Les Miserables - The 25th Anniversary in Concert at the O2 [DVD]

Les Miz is without a doubt my all-time favourite musical. I discovered it early in the run at the Palace Theatre, London (I missed it at the Barbican). The first time I saw it, a very close friend of mine, Myra Sands, was playing Mme Thenardier, and she arranged for me to sit at the sound desk at the back of the stalls to watch it. It was a terrible view, but I instantly fell in love with the show and returned many, many times to see it from better seats! I was in my early teens, having a miserable time at school being bullied for being gay, and struggling to fit in with the brutish thugs in my class while being the son of two actors and a lover of musical theatre. Needless to say, I kept Les Miz and all other musicals far away from the bullies at school. It was my own private, secret escape. My dad had recently been in the original West End production of Little Shop of Horrors with Ellen Greene and Barrie James, so we knew Cameron Mackintosh a little and were part of his world. My friend Myra, who was present at my birth (!!!), was in most of Mackintosh's productions, so between her and my dad, my childhood was filled with the very best that musical theatre had to offer during its bombastic heyday of the 1980's. I practically lived backstage in Britain’s theatres!And Les Miz remained firmly at the top of the pile for me personally, on into my middle-age. So, when I first learned that they were doing a big 25th anniversary concert I was naturally very excited. But I was deeply concerned about the casting and didn't want to spend the fortune they were charging for tickets to see a potentially dreadful version that might ruin my love affair with the show. So I didn't buy a ticket, and I wasn't there to see it live.And that will always be one of the biggest regrets of my life!Naturally I had pre-ordered the DVD, and when I watched it, I was blown away. The casting was, though unexpected, somewhat sublime. Matt Lucas was so much better than I had expected. He's one of the best Thenardiers I've seen. And the rest of the cast are almost all now my new favourites in the roles. I positively adored Samantha Barks (who does a much better job in the concert than she later did in the movie), and I totally fell in love with Katie Hall, who is by a very large margin the most perfect Cossette I've ever seen. Alfie Boe is perfect in every way, and Ramin Karimloo was an exciting new discovery for me. Jenny Galloway I knew quite well from various casts over the years, and she never disappoints. Robert Madge as Gavroche was perfect and flawless in every way.The new orchestrations fully met with my approval, and bear in mind I know every note of the score, and the massive orchestra was conducted with aplomb by the ever-delightful David Charles Abell.The only thing wrong with this concert version is that it has some pretty massive cuts. Not quite as bad as the 10th anniversary concert, but jarring and upsetting nonetheless if you know the full version of the show word-for-word. I hate that they did this!However, they more than made up for the omissions by adding a lengthy and extremely moving finale featuring the original 1985 cast and the cast of the (then current) Queen's Theatre production, plus members of the touring cast and all the original creatives.And the DVD includes a wealth of additional material including fabulous documentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. If you are a Les Miz freak like me, this is an ESSENTIAL part of your collection.My love affair with Les Miz is ongoing and incurable. I have every available recording. Back in the 80's when I was being beaten-up for being different, I had the Complete Symphonic Recording permanently plugged into my ears keeping me from killing myself. Twenty or so years later, I curl up with the 25th Anniversary DVD to achieve the exact same effect.

Les Miserables is a 25 years old musical. for 25 years casts are changing. session after session people were the same costumes, singing the same lyrics and notes , ans still everybody is doing it deferent then before.15 years ago there was the 10 anniversary event at the Albert hall. in that concert you could see the Dream cast. brilliant performers of the musical from deferent countries performing the musical and each one of them in his best.The 25 anniversary cast is not a dream cast. some of the performers there were not associate with Les miserables before, some of them are from the current cast of the musical , and some of them were in the 10 anniversary concert. some of them are better- and some of them less, but the ones that are better are amazing .Alfie Boe was never associate with Les Miserables, as far as i know- but he is doing the role of Valjean as if the role was written for him. he has an amazing voice and he is he is performing the role with so much passion. it is very exiting to see him in this role.Alfie Boe is the Valjean of the future.The weakest link of the performance in Nick Jonas. he does not have a suitable voice for the role of Marius. he does not have the skills of an actor that knows how to present a song, and it looks that he is trying to find his way in this musical but can not.in the concert you can also hear deferent but very good orchestration, you can also hear this orchestration in the 25 anniversary tour cast recording.in the supporting roles of the musical you can see lots of performers from casts of Les Miserables through the years like Cameron Blakely, Gamma Wardle, Sophia Ragavelas, and jon Lee.in the DVD you can also see how the technology of photography, sound and editing has changed through the years, in the 10 anniversary concert it was very limited, but here the camera has no limit. at all, and you can not believe that in a live performance it can reach such achievements. at the end you can also see in the audience someone with a digital camera or a third generation one. the technology of the future.so in this DVD you can see Les miserables at the O2- the theater of the future, with the Cast of the future, with the orchestration of the future and the technology of the future.i think it is worth buying and worth watching

I've wanted to see Les Mis for about 10 years now (finally booked tickets for May!!!) I am slightly obsessed with it, so imagine my disppointment when I found out there was an anniversary concert and I missed it, gutted :(However all is not lost, now the dvd is out! I loved it, Alfie Boe as Valjean is absolutely stunning and I shall be booking again for July when he is in it! I also have to give a special mention to the following - Matt Lucas was a great Thenadier, a real surprise actually! Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras was brilliant (okay i do have a tiny crush on this man what can i tell you). Samantha Barks as Eponine - she has a really good voice. Lea salonga as Fantine, loved this woman since Miss Saigon! Norm Lewis was a super Javert!Apparantly this was Cameron Mackintosh's dream cast........however what was he thinking with Nick Jonas?? seriously i tried not to judge but he wasn't good!Anyway for anyone like me who missed the concert live this is the next best thing, it is acted out scene by scene (not in as much detail as the actual show) but it really gave me an idea of exactly what this show is about, also as its all sing-speak you get a better idea watching in on tv what they are saying and what is going on (especially if you put subtitles on).All the original 1985 cast come out at the end, as well as the 'tour' cast and the cast from the show (first time ever in theatre history 3 productions of one show have been played at the same time in the same country!)Highlight was the Valjean quartet, worth getting just for this.Weak link is Nick Jonas, however i'm not gonna take a star away for that, this is too good.