Stephen Tewksbury and Skylar Harden were the only ones from the San Francisco cast that were in this performance. I had seen Ivan Rutherford as Valjean back in 2000. The rest of the principal cast I had never heard of before.

Overall, this performance ranks as one of the best I've ever seen, possibly surpassing that of last year's in San Francisco. The vocal quality of the performers was exquisite -- notes were exact, enuciation was precise but not overdone, and the drama was supported by both music and lyrics. I had complained last year that the instrumentation sounded underpowered, but this time, it was fuller, even so much at times that it drowned out the singing momentarily. I might have been worried if I didn't already know the lyrics by heart, but since I do, it didn't have a drastic impact for me.

The shortening of the libretto was a little easier to swallow this time, possibly because I've had a year to digest it. But I still have some qualms about literally cutting half of "Come to Me" and "Turning," and rushing some parts just to get through them faster.

The only major change I noticed in the staging was the fact that there were no trap doors to go under the stage. Therefore, the Thénardiers were not able to pop up from "underground" in "One Day More" and Valjean was not able to drag Marius down into the sewers just before "Dog Eats Dog." In both cases, they had to make do without them and run off-stage. I suppose this was because the Sacramento Community Theatre did not have the space under the stage like most other theatres.

Ivan Rutherford: I don't remember Rutherford's performance the last time I saw him, so I don't have any reference with which to compare his performance to himself this time. For the most part, I enjoyed his portrayal of Jean Valjean. He commands a very strong presence on the stage, and he has a powerful, but wonderfully pleasant "belting" voice. It was only in his falsetto voice where I felt he was a bit weak. For example, the beginning and ending verses of "Bring Him Home" were not as well-supported as I would have expected. Another spot was just before "One Day More" when he sings, "Must be Javert! He's found my cover at last! I've got to get Cosette away before they return ..." There, he sang it in a very light falsetto voice that didn't quite sound like it was natural for him, and a couple times he sounded just a hair flat. But this was far from the case elsewhere and like I mentioned already, he has a very strong voice that is especially good when he's singing full-force.

Stephen Tewksbury: once again a very effective Javert. I felt he was actually a bit better last year, though, because it sounded like his voice was a little ... light ... for want of a better word. I'm not sure how to describe it. He sang very well, hit all his notes, held all his long notes without the slightest waver (e.g. in "Stars" and "Soliloquy"), and gave his lines a good punch when it was called for. It just seems like I remember his voice being deeper last year. Anyway, I don't want to sound like this "lightness" is necessarily a bad thing. I don't think I could ask for a better Javert, and he definitely brought down the house with "Stars." Wow.

Tonya Dixon: My initial impression of "I Dreamed a Dream" was much like that of when I saw Carmen Cusack last year -- stronger singing in the second half of the song. But overall, Dixon's "I Dreamed a Dream" was effortless, and in "Come to Me," you could almost see Cosette come to life in her hallucination. I noticed she addressed Valjean when she was singing, "I never did no wrong ... my daughter's close to dying ..." -- this is usually addressed to Javert. Another significant difference in her performance was that she took a lot of long dramatic pauses -- some I had never heard before but were well placed and effective (such as when she was trying to sell her locket). She also did a lot more coughing in and after "Lovely Ladies," which was good because in some performances I'd seen in the past, I'd almost forgotten that she was supposed to be sick until she is confronted by Javert. And I don't know if this is true of staging in all productions, but I had a mental remark that Dixon was taking a lot of abuse in this staging. She practically slid halfway across the stage on her stomach at one point after being thrown. Ouch.

Skylar Harden was Young Cosette this time, and even though she was in the cast last year, she was Young Eponine the time(s?) I saw her last year. I very much liked her "Castle on a Cloud" -- very light and very sweet. But she seemed to be struggling the slightest bit when she was taking the chairs down off the table -- again confirming my dislike for the removal of the instrumental introduction to the song.

