This is almost the exact same cast as Thursday except for Robert Hunt coming back as Javert (apparently he had been sick for a few days, and I guess several other cast members have been ill, too) and Pierce Peter Brandt who was back in his usual role as Combeferre.

The only thing about the box seats (aside from being partially obstructed) was that I had a very clear view of the orchestra pit -- which was nice in a way because I could see the instruments being played, but at the same time was a little distracting at times because it is relatively brightly lit and makes a semi-halo around the stage. It also made the trumpets sound very loud, which blared and drowned out the singing in "Do You Hear the People Sing?" and "One Day More".

Randal Keith:

Seriously, I don't know what to say about Randal Keith that hasn't already been said many times before. And from my box seat, I was able to see just what an exceptional actor he is in addition to being an exceptional singer -- such as the little nuances he gave to Valjean's character that I don't think is visible beyond a few rows from the stage (unless you've got 30/20 vision or better). It is incredibly natural and none of ever seemed forced or ill-timed. A good example would be when the Bishop is insisting that Valjean accept the silver to use to turn his life around -- the range of emotions that flash across Keith's face varied from shock, denial, guilt, sorrow, etc. and yet it all seemed appropriate.

The only time I could even maybe think that his voice was faltering was in "The Bargain" when he was kneeling in front of Young Cosette and singing "I shall not forsake my vow" -- it just sounded like he was fighting to keep his voice steady.

Robert Hunt:

Wow. I honestly think Robert Hunt is the best Javert I have ever seen. (Have I said that for another actor already?) He has so much intensity in his singing and acting that I don't think I've ever seen from any actor portraying Javert live. He seemed to be very conscious of enunciating his words at key points (although he did a great job of making his singing very clear the entire time) but it was never overdone. From the moment he began singing in the "Prologue" all the way to "Javert's Suicide", he had very prominent presence on stage and projected himself in a way to match that. He was quite menacing in the "Prologue" without being scary. And apparently he is known for his dramatic gestures during "Javert's Suicide" and I got to see that for myself today. It was just pushing the boundary to overdoing it, but not quite. He made Javert's tumultuous inner turmoil very apparent. Even the simple act of pretending to point out on the map where the army is planning to attack ("Concentrate their force -- hit us from ... the right"), he takes that pause and actually has Javert pretend to study the map for a brief second to make his deception more believable. If it weren't for Gavroche, the students would have completely fell for it.

I also noticed the way that Hunt was encouraging the "sniper" in "The First Attack" while he was sitting bound in the chair (and being otherwise quite calm). I just don't think I've noticed it before -- and especially since all I remember of that scene on Thursday is Brandt's frightened heaving breaths. It's just that they're two different approaches to that scene that I never really thought about before.

Tonya Dixon:

Again, wow. Tonya Dixon might actually have been better today than Thursday, which I didn't think was at all possible. "I Dreamed a Dream" was just amazing, really showcasing how awesome her voice is.

Rachel Schier:

Schier's performance was essentially a carbon copy of Thursday, though I got a sense of how good of an actress she is for being eight years old (or somewhere in that vicinity). She really did look frightened when Madame Thénardier caught her not doing her chores and she was actually shaking, particularly when she was holding that huge wooden bucket and looked as if she was ready to burst into tears. Wow. And I just love the expression she has on her face when Monsieur Thénardier holds her under his arm during the "Waltz of Treachery" -- like she's thinking, "What the heck?"

David Benoit & Jennifer Butt:

David Benoit was all over the place during "Master of the House", bouncing here and there, adding to the high energy of the song. Both Thursday and today, he sprawled himself across the table, kicking his legs in the air somewhere around "Tells a saucy tale, makes a little stir ..." It was quite funny. Also at the end of "Waltz of Treachery", after Valjean gives them the 1500 francs and leaves with Young Cosette, he grabs for the money while Jennifer Butt leapt onto his back, at which point he yells, "Get off me, you little whore!" He did that on Thursday as well, but I don't remember him doing that last year.

