Hey guys, as some of you may know I moved to London last month and am now only just starting to use the West End as much as I'd hoped, so far I've been to see a few but the ones worth noting at Les Mis & We Will Rock You so here's my reviews;

Les Mis-
Tues Eve. (Full cast other than Marius & Cossette)

Hmmm, well Id been wanting to see Les Mis for a long time and this was in fact my first time seeing it other than on the 10th Anniversary DVD and I have to say I was disappointed. The cast seriously lacked energy and seemed to just be going through the motions again which annoyed me to no end as I'd forked out the extra cash for the good seats hoping for a fantastic show which it promises, and fails, to be. The music, as much as I love it, is dated and old. The set is rickety, the much famed revolving stage and barricade are clumpy and out of date, and the whole thing just needs to go to be honest.

That said, there were two people who really stood out for me, and they were the understudies. Now, I don’t know if it’s because they obviously don’t get to do it that much and were still enjoying themselves, but they stuck out big time. Both their voices and their portrayal of the characters were fantastic. Had it not been for those two I would have seriously, seriously annoyed.
Oh and mention to the Thenadiers as well as they were very good, got the energy of the otherwise lacklustre piece with Master Of The House and Beggers At The Feast.

As many of you know, the current Jean Valjean (Drew Sarich [sp?]) has received a lot of bad press for his portrayal of the character and I have to say this is not un-justified. First off, he talks in a silly American accent which sticks out totally in the show as no-one else does. However, hi voice is phenomenal, that much cannot be denied, but he's just not right for that part at all. He's far too young and his singing voice is far too modern. He just did not get the character at all and was more “singing” it rather than “acting” it which could possibly be excused in shows like Mamma Mia! Or We Will Rock You, but not something so story heavy as Les Mis.

So all in all I'd say Les Mis' time is up and it should quit now while it’s still (a bit) ahead. I was terribly disappointed.

We Will Rock You-
Wed Eve. (Full Cast)

Having seen this show twice performed by amateurs and listening to the soundtrack a lot I knew the show pretty well but this was the first time I'd been to see it in London.

The music, and singing, was amazing from the whole cast (especially the man who played Britney [sorry I don’t have the program with me, I left it on the tube so I can name names!]), major kudos to them all for that. Some were a bit shrill and belty at points but for the most part it was all good. The show its self is not the best, anyone who has seen it will know that it falls into the typical Jukebox musical format of; songs first story later. But it is good fun, which is the main thing. It certainly lived up to that!

The set is a bit bland for me to be honest. Having seen pictures of the production which made the set look amazing I was fairly disappointed, but it did have its moments. The laser cage effect was really nice, and some of the ways they used the TV screens were very creative. Like I say I did overall enjoy the show and would recommend going to see it before it closes (...again) on The West End and if it's coming anywhere near you I would go have a look, even if you’re not a fan of Queen as I'm not. And if you are, go along anyway, you'll enjoy it as it’s more like a rock concert with a bit of speaking than a musical anyway! :P

I'm hoping to go see Rainman as well, I know it's not a musical, but if I do i'll let you know :D