Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert

I waited for this for a very long time after the 10th Annniversary Dream Cast Concert in 1995 was shown at the Royal Albert Hall 15 years ago. When I heard about the announcement of 25th anniversary celebration last year, which will be celebrated again with another, bigger, grander concert than the 10th, I made sure that a red mark in the 2010 calendar will be x-ed in the month of October. It took a month to wait for the DVD version of the concert, though, but it's worth the wait. Now, the waiting is over. The video of the concert is finally here and there should be no thinking twice in getting a copy of the DVD and watch the concert like as if you are part of the crowd in the O2 Arena.

The concert for this 25th Anniversary was performed in London, England which featured, according to the organizers of the show, the most powerful cast after the 10th Annniversary Dream Cast Concert - Alfie Boe, Norm Lewis, Lea Salonga, Matt Lucas, Jenny Galloway, Samantha Barks, Katie Hall, Nick Jonas, Ramin Karimloo, Robert Madge, Mia Jenkins, Hadley Fraser and Earl Carpenter, among others. A special group of guests also featured the 1985 Original London Cast which includes Colm Wilkinson, Michael Ball, Rebecca Caine, Frances Ruffelle, Roger Allam. Susan Jane Tanner and Alun Armstrong. One of the highlights of the show is the encore where four of the best Valjeans, Alfie Boe, Colm Wilkinson, John-Owen Jones of the 25th Anniversary Tour Production and Simon Bowman of 2010 London Cast, sang "Bring Him Home" which I believed to be the most applauded number of the night. A powerful cast indeed seeing four casts singing altogether the signature song of Les Miserables along with a hundreds of back-up vocals and musicians, it is an extra-ordinary, mesmerizing one night worth remembering forever.

Below are the screenshots of the 25th Anniversary Concert cast who appeared in the show.

Jean Valjean is played by the English tenor Alfie Boe, whose name I have never heard in the world of theater. I was expecting to hear a voice as congenial, amicable and heart-warming as Colm Wilkinson, who immortalized the role 25 years ago; however, his attack is something very extra-ordinary and uncommon to the ears of Les Miz followers who got used to hearing dramatic tenor voices of the previous actors, i.e. Colm Wilkinson, Gary Morris, Michael Burgess, John Owen Jones, Simon Bowman, et. al., who played the role in the past productions. I liked how Alfie re-imaged Jean Valjean in this musical cast but for me, 24601 is always, and will always be Colm Wilkinson. Le Meire's heart-breaking line "God on high, hear my prayer..." is best felt with Colm, though Alfie's rendition here is equally mesmerizing as his. Two thumbs up to Alfie, he really proved that he is the star of tonight's show.

Fantine is played by, of course, one of Cameron Mackintosh's favorites - Lea Salonga, who also appeared as Eponine in the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast Concert, one of the only two Les Miz actors from the 10th to appear again in the 25th, alongside Jenny Galloway. As always and as expected, she stole the spotlight again on this night's concert and Lea made sure that she will outshine the other actors in her portrayal of the role. Her angelic mezzo-soprano voice is the epitome of "misérables" that fits the melancholy, suffering and fight-for-survival life and death of Fantine. I loved her in her lines "M'sieur, don't mock me now, I pray... It's hard enough I've lost my pride" and when she cried "I never did no wrong..." which I bet are the most heartbreaking scenes in this night's concert. I love Lea, no doubt, but her rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" did not match my high expectation of her. Of all the actors who played the role - Patti LuPone, Randy Graff, Daphne-Rubin Vega, Judy Kuhn et. al., I still preferred the performance of Ruthie Henshall who, on my opinion, did not have to exert too much effort to let everyone know how painful it is to live the life she has because her voice swept it all. Lea Salonga is the best Eponine ever, but Fantine is not a character for her.

Mia Jenkins played the little, adorable Cosette. Her "Castle on a Cloud" is not as extra-ordinary as the other kids' rendition who played the role on the past performances but I salute her for her treble-full-of-love voice that perfectly fits for this orphaned character. If she switches to soprano when she grows up, she is a perfect candidate for the grown-up character. 

Jenny Galloway, one of my personal favorites, is the only actor who reprised her role as Madame Thenardier from the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast Concert. It is evident how different she attacked the same role in this cast as she is oozing with more power and justification of the character compared to her pairing with the original Thenardier, Alun Armstrong. It's been 15 years but she is still the best Madame Thenardier who has taken this role, so far. I have almost a complete collection of all Les Misérables cast recordings and I don't remember hearing anyone at par as Jenny's annoying and fun-filled portrayal of the Master of the House's spouse. Two thumbs up to her!