Michael Hayward-Jones: I was a little bummed that J.P. Dougherty was not going to be M. Thénardier because he's been this role almost every time I've seen Les Mis. But Michael Hayward-Jones was just as good, maybe even better vocally. He and Jodi Capeless seemed to have the standard antics of the Thénardier's, but one thing different this time was that they both practically hugged the life out of Young Cosette during "Thénardier Waltz". After Valjean comes to the inn with Young Cosette, he sits her down at one of the chairs and the Thénardiers in turn sat down next to her and squeezed her so tight I thought she was going to suffocate. I'm sure that was the intended effect, but it really stood out to me. A couple other things involving the Thénardiers were at Marius and Cosette's wedding: I know that the Majordomo cues the orchestra to begin playing again, but I don't remember hearing him saying "thank you" in an exasperated tone, and M. Thénardier does the exact same thing just a bit later. Also, when the Thénardiers are trying to get away with stealing the silverware and the tray drops out of M. Thénardier's coat, he usually wags his finger at the Majordomo and makes a "tsk, tsk" sound -- but this time, he points right at the Majordomo and lets out this long and loud gasp in mock surprise. Very funny.

Erik Tolman Ward was this performance's Gavroche and I definitely liked this kid's spunk. It's always disappointing to me to see a Gavroche go through his lines with them all flowing and connected, but Ward was great at putting emphasis and breaks where they were needed and really playing off the audience.

Jessica-Snow Wilson had one of the cleanest protrayals of Eponine that I have ever seen. Every one of her notes was perfectly on pitch and she can sure belt those long notes with accuracy and steadiness. It made me really look forward to "On My Own" and it couldn't have been any better. One of very few criticisms would be with the line, "No, I don't want your money, sir ..." to Marius -- she started out speaking the line then ended singing it. It just sounded a bit awkward. Another spot was just before "A Little Fall of Rain" when she's telling Marius she delivered his letter. She doesn't seem to be in any pain or out of breath or anything to give an indication that she was shot. Then all of a sudden, when she sings, "Don't think I can stand anymore," she falls, but even that didn't sound very labored. (The first few lines of "A Little Fall of Rain" were much too rushed, but I think that's an established change that was made in the 10th anniversary revisions.) And then there were a couple times where I felt she could have given Eponine a little more spunk or attitude. I mean, she interacted pretty well with Hunt's Marius. I liked how she was playfully messing around with him, and watching her watching Marius and Cosette in "A Heart Full of Love" was heartbreaking. But I was just hoping for a little bit more than the standard stuff. Other than that, she just might be one of my favorite Eponines!

Dallyn Vail Bayles: he took command of his role like his character Enjolras takes command of the rebellion. It seemed very natural for him, and I don't think there's anything I can nitpick about his performance.

Scott Hunt was Marius, and he too had a great voice that you just never want to stop listening to. He looked like kind of a little guy in comparison to the other guys in the company, but it's possible it might just be that everyone else was a lot bigger. His height wasn't all that disproportionate, though -- Wilson and Huddleston were both just a tad shorter than him. Anyway, the highlight of his performances was in portraying the survivor's guilt Marius has in "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" -- very full of emotion. My only nitpick is at the end of "A Little Fall of Rain": most performers take a pause as they watch Eponine die just before Marius sings "grow" by himself, but Hunt took a VERY long pause that made it lose its effect.

Amanda Huddleston: she may be one of the best Cosettes that I have seen live. She didn't have that overly operatic soprano voice that seems to be rather popular for this role, and she didn't overdo the vibrato. Instead, she had a well-supported voice that was mostly consistent in all of her range. Her lines in "In My Life" were great, and I was able to get a sense of her feeling trapped in this limited life Valjean confines her to. Along with Hunt and Wilson, the very last line of "A Heart Full of Love" might just be the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. Their voices blended and complemented each other so well, and as they were singing the last note of the song, I could hear several people in the audience go "Mmm ..."

Adding to the splendor of the principal cast, the ensemble was just as magnificent. The casting director(s) couldn't have chosen a better bunch and there was hardly anything out of place. The various individual lines that they had were just as clear and well-delivered as the principals and they worked extrememly well as a unit.

