"Lord, let me find him! Let me see him! Return to the cage and be at peace with the world! Until then, I will not stop, I swear, I swear to the stars!"

On stage, Shavoy, played by Ezra Miller, is bathed in a halo of divine revelation, swearing to the stars and praying to God. With the stars as evidence, chasing Jean-Agen to the ends of the earth, he will never let go, and his pious faith and stubborn bigotry are revealed in a song full of holiness and justice!

The melody gradually rises higher, and the singing, gradually blooming, pushes the emotions of the third act step by step to the high/climax, and the inner faith bursts out with unimaginable power, which is completely released in the melody and singing, and finally ends abruptly, and the majestic momentum reaches its peak!

The curtain fell, the lights went out, then the lights came on, the audience spontaneously gave a standing ovation, and the thunderous applause shook the entire Almeida Theater, and the three-hour performance finally came to an end for the time being, the first half was over, and after a two-and-a-half-hour break, the second half would continue!

The applause, which lasted for a full two minutes, did not stop, was mighty, vigorous, and deafening, and the enthusiasm and excitement of the audience were clearly expressed. Although this is only the first half of the performance, although the magnificent story is not over yet, although the long time is really a torment, but the audience does not care, and sends high respect with applause!

The Almeida Theatre version of Les Misérables has a total of three acts in the first half.

The first act ends with a monologue by Jean Argent, showing his change of mood and social situation.

The second act ends with the confrontation between Jean-Argen and Savoy, presenting Fantine's predicament and disaster, and peeking into the social situation from her perspective, and of course, the disclosure and re-escape of Jean-Argent's identity throughout.

The third act ends with Shawei's monologue "Starlight", which shows the further intensification of social contradictions, with people struggling to make ends meet, lives in dire straits, and dire straits. Mr. and Mrs. Denardière are the absolute protagonists.

The three acts, three hours, present a magnificent picture of the early 19th century in Paris, not only the three main characters of Jean-Argent, Fantine and Savoy, but also the other supporting characters have been given enough space to perform.

Act III, in particular, is very different from the Queen's Theatre version, adding a large number of new tracks, new characters, and reducing the influence of the protagonist as much as possible, but outlining the current state of society as a whole.

The whole process of appreciation, just like a masterpiece like "The Lord of the Rings", the delicate and magnificent epic temperament outlines the majesty and vastness of the halfway world, and the Almeida theater version of "Les Miserables" also presents the era written by Victor Hugo, and the spiritual shock is unconsciously shocked.

For three hours, three exhausting and exciting hours, the audience stood up en masse, and the two-minute applause never subsided, and the intention could not have been more obvious: the audience was calling for an encore curtain call, waiting for the actors to appear again and accept the bows of the audience!

So, John Cord led the core main actors, walked onto the stage, and received applause.

The tsunami-like applause reached its peak in an instant, like thunder, like an earthquake, like a storm, and the raging sound waves reverberated in an unimaginable chain reaction under the surround echo effect of the theater. If it weren't for John's initiative to come out and take the initiative to say that he was looking forward to the audience returning to the second half and continuing to watch the performance, otherwise, this applause would not seem to have an end in sight.

John's reminder is undoubtedly important: a two-and-a-half-hour break, they need to eat as soon as possible, they also need to relax their nerves, and then receive another three-hour baptism. This marathon is just over halfway, and the most exciting part is far from coming.

The applause gradually subsided, and the audience gradually dispersed, but the ripples in the bottom of my heart still did not subside.

As a professional drama critic and a long-time theater enthusiast, Aristair Smith has a slightly different perspective.

The first is the story. John Code's presentation and excavation of the original story of "Les Miserables" is worthy of recognition and undoubted. In this regard, Aristair not only admires John's courage, but also has a high degree of completion, but the overall level and height need to look at the story adaptation in the second half to make a comprehensive judgment. As far as the first half is concerned, it is at least eighty points or more.

The second is the actors. That's what the first half was the focus of.

Reese Ridley, who plays Fantine, is a little immature, and the shackles of age cannot be ignored after all.

Especially in the second act, there are several rivalry scenes with Lan Li. It can be clearly felt that Lan Li is converging inward, controlling the rhythm and controlling the intensity, but the natural and free way of performing still faintly presses Reese, whether it is the fullness of emotions, or the presentation of characters and plots, or the filling of performance details, this can see the gap between the two people.

Ezra Miller, who plays Shavoy, has the same problem.

In the rivalry between Ezra and Lan Li, Ezra could faintly smell Ezra's shortness of breath and uneasiness, and he seemed unable to straighten his waist in front of Lan Li. Especially in the scene of "confronting", the feeling is especially obvious, which to a certain extent, affects the character creation of Sawei - after all, in the original story, Savoy is the one who has the upper hand, and Jean-Argen is the one who holds his head.

However, objectively speaking, it is not that the two actors are not good enough, but that Lan Li is too good. Aside from Lan Li, Reese and Ezra's performances can already be at the forefront of young actors, which makes the overall quality of the first half of "Les Miserables" still maintain a high level.

Reese's interpretation of "I Had a Dream" is slightly less explosive, but the emotional transmission is full enough, and the biggest advantage is that her age is closer to Fantine in the original book, and Fantine in the Queen's Theatre version often chooses actors around thirty years old to perform, with enough vicissitudes, but lacks the innocence and immature kindness in the original book.

In the monologue at the end of the second act, Reese truly interprets Fantine's emotions: young and ignorant, with beautiful fantasies about the world, but being deceived and hurt, and falling into the abyss step by step. She once dreamed that she could have love and warmth, but the ending was bruised and unsustainable.

It's a small surprise.

Ezra's interpretation of "Starlight" is full of explosiveness, but the sense of layering and delicacy is lacking, and it shows more of the determination of young people to move forward and ignore it, and fails to show the intricacies and complexities of Shawei's heart. Fortunately, the story of the first half was long enough to make up for it with the plot and singing segments.

So, in the monologue at the end of the third act, Ezra's rampage paranoia and distortion instead inject another interpretive meaning into the story, which in turn wins applause.

The first half of the three-hour show may become a shortcoming, exposing the instability and inadequacy of young actors, or it may be an advantage, making up for the shortcomings of young actors' lack of performance level and making the story more full and profound. John Cord's version of "Les Miserables" is the latter.

"Aristair. ”

"Nick. ”

I saw a familiar face in front of him, Nick Morris (Nick-Morris), another well-known veteran drama critic in the industry, known for his vitriol, and the future of many new dramas was buried in his pen, which was stained with a lot of blood.

However, the reason why Nick was able to occupy a place in the West End of London is because he is professional, he should be criticized, he is absolutely soft-handed, and he is not stingy with praise. Even Aristere was more than happy to exchange ideas with Nick.

The two men joined the crowd one after the other and left the theater, "How, what did you find?" asked Aristere.

Nick shrugged, "So far?" ”

"Only one?" said Aristair, raising a thick eyebrow in a relaxed tone.

Nick nodded neatly in the affirmative, "Yes." All other discoveries were overshadowed. "Just like Nick's style," Cord's adaptation of the script, which is barely half, but it still depends on the script of the second half. To be honest, I was a little surprised by Lan Li's performance, you know, those Hollywood actors, tsk......"

Needless to say, just a critical glance is enough.

For veterans of the West End of London, in fact, the weight of the Oscar statuette is not heavy, at least, it is not as good as the three major European film festivals and the Tony Award and the Oliver Award; in their eyes, the basic skills of actors in the West End of London are world-leading, and actors born here can gain a firm foothold in Hollywood casually, which is not a big deal at all.

It can be said that they are arrogant, or it can be said that they have no one in their eyes. But in real life, even Hollywood agrees with this, and this is why the term "British Gang" was born.

"But, his control is really remarkable. Nick's praise was so far, not in depth, but the light in his eyes revealed his excitement, "Actually, I'm a little curious, if this play, Lan Li is full of firepower, and the whole process is performed in the best condition, I don't know how it will work." ”

"At least, it's curious. Aristair said with a smile, and then Nick asked Aristair for his opinion, and he confessed, "A few young actors deserve to be polished." This time, John Cord has really tapped into a number of potential new stars. I think it's funny. In the second half, the other main characters are about to appear, and I don't know what the average strength is. ”

"If it weren't for Lan Li's guidance, the quality of the finished product presented would definitely not be of such a standard. "Nick still has a critical face.

Aristair didn't refute either, and nodded, "So, John Cord's eyes are vicious. "Choosing Lan Li to play Jean-Jean is not the most shocking casting in the West End, but it does require extraordinary courage and determination," I have a hunch that the second half will be worth looking forward to. ”

"Hopefully they don't stuff too much food, or the evening show will smell of pizza and fried chicken, which will be too bad. "Nick is still Nick.