Jennifer Butt makes for one scary-looking Madame Thénardier. Not only is she quite thin (a little on the boney side, if you ask me), has that flaming red hair thing going, and what has to be a partial mask to make her right cheek look slightly asymmetrical, she just has this way of moving on stage that just screams "crazy lady". It's great. Also, I just love that her experience with this role made her lines in "Master of the House" come through with perfect timing and delivery.

Noah E. Galvin:

I still love Noah E. Galvin's Gavroche. The kid can sing, that's for sure. Somehow he manages to make all of his lines very melodic (and even a bit of vibrato here and there!) but still keeps all of the proper emphasis on key words. Again, I have to re-iterate how much love his defiant burst just before getting shot to death -- it really takes the scene up a couple notches and makes his death that much more devastating (to me, at least). (I have never gotten through this scene without crying, and Galvin's performance both Thursday and today made it that much harder for me.)

Melissa Lyons:

Melissa Lyons' performance was quite a bit better today compared to Thursday. She just seemed a bit more insistent in everything that she said and did, which meant she was a bit more flirty with Marius, too, but that was fine. She was just practically screaming, "Oh, pity me!" in the tone of her voice at the very beginning of "Eponine's Errand" as she is singing, "Look what's become of me ..." She also cranked up the emotion in "On My Own" wherein she sounded like she was on the verge of tears both at the beginning introduction to the song and obviously at the end when she is repeating "I love him ..." Though, there were a few lines toward the end of "On My Own" where it sounded like she was holding back just a bit, because I know how powerful her voice can be but she didn't give it her all at "I love him, but every day I'm learning all my life, I've only been pretending ..." I actually got all teary-eyed at the end of "A Little Fall of Rain", which is something that hasn't happened in a long time (mainly because I've become desensitized to it).

Adam Jacobs:

Adam Jacobs was another whose performance was better today. It seemed like he took his time with his delivery a little more and managed to put some emphasis on key phrases. There were maybe a few places he overdid the vibrato and sounded like he was warbling, mainly in "In My Life" (see my comments for Leslie Henstock), but "A Heart Full of Love" was really beautiful and it has been a while since I've seen "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" done so well. He took advantage of the dramatic pauses that are naturally written in the song and really wrenched every ounce of grief out of them. It was also particularly dramatic when he stood up at "Oh, my friends, my friends, don't ask me what your sacrifice was for ..." If I'd read or heard about him doing that, I might have thought it strange, but it actually worked quite nicely -- as if he was trying to confront his survivor's guilt face-on or something (and I'm pretty sure he didn't do that on Thursday).

Leslie Henstock:

Okay, I'm not crazy. I know she didn't sound this shrill last year, because I remember liking her portrayal of Cosette. But for some reason, since the Los Angeles engagement, her approach to it must have changed and now she sounds like she's warbling from time to time. But really, it's not quite as bad as I'm making it sound because it's only when she tries to add vibrato to her upper soprano range. She still is one of the best Cosettes I've seen live because even though she has this style of singing I'm not too fond of, she still has the strength to give her voice support. Also her voice blends quite well with Adam Jacobs' so "A Heart Full of Love" and "Every Day" were just beautiful.

Michael Halling:

I'm not sure if Michael Halling's singing was better this time or if it's just that I'm getting accustomed to his voice. I still think there were times when I felt his voice could have filled the space a little better (i.e. been more resonant), but it wasn't quite as noticeable as Thursday. I never really paid attention to Enjolras' movements or facial expressions when he wasn't singing before, but today I noticed in "Red and Black" that Halling had this half-pissed half-amused look on his face when Marius was singing about his run-in with Cosette. That was interesting.

