Adam Jacobs - Les Miserables

Adam Jacobs as Marius!

Unfortunately, I hated Les Miserables. It was my favorite musical when I was in high school when Eponine's On My Own was the soundtrack of my life. (Ha!) But a few minutes before the end of Act I, I hated Eponine's guts. Why is this character even given top billing? Unrequited love is supposed to be one of the high dramas of Victor Hugo's epic? I don't know. I think the 80s formula for musicals just doesn't work anymore. Or I was just too young to realize that Les Miserables really sucked. This was even worse than the first time I saw it a few years ago. I thought that maybe it was just a bad cast back then, but I now realize that it's trying to squeeze in too much story into a couple of hours, belting out one big solo number after another. It's actually a singer's musical, every lead character gets a signature song -- but if you don't have the powerhouse singers of the early productions, it just doesn't work.

The only saving grace of this particular Les Mis production for me was Adam Jacobs who played Marius. He was dreamy. I wanted to leave after Act I, but then Adam Jacobs stopped me (it's a metaphor, haha). Adam Jacobs was a breath of fresh air in what feels and sounds like a tired production (and to think it's a revival!)

With Lea Salonga: