Review: Cohesive energy and vocals outshine theatrics in City Springs’ ‘Les Miserables’

As I made my way to the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center for the premiere of the City Springs Theatre’s production of Les Misérables, I was struck by an odd notion: The musical has something crucial in common with the classic slasher films. A good Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street hinges on the skill of the actor playing its vengeful spirit character. Such stories portray a world where virtue is direct and clearheaded while villainy is complex and conflicted. 

Les Misérables is much the same if your main interest is Javert, the police inspector who pursues serial parole violator Jean Valjean through the years, leading up to the legendary June Rebellion (aka the Paris Uprising). In that light, Les Mis is the story of a man whose worldview hinges on the idea that moral virtue and obedience to the law are one and the same — only to find that Valjean, in breaking the law, continues to become more noble and heroic while Javert’s own commitment to the law only makes him more and more villainous.

It’s a fascinating inner struggle to watch unfold. It was also at the forefront of my mind because I’d been perusing the cast list for this new incarnation of Claude-Michel Schönberg (and Victor Hugo’s) magnum opus and been struck by how actor Jonathan Christopher seemed so utterly likeable. The soft-eyed, pleasant demeanor on display in his headshot felt as though it would be more at home in a Hallmark channel dramedy. 

But I needn’t have worried. From the outset, the seething villainy of Christopher’s Javert was so arresting that the stage lights seemed to cower away from his shadow. It was no mere suspension of disbelief: The theatrical artifice dropped off completely, and the audience was suddenly one with the writhing, malnourished plebeians cowering at his feet. It was a harrowing, sweeping performance. 

That cohesive energy was readily apparent in the interplay between Christopher’s Javert and Jacob Keith Watson’s Jean Valjean. The cat-and-mouse dynamic between hero and heel was razor sharp and carried by two impeccable vocal performances. That stunning voice work was reflected across the cast as a whole, and there wasn’t a single singer who fell short of the mark.

Also outstanding among the cast was Adagia Rueda as Eponine. Her vocal performance felt, in the most unexpected manner, wholly removed from the rest of the emsemble. Where others had the quasi-operatic tone normally associated with Les Misérables, Rueda sounded more reminiscent of modern, post-2000s musicals. Hers was the kind of youthful, cinematic voice more commonly associated with contemporary theater singers like Idina Menzel and Lea Michele. It was jarring at first but proved highly effective. 

Even though vocal performance and character dynamics were nothing short of extraordinary, the production faltered along its outer edges. The Achilles’ heel of any musical theater production is an over-reliance on pantomime, and it reared its ugly head from the outset. The show opens with Valjean and his fellow convicts clearing invisible rocks from an invisible quarry with invisible tools. A certain degree of suspension of disbelief is inevitable in the theater, but it shouldn’t be so pronounced. 

Blocking was another frequent issue. The most notable and unforgivable instance was Valjean upstaging Fantine on her deathbed with his back completely turned to the audience. 

Similarly, stage combat was largely ineffective and unbelievable. Actors fell backward in slapstick contortions from punches that looked as though they were thrown from 3 feet away. I realize it’s a potential insurance liability, but effective fight choreography should make the audience wonder if the punches were actually landing. We were seeing things that could have been accentuated with Looney Tunes sound effects when we should have been hearing mothers in the audience consoling their children.

Such complaints are only the perfunctory observations necessitated by existing in a mortal plane where perfection is impossible. In light of the sublimity of the voices and the earnest actors that carry them, this is a production of Les Misérables not to be missed. 

Where and When

Les Miserables is on stage at The Byers Theatre through September 27. Tickets range from $95 to $255.
1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs.

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Jordan Owen began writing about music professionally at the age of 16 in Oxford, Mississippi. A 2006 graduate of the Berklee College of Music, he is a professional guitarist, bandleader and composer. He is currently the lead guitarist for the jazz group Other Strangers, the power metal band Axis of Empires and the melodic death/thrash metal band Century Spawn.