One of the most awaited characters in a Les Misérables concert is the roguish innkeeper Thenardier, who was played surprisingly by the English comedian Matt Lucas. His portrayal of the role is, I think, the most different of all who played it for 25 years. Although Matt is the only cast member who has not been in a Les Misérables show, he deserved the standing ovation for playing the role with a more wicked, vexing attack on the character. Surprisingly, his rendition became my favorite of all. I liked it when he did "Let's not haggle for darling Colette... (corrects abruptly) Cosette!"

Norm Lewis is also one of the characters in the show who gained my respect playing the role of the evil Inspector Javert. His "almost perfect" bass-baritone voice and his rendition of a greedy, evil, treacherous Javert is what I can say the closest portrayal of the character based on Victor Hugo's description of Valjean's antagonist. His "Javert's Soliloquy" will melt your heart and this is when I felt that Javert has a soul, and not just a cruel policeman in pursuit of prisoner 24601. I first heard him in the The Little Mermaid Broadway production as King Triton and I would love to hear him again in different other productions.

The street urchin Gavroche, who appeared to be Eponine's brother and the youngest son of the Thenardiers in the novel, was played by Robert Madge, who really stole the scenes with his very confident portrayal of the role which he may have initially mastered when he played Oliver! in the 2009 London Revival Cast. His whiny soprano voice was perfect for the role and I'd love to hear him sing his shelved solo track "The Little People" which was only used in the Original London Cast Recording. 

Marius Pontmercy was played by, another surprise in the cast, the pop artist Nick Jonas, who in my honest opinion is the weakest actor in the whole ensemble. His voice is not as bad as I think but his portrayal of one of the principal characters doesn't perfectly fit him. His handsome face is apt for the role of a young student who is so in-love with Cosette but his acting prowess doesn't fit perfectly as how he portrayed it. That is not the Marius that you will be expecting in the story. Having played Gavroche when he was a kid should not ultimately qualify him to take another grown-up role in this musical. I have nothing against pop artists playing such roles onstage because Gareth Gates did it perfectly fine in the 25th Anniversary Tour Production of the same role. I hope Macintosh's idea of including him in this cast is only to draw audience because this is a more acceptable alibi. 

Eponine, one of the most remarkable and favorite characters in the story, was perpetuated by Samantha Barks, a product of a talent show-themed TV series in the UK. As expected, Samantha will be compared with Lea Salonga's rendition of the role in the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast Concert. Sam, on the other hand, gave justice to her characterization of the ragged and waif Jondrette girl in this production and hers, because of her powerful voice, became one of my favorite Eponines alongside Lea Salonga; Rosalind James of the 25th Anniversary Tour Production; Margarita Marban of the Madrid Cast Recording; and the whiny, original performance of Frances Ruffelle. 

Ramin Karimloo was the one of the perfect casts as he took over the role of the charismatic leader of the ABC Cafe, Enjolras. His voice is very powerful and it was a bad idea to make him sing along with Nick Jonas because Ramin eats him up alive. Ramin is the best Enjolras voice I have ever heard for 25 years and is the only one at par with David Burt and Michael Maguire, who both played in the original London and Broadway productions. I liked him better, however, when he starred in both The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies which I think, he will appear again in the 25th Anniversary Concert of The Phantom of the Opera next year. 

The role of Cosette was given to Katie Hall, who is currently touring for the 25th Anniversary Tour Production, after Camilla Kerslake, who was originally chosen for the role, backed-out due to medical condition. I already heard Katie's performance in the 25th Anniversary Tour Cast Recording album along with Gareth Gates as Marius, but she made it quite better here in the 25th Anniversary Concert. Katie failed to meet my expectation to overthrow the ones who already played the role in the past productions but I would still give her two thumbs up for doing great in the cast.

Hadley Fraser was chosen to play Grantaire for the 25th Anniversary Concert because of his portrayal of Marius, Javert and Grantaire in the past productions. His role is not as remarkable as the others but he is a good addition to the stellar cast of these amazing talents gathered tonight.

The entire cast in One Day More (Samantha Barks is not visible from the left) - Katie Hall, Alfie Boe, Nick Jonas, Robert Madge, Ramin Karimloo, Matt Lucas and Jenny Galloway.

