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Carol M Creasey.

                          First Night of Les Miserables Tour.

This tour, which opened last night ( 12th December) is being held to celebrate 25 years of this musical. The Millennium Centre at Cardiff were proud to announce that it has been the fastest selling musical  that they have ever staged, not only was it sold out for the first night, but all subsequent nights of its five week run there.

It is important to  familiarise oneself with the plot of this story before seeing the show, as not only is it full of twists and turns, the musical itself is so fast moving, you could find it confusing, as it moves very swiftly from one scene to another.

It is a powerful, dramatic, and also a very tragic story of people who are sunk into the depths of poverty and depravity. It made such an impact on me, that it is somehow hard to forget. The whole cast portray their desperation and misery with such enthusiasm, if that is a word I can use,  in a way that gets into your soul.

John Owen Jones, who payed Jean Valjean   has a powerful voice and gave great credence to the role., as did Earl Carpenter, who played Javert. Katie Hall  was lovely  as Cosette, and the little girl who portrayed her as a young girl totally captured my heart with her innocence amongst such evil, her voice just took my breath away. There was also a young boy who played a little urchin, and these two children brought  such a contrast to the rough and ready characters,  purely because they were children, it brought a lump to my throat.

Someone else that I feel deserves recognition in his role was Gareth Gates, who played Marius. One of the most moving scenes he played was when he cradled the dying girl in his arms, trying to protect her from the inevitability of death. He is dashing and handsome, so it was easy to see why the role of Marius suited him so well, as the love interest of Cosette. His duet with Eponine of ” A little fall of rain” was the blending of two exquisite voices, and his solo performance of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables sung with such emotion, stays in your heart, and lingers in your dreams.

There are too many people in the cast to mention all of them, but their team work made this musical so unforgettable, as each one plays their part in taking the audience on an unforgettable journey.  I cannot recommend it enough, so if you want to see it, after Cardiff, which is sold out, it moves onto Manchester, and then around various venus in the country.  It is well worth checking if there are any seats left, as I promise you, when you see it, you will never forget it.