Les Miserables 25th Anniversary production

by Bill Corden

As I write, my senses are still stunned by this incredible production, I’d watched it a while back but it was re-broadcast by PBS tonight.

It takes a lot to get me to watch something twice but there I was, glued to my easy chair from the moment it started, even a World Cup game can’t keep me this riveted

The vocal talent is just amazing, bringing you to a blubbering mess with the emotions they give their souls to.

The fusion of such musical backgrounds is one of those sublime moments of musical synchronicity, only fate could make it happen.

Alfie Boe was a mechanic in a factory, Nick Jonas a pop singer, and Lea Salonga, a girl from the faraway Philippines with the most graceful presence, gifted with an angelic voice. How did these people come together?

She made her debut at aged 8 in a Philippine production of “The King and I” when she was only 8 years old and “The KIng and I” is my other escape into sublimity.

I mention these stars only because they are the outstanding members of an outstanding cast (I wonder what’s happened to them in the intervening 22 years?) There is not one single performer you can find fault with.

Put these in front of an orchestra that catches every pause and wrings every tear from your shuddering body and you’ve got a pretty good recipe for a great evening’s entertainment.

The set design has you standing inside the TV screen and of course the Victor Hugo storyline is beyond compare.

You are committing a crime if you let this pass without watching it.