The original Jean Valjean - who else but, Colm Wilkinson!

The original Cosette and Marius - Rebecca Caine and Michael Ball, who I think, is the best Marius of all.

The original Eponine and the one who popularized the whiny rendition of On My Own - Frances Ruffelle. 

The original Inspector Javert - Roger Allam.

And one of the most applauded cast is the original Thenardier couple - Susan Jane Tanner and Alun Armstrong.

CATS! Now and Forever in Manila

It was as early as 6:00pm when my wife and I left home to get straight to Cultural Center of the Philippines to see the International Tour Cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats Now and Forever. This is the first time that the musical will be played in the Philippines, featuring Lea Salonga as Grizabella. The other casts are mostly Australians who played the musical in other Asia-Pacific countries.

Cats is the first musical that my wife will be seeing and her first in CCP, as well. I was the one who is a fan of musical plays because of my theater experience in high school but it was my wife who really wanted to see Cats... with Lea Salonga on it. She only got influenced in me listening to the London and Broadway Cast Recordings of mostly the popular musical albums, i.e. Miss Saigon, Les Misérablés, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar; among others. She admits that the only song that she knows in this musical is "Memory" and it's even more surprising to her that the origin of the song is in the musical play Cats, which she thought this was just one of the popular songs of Barbra Streisand.

It will take us from our place in Mandaluyong to Roxas Boulevard roughly an hour since it is Saturday, heavy traffic included, so it is the perfect time to listen to the tracks on our way. I played the Cats Original London Cast Recording album in the car, where Grizabella was originally played by Elaine Paige in 1981, to set the mood before seeing the play itself. We reached CCP Complex at around 7pm and we didn't finish the whole album. We still have one more hour left to roam around and take pictures. Our point-and-shoot camera was confiscated as it is not allowed inside the theater. I didn't bother leaving it in the counter. We both have camera phones anyway. :)

These expensive tickets!

Since they took our camera away, this was only taken from a camera phone

My turn

We came in early, so we got the chance to take pictures without a lot people around

Sheryl: me too, me too!

At the queue. One more shot before we get inside

Behind my wife are the merchandise which I thought we can buy outside. Much to my regret that these are only available during the show.

The musical play started at exactly 8:00pm. As soon as the lights went off, hundreds of cats eyes are seen everywhere. It was a mesmerizing spectacle to see where jumping, crawling, dancing, creeping and singing cats are seen everywhere in the theater. They all gathered towards the main stage while singing "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats," one of the most popular tracks in the album. The energy was incomparable, their voices are powerful and the dances are very extraordinary.

Audience going to the musical with dearth knowledge of the plot will be dragged to the story wondering what's happening. You might wonder why these cats suddenly all came together and what purpose they might have in attending this gathering. Moreso, you might be puzzled why the cats Jennyanydots, Rum Tum Tugger, Bustopher Jones, Mungojerry and Rumpleteaser started showing off their best performances to an older cat Deuteronomy. And when Lea Salonga came out as the ostracized Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, I hear voices at the back wondering why she was limping as she sings. Duh! That's the role she is portraying. She didn't perform onstage with a leg injury. But when she started singing the first part of "Memory," people held their breaths. It was short and melancholic. And it was the last song in the first cut.

During the intermission, several Cats actors came out running around the theater playing with the audience like real cats 

This cat even sat on the lap of one of the guests in the audience, and posed while picture was being taken

We took advantage of the situation to steal shots from our camera phones :)

After the intermission, the story went on with "The Moment of Happiness" number where part of the song is an excerpt of "Memory." Much to our surprise when the cat Sillabub suddenly came out singing "Liwanaaaag..." in the Tagalog version of the song (in an Australian accent). It was one of the most applauded part of the show. The showdown of the cats continued and it was followed by Gus the Theater Cat, Skimbleshanks, Macavity and Mr. Mistoffelees. Once more, the production numbers are jaw-dropping and and the musical cuts are breathtaking. The audience are all fixated in the grandiose fashion of the show until Grizabella, again for the second time, came out from the backstage and all cats disappeared one by one, evading her. Lea Salonga started singing the complete version of "Memory" and everyone inside the theater swallowed their tongues, not wanting to make any sound. It was the culmination of the whole show, people gave her a standing ovation and a lengthy deafening applause that the play can't move forward. The story ended when Grizabella was swallowed by the smoke effect of the elevated ramp as the Old Deuteronomy sang his last song "The Addressing of Cats." We went out of the theater still in awe, trying to save all the spectacular scenes we have heard and seen tonight in our memory.