Miscellaneous notes:

• Michael St. John was doing that over-vibrato singing again as the Bishop. Though, I wonder if that's just because I was sitting closer to the the speakers than on Thursday so it was much more prominent for that reason (especially at "So messieurs, you may release him ...").
• "At the End of the Day" was much more cohesive today and all of the cast members were singing together and in time with the orchestra.
• I rather like Pierce Peter Brandt's portrayal of the Foreman. I haven't quite put my finger on what it is that he does differently yet ... but I like how he appears to be enjoying the catfight between Fantine and the Factory Girl, smiling, until Randal Keith turns to him at "I look to you to sort this out and be as patient as you can" and pretends to take his job as foreman seriously when he says, "Now someone say how this began".
• The flying coin -- in "Lovely Ladies" when the Old Woman handed Fantine the five-franc coin in exchange for the locket, Tonya Dixon must have missed grabbing it or something because the next thing we knew, it went clattering on the ground and she had to scramble to pick it up. Just a little unexpected, but luckily it didn't throw anybody off.
• It was a great touch in "Fantine's Arrest" after Bamatabois blames Fantine for attacking him, where Tonya Dixon while sprawled on the floor lunges toward Trent Blanton and lets out this feral growl. Nice.
• In "The Runaway Cart" after Valjean prods Javert to voice his suspicions, Robert Hunt said his lines squarely facing Valjean, which is very different from the way Brandt did it on Thursday wherein he turned to face downstage and stood ramrod straight with his baton tucked under his arm. Again, a very different approach by two different actors. (Personally, I like the way Brandt did it because it makes Javert come across as reluctantly subservient, where despite not trusting Valjean, he is forced to show him respect because as inspector, he essentially serves at the pleasure of the Mayor.)
• I really like the way Keith's Valjean responded to hearing Javert's voice at the very beginning of "The Confrontation" -- while keeping his back to Javert, he just stared straight ahead and said, "Before you say another word, Javert! Before you chain me up like a slave again." Only then did he turn and look at Javert. "The Confrontation" was also wonderfully executed by Keith and Hunt -- very crisp and filled with an urgent tension between them.
• Another blooper: at the end of "The Confrontation" when Valjean smashes the chair and threatens Javert with the leg of it, the chair didn't quite fall apart completely and pieces of it were still dangling on a string as Randal Keith held it over his head. He managed to get the pieces to fall off eventually, but it scared me because thought they were going to swing around and hit him on the head!
• Another flub -- which is a little surprising given David Benoit's relative experience with the role: in the opening of "Master of the House", when he should have sang "right away, you scum ... right away, Monsieur!", he falters slightly and sings "right away, Monsieur" twice.
• Gross (but so great)! David Benoit pretends to pick his nose and add it to the meat grinder while singing, "Filling up the sausages with this and that" in "Master of the House".
• It's a great touch in the transition from "The Well Scene" to "The Bargain", when Young Cosette and Valjean are singing their little duet, that just before they cadence on their final note, Benoit's Thénardier lets out this disgustingly loud belch. Ha ha.
• I think there was some microphone feedback at the end of "Stars" (either that or one of the wind instruments was squeaking ... I couldn't tell which.)
• It's only now that I'm seeing the show enough times to notice, but damn, Trent Blanton makes such a great Grantaire (he makes a really great drunk). He kept sprawling out on his chair during "Red and Black", particularly in exasperation listening to Marius go on about Cosette (and a couple other scenes later), but he is so tall that it is a hilarious sight.
• Once again, Keith's Valjean extended his hand out to Eponine as if he knew she had something to give him. Valjean is psychic!
• Even though Randal Keith's reading of Marius' letter to Cosette wasn't the same as last year, he seems to be placing the dramatic pause at "Now that I know ... you love me as well, it is harder to die"
• After Eponine died, Michael Halling sang "She is the first to fall, the first of us to fall upon the barricade" while staring off into the audience, which just seemed a little strange to me. (Doesn't Enjolras usually direct that at Marius?)
• As mentioned above, the timing of the ensemble was cohesive in "At the End of the Day" but it was a little ragged in "The Wedding Chorale," especially when the chorus splits into two and the second echoes the first. They were a little off in timing with each other and with the orchestra.
• While the timing of the Thénardiers trying to make off with the silverware was dull and flatly timed on Thursday, it was much better this time and was quite funny.