, artistic and financial disaster are real
possibilities.
The Manatee Players chose to stage “Les Mis” anyway, and the
result is astounding.
It’s not Broadway-quality, but it’s so close that anyone,
even people who saw the dazzling Manatee Players production of “Miss Saigon”
(by the same writers as “Les Mis”) that opened the Manatee Performing Arts Center
a few months back, will be bowled over.
It’s hard to know where to begin praising this production,
so perhaps it’s best to start by addressing the production’s few weaknesses.
Most notably, the cast of more than 50, one of the largest
in Manatee Players’ history, doesn’t include quite enough great voice. There
are no bad voices, certainly, but one or two decent-sized roles are inhabited
by actors who are not quite up to the vocal rigors of the score.
Besides, the opening night performance was marred by sound problems.
Body mics cut out often, and some actors were much louder than others. And
there was occasional but noticeable clatter as sets were moved around offstage.
But such shortcomings pale in the glow of this overwhelming production
directed by Rick Kerby, the Manatee Players’ artistic director.
All the leads are phenomenal, with gorgeous voices and
charismatic stage presences. Kenn C. Rapczynski as Jean Valjean wields a tenor
voice that’s capable of intense power and surprising delicacy, and has a commanding
persona.
Bradley Barbaro is a rich and deep Javert. He has a lovely
voice, but on “Soliloquy,” his character’s most well-known song, Barbaro’s
acting is as beautiful as his singing.
Sarah Cassidy (Fantine) has a lovely voice
that enlivens many key moments, and she delivers a poignant reading of “I Dreamed
a Dream.”
 |
| Rapczynski and Barbaro |
Stephanie Woodman-Costello and David W. Walker are lively as
the Thenardiers, the play’s only comic characters. (Walker also designed the
beautiful and evocative costumes.)
Those are just the most notable of the many fine
performances, in roles great and small.
A seven-piece pit orchestra
(under musical director Aaron Cassette) is impressive but unobtrusive.
Joseph R. Oshry’s lights enhance the show’s gloom and
triumph, and Kirk Hughes’ sets, which eschew the turntable-centered set of the
classic Broadway staging, are beautiful.
There’s no getting around the fact that the narrative in
“Les Mis” is hard to follow. It skips forward in time, and characters who are
children in one scene are adults in the next. It can be hard to keep straight.
This production benefits from history – most people have
seen the show once or twice and know at least the basics – and from the
relative intimacy of the theater.
In a huge space such as Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall,
which hosted a touring production of a few months ago, “Les Mis” can become a spectacle and lose some
of its humanity. The 380-seat Stone H
all at the Manatee Performing Arts Center
enhances the audience’s connection to the actors and the characters.
No matter how high your expectations, the Manatee Players’
“Les Miserables” will not disappoint.
It runs through Aug. 25 at the ,
Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $26-$36. For information, call
941-748-5875, or visit www.manateeplayers.com.
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