Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

bh_tafe3 For a person who grew up with musicals, went to see local productions, big Sydney and Melbourne touring productions and spent a lot of my childhood watching musical films with my father, it's a little surprising that I'd never got around to seeing Les Miserables until it was turned into a feature film. I was quite impressed with the film, but assured by people the songs could have been performed a lot better, so I saw this on sale and decided to check it out. Suffice to say I was thoroughly entertained and very impressed.But the start is a bit shaky, the first two performers to sing solo during the "Look Down" opening had me wondering what I'd got myself into, but once Alfie Boe (Valjean) and the enjoyably hammy Norm Lewis (Javert) get on stage I knew I was in good hands. Boe's singing is magnificent, with Valjean's soliloquy and Bring Him Home two of the highlights of the show. Lewis is having the time of his life, shouting his name with gusto and giving a great rendition of Stars and a passionate soliloquy of his own. Their moments together are brilliant, but I especially love their confrontation as Fantine dies.Speaking of Fantine, played by Miss Saigon herself, Lea Salonga, her "I Dreamed a Dream" is the absolute high point of this show. She makes you feel everything that her character is feeling during the song while belting out the tune beautifully and receives a well deserved standing ovation at song's end.Matt Lucas makes a truly disgusting Thenadier (which I mean in a good way), his relative lack of singing ability is well and truly compensated by a great character performance and of course having stage veteran Jenny Galloway with him in most scenes.Nick Jonas as Marius does not appear to have a strong enough voice to be part of an ensemble, though he was not awful singing Empty Chairs and Empty Tables on his own (this was aided by the very effective lighting behind him to make his dead friends look like ghosts as they stood behind him). Katie Hall is a little hamstrung as Cossette because she spends a lot of her time having to try and sing more softly than Jonas, but she appears to have a nice clean voice.Ramin Karimloo, who I've always thought had a great voice but never really rated as a good Phantom of the Opera, is excellent as Enjolras. He sings with power and passion, and despite not being a big man, has a presence about him that is appropriate to the role and his rather large, unrestrained voice.Samantha Barks is good as Eponine and it's impressive she was able to play the role equally well in the film version. There's a lot of power in her voice.Overall I really loved this show and it helped give me a greater appreciation for the musical part of Les Miserables, but I think seeing the film first really helped as I knew what was happening in the story and so could just sit back and enjoy the singing, Nick Jonas aside.

Neil Welch I have avoided Les Mis over the years, under the impression that it held nothing which would appeal to me. I noticed that this 25th anniversary concert presentation was being broadcast live from the O2 to our local cinema and, knowing that my wife was a big fan, I booked tickets. I got into trouble for various reasons: a) why are you wasting money on that, b) you know I like the show, not a concert performance, c) I get a headache at the cinema.... boy, these women can give you a hard time, can't they? I was blown away. With the exception of Nick Jonas' thin, weedy, nasal Marius, I thought all the performers were first rate. But I have to single out Samantha Barks' heart-breaking Eponine, Matt Lucas' assured, hilarious, and wholly unexpected Thenardier, and Alfie Boe's astonishing Valjean. The ovation at the end of Bring Him Home has been cut down for the DVD: it went on so long during the live performance that he finally had to break character to smile and acknowledge it. I am pleased to say that I have now seen him on stage as Valjean, and it is every bit as hair-raising live in the show.This is a remarkable record of a remarkable event.

reign-08 Fantastic performances by all! It goes without saying that Boe is outstanding. His melodic tones stand strong throughout the entire production.As a long time Les Mis fan, I was a little wary to watch Nick Jonas perform the role of Marius. I know little about Jonas as a musician, but I was blown away by his powerful performance! His rendition of "Empty Chairs At Empty Tables" brought tears to my eyes! This kid should stick to Broadway instead of pop music.The rest of the cast was expectedly great and I even loved the lyrical changes! And the best part - the original cast appears at the end! This concert completely astounded and amazed me.

Mr_PCM Les Miserables is, quite simply, the finest musical ever made, and this special anniversary performance encapsulates exactly why.It had been many years since I saw 'Les Mis' on stage in London, and other than listening to it on CD semi-regularly, I hadn't had much experience of the show until receiving the 25th anniversary concert on Blu-Ray. Prior to then, 'Phantom' was by a mile my favourite musical, with no others close. Les Miserables blows them all out of the water.The story is simple enough. A paroled man tries to rebuild his life with adopted daughter Cosette, against the backdrop of student rebellions in France. Meanwhile Marius, one of the students, and Cosette fall in love. Yet the plot is little more than something to drape the music around, and for that it serves its purpose admirably, giving depth, context and emotion to the magnificent music. Much has been written about the plot's simplicity, which needs little more than a couple of captions and video clips to drive it on, and the similarly simple staging also needs little analysis. Both serve to focus all attention on the music, adding to the raw power of the show.The music ranges from the comedic (Master of the House) to the tragic (On My Own) to the operatic (Bring Him Home) and the simply spine-tingling (One Day More). No other musical has the power to raise hairs and bring goosebumps throughout, and at the same time bring entire audiences to tears – look out during the standing ovation (one of many) towards the end for a lady with mascara streaming down her face from tears, demonstrating the emotional power of the music. In any other musical, ask fans to name their favourite song, and they will usually all pick from the same few. But with Les Miserables, fans would be hard-pressed to limit their choices to a top 10, with 'I Dreamed a Dream', 'Stars', 'