MLT's Les Misérables is worth seeing!

Les Misérables is an ambitious project for any community theatre to take on, however Marblehead Little Theatre has proven that they have the talent, the space, and the vision to pull it off.  Directed by Steve Black, assistant directed by Emily Grove, music directed by Lianne Goodwin, and choreographed by Lara Finn, Les Miz opened this past weekend and has shows July 5th at 2:00 and 7:30 as well as July 6th at 2:00.  The musical (for those few who aren't familiar with it) follows the story of former convict Jean Valjean (Corey Jackson) who breaks parole and spends the rest of his life seeking redemption while running from the staunch and tenacious police officer Javert (David Fougere).  After failing to save the fallen woman Fantine (Meghan Ashley), Valjean adopts her daughter, Cosette (Penelope Walker) from the boorish innkeeper Thenardier (Steve Faria) and his wife (Sarah Ernst).  Years later, Cosette, now all grown up (Annie Dillon) falls in love with the young student revolutionary Marius (Tyler Strawhecker) just before the breakout of the 1832 June Rebellion, led by Enjolras (Nate Ramsayer).  At the same time, the Thénardiers' daughter Éponine (Amy Strong) pines over Marius.  I won't totally spoil the ending, but I'll just say that not very many characters live.
The strongest point of the performance is the ensemble, full of all the energy and passion that are needed to truly carry this show.  Every voice is strong, and every solo is well delivered.
As the leading man, Jackson delivers a strong performance, successfully portraying the wide emotional range of Valjean's character.  Jackson's voice resonates beautifully throughout the show.  His only weak point seems to be range, and he struggles with the iconic 24601 solo and some parts of "Bring Him Home".  Fougere's Javert is equally strong and does particularly well with the character's softer moments in "Stars" and [spoiler alert] "Javert's Suicide".  Other leads are fairly consistent.  Ms. Ashley has one of the biggest, most beautiful belt voices I have ever heard in community theatre, and establishes a phenomenal emotional connection with the audience.  Faria, while perhaps missing some opportunities to milk the comic potential of his role, plays a wonderfully vulgar Monsieur T, while Ernst is a hilariously hideous Madame T.  Penelope Walker looks a little old for Young Cosette, but her "Castle on a Cloud" is both touching and technically well done.  Her older counterpart, Annie Dillon, is almost indistinguishable from the Cosette in the 25th anniversary filmed production (largely due to physical resemblance) but does an excellent job of bringing life and youthful energy to what can be a somewhat flat character.  As her lover, Strawhecker demonstrates that he has a very strong pop-opera voice, but is a somewhat bland Marius at times and could deliver more passion in his role.  His best moments are in "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" in which he does well with the intense emotions of anger, guilt, and sadness.  Amy Strong is truly phenomenal as Éponine and brings out the character's emotional struggle and complexity while exhibiting strong mezzo belt vocals throughout.  Another standout is Nate Ramsayer, who does an excellent job with the physicality of Enjolras and is evidently one of the strongest vocalists in the cast.The set and space are very well suited to the show, and the almost-in-the-round feel of the stage keeps the audience engaged in the action onstage.  I could feel the beating of my heart echo the beating of the drums!
One thing that seriously took away from my experience were the sound issues.  Several loud feedback noises interrupted the show and took me out of the moment.Overall, I greatly enjoyed the show and I recommend trying to make it out for their second weekend.  Vive la revolution!

[This article originally appeared on the Marblehead Reporter website]

Edited on 7/4/14 at 9:52 PM with some name corrections