At last, we were able to get our point-and-shoot camera back. We took advantage of taking pictures outside the CCP The

We were supposed to eat dinner at Harbor Square, just across the Cultural Center of the Philippines, but all restaurants are infested with Saturday night clubbers and those who watched Cats. We even agreed to persevere in taking in fastfood just to satisfy our hunger but there are no signs of unoccupied tables where we can eat. I drove down to the nearby streets to chance on any open restaurant but I reached Makati Avenue looking for one. We both ended up in a Chinese Cuisine in A. Venue Mall where we ate like dogs, forgetting that we just saw cats earlier on.

We took our first shot while we were waiting for the bus boy to take our orders

A Conversation With God

God doesn't know the ultimate purpose. If He knows, existence would be pointless.

If the end of the universe were present in its beginning - if we are merely in the middle of the deterministic unfolding of a set of initial conditions - then the universe would be a pointless exercise. If we're at our destination, why make the journey? If we know the answer, why ask the question? That is why the future is - and must be - profoundly hidden, even from Him. Otherwise, existence would have no meaning.

The physical argument is that no part of the universe can calculate things faster than the universe itself. The universe is "predicting the future" as fast as it can. The universe is one vast, irreducible, ongoing computation, which is working toward a state that He doesn't know and cannot know. The purpose of existence is to reach that final state. But that final state is a mystery to Him, as it must be, for if He knew the answer, what would be the point of it all?

By computation He meant thinking. All of existence, everything that happens - a falling leaf, a wave upon the beach, the collapse of a star - it is all just Him, thinking.

We inhabit a world scaled midway between the Planck length and the diameter of the universe. Our brain was exquisitely fine-tuned to manipulate our world - not to comprehend its fundamental reality. We evolved to throw rocks, not quarks. As a result of our evolution, we see the world in fundamentally erroneous ways. For example, we believe ourselves to occupy a three-dimensional space in which separate objects trace smoothly predictable arcs marked by something we call time. This is what we call reality.

Natural selection has given us the illusion that we understand fundamental reality. But we do not. How could we? Do beetles understand fundamental reality? Do chimpanzees? We are an animal like they. We evolved like they did, we reproduce like they, we have the same basic neutral structures. We differ from the chimpanzee by a mere two hundred genes. How could that minuscule difference enable us to comprehend the universe when the chimpanzee cannot even comprehend a a grain of sand?

We evolved to see the world as being made up of discrete objects. That is not so. From the first moment of creation, all was entangled. What we call space and time are merely emergent properties of a deeper underlying reality. In that reality, there is no separateness. There is no time. There is no space. All is one.

We think of ourselves as an "individual person," with a unique and separate mind. We think we are born and we think we die. All our life we feel separate and alone. Sometimes desperately so. We fear death because we fear the loss of individuality. All this is illusion. Me, he, she, those things around us living or not, the stars and galaxies, the empty space in between - these are not distinct, separate objects. All is fundamentally entangled. Birth and death, pain and suffering, love and hate, good and evil, are all illusive. They are atavism of the evolutionary process. They do not exist in reality.

The universe exists because it is simpler than nothing. That is also why He exists. The universe cannot be simpler as it is. This is the physical law from which all others flow. "Nothing" cannot exist. It is immediate paradox. The universe is the state closest to nothing. The universe we see is an emergent property of its simplicity.

Religion arose as an effort to explicate the inexplicable, control the uncontrollable, make bearable the unbearable. Belief in a higher power became the most powerful innovation in late human evolution. Tribes with religion had an advantage over those without. They had direction and purpose, motivation and a mission. The survival value of religion was so spectacular that the thirst for belief became embedded in the human genome. What religion tried, science has finally achieved. Science now has a way to explain the inexplicable, control the uncontrollable. We no longer need "revealed" religion. The human race has finally grown up. Religion is as essential to human survival as food and water. If we try to replace religion with science, we will fail. Science is religion. The one, true religion. Instead of offering a book of truth, science offers a method of truth. Science is a search for truth, not the revelation of truth. It is a means, not a dogma. It is a journey, not a destination.

We will know the truth. And the truth shall make us free.