• The introduction to "At the End of the Day," just before the chorus starts singing the first line, there was dominant usage of the xylophone. I don't think I've heard this before and it caught me a little off-guard. It's different.
• After "Lovely Ladies" when Bamatabois is reporting Fantine's "attack" and he sings, "You can see she left her mark," he usually is pointing to his face, indicating the scratch Fantine makes on his cheek. But this time, Bamatabois (played by Paul Truckey) waves his hand up and down his chest, I guess indicating his shirt? I was a little confused by that.
• As I mentioned above regarding the "Thénardier Waltz," the Thénardiers took their turns in hugging Cosette to death practically while singing of their so-called devotion to the girl. But then they did something I don't think I've seen before: they both pull Cosette to the other side of where Valjean is seated, each throw one arm in front of Cosette, as if protectively, and continue, "One thing more, one small doubt, there are treacherous people about ..."
• Rutherford delivered his lines in "In My Life" to Cosette -- "You will learn truth is given by God to us all in our time, in our turn" -- in a very angry manner. He sings it while standing very close to Cosette and shaking two fingers into her face. I don't think I've seen (or heard) anyone do this part quite like that.
• It was almost comical in Marius' opening lines of "A Heart Full of Love" when Cosette starts running towards him, but then suddenly stops short and turns away. She doesn't look at him again until she sings, "No fear, no regret." Not sure if making some people in the audience giggle was the intended effect.
• Eponine was a little more visibly disappointed after getting her hopes up after Marius tells her, "There is a way that you can help. You are the answer to a prayer! Please take this letter to Cosette, and pray to God that she's still there." She walks away after she responds, shaking her head quite a few times, maybe a few more than was necessary.
• One moment that I was quite curious about was at the end of "A Little Fall of Rain" when everyone, including a bound-up Javert, gathered around just as Eponine died. As some of the students carry Eponine's body away, I noticed that Javert turned his head to say a few words to his captors. I'm not sure if this was blocking or what, but I was very curious to know what he said. Why WOULD he say anything to them at this time?
• Another strange moment was just after the "First Attack" when Valjean is given the priviledge of "disposing" of Javert. As they are left alone, Javert doesn't look Valjean's way at all, but he says, "How right you should kill with a knife." If he doesn't look his way, how does he know Valjean is using a knife instead of a gun?
• One lyric change in that same scene that I can't account for: instead of "shoot me now for all I care," Javert sang "kill me know for all I care."
• At the end of "Dog Eats Dog," I'm accustomed to seeing Thénardier turn over Valjean's body after stealing off Marius, recognizing Valjean, and then taking off into the sewers again. But this time, he doesn't do this. Just as he was backing away from Marius, Valjean was starting to move. At this point, Thénardier turns and sees Valjean struggling to get up. I guess Thénardier is supposed to recognize the back of Valjean's head now? Because that's pretty much all he sees, and then says, "Valjean!" and takes off running.
• In "The Sewers" when Javert catches up with Valjean and Marius, Valjean stops, kneels on one knee and had Marius oddly draped over his shoulder and kind of sitting on Valjean's knee. It didn't look very comfortable. But it was a nice punch when Valjean pulled Marius to his feet when he sang, "Look down, Javert, he's standing in his grave!"
• Are the ghosts of the students supposed to turn around and walk upstage in unison? I don't remember, but I want to think so. Well, this time they didn't, and it just seemed a little strange for them to turn and walk away at different times.
• In clearing off the stage prior to the "Wedding Chorale," the stagehands dropped Marius' cane, downstage middle-right. It landed with a loud clatter, but it was picked up by one of the male dancers and gave it to someone off stage right.
• In the "Finale," when Fantine's ghost comes to take Valjean but is interrupted when Cosette and Marius come running in (Cosette: "Papa, Papa, I do not understand. Are you all right? They said you'd gone away ..."), Fantine has and keeps this deeply concerned look on her face. I don't know if this is something that's always been done, but it just really stood out to me this time.

That's all that I can recall at the moment. If I remember any more, I'll be sure to add them.

My rating of this performance? I'd have to say 4.5 out of 5.

Links to other reviews of this cast/tour:

• http://www.davisenterprise.com/display/inn_spotlight/THEATER/LESMISER.TXT
• http://www.sacticket.com/onstage/story/6513409p-7464198c.html
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