Les Misérables

Original Broadway Cast

Starring Colm Wilkinson, Terrence Mann, Michael Maguire
Concept by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg
Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg
Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
2 CDS, 34 Tracks

I originally bought this CD at a point where I was a rabid Terrence Mann fan. I don't regret it. It's excellent. After a long deliberation, I've decided that it isn't my favorite Les Mis recording, but it is still darn good.

Colm Wilkinson makes a great Jean Valjean. I have heard him sing songs from other musicals, and I really don't like his voice at all, but somehow it works great for Valjean anyway. Go figure.

The wonderful Terrence Mann is an awesome Javert. He has a different interpretation than the also wonderful Philip Quast, and there is a lot of heated debate between fans of the show as to who was better. I can't take a side, I really can't. I love both of them. Both interpretations are so different it's impossible to compare them. Quast's Javert is more of a sympathetic character. Mann embodies more of Hugo's original character, I think, because he is tougher, harder, and colder. And thus, I think, it's a bit more believable that he flings himself off a bridge in the end rather than change. Philip Quast's rendition of "Stars" will knock you off your feet the first time you hear it, but Terrence Mann's grows on you bit by bit until you eventually really love it a whole lot. It's too bad we don't get to hear Mann's smaller bits of the show - the in-between "dialogue" singing that was left off of the OBC CD.

The version of "The Confrontation" on this CD is my favorite of all the versions. I even listened to all of them in a random order one time, so I could decide, and I picked it out right away.

Randy Graff is a nice Fantine; "I Dreamed a Dream" is beautiful. David Bryant is an OK Marius; Michael Ball is better, but Bryant isn't bad at all. Frances Rufelle is all right as Eponine, although her voice doesn't do much for me. A lot of people really love her versions of these songs, though. Judy Kuhn makes the best of a very annoying role as Cosette. The Thenardiers on this album are great. I love the Thenardiers; they're so funny.

Basically, if you can afford to own more than one Les Mis CD I'd get it. If you only want one, go for the CSR. It's got most of the best singers, and also has every word from the whole show recorded on it. But really, try to listen to the OBC sometime if you can, because it is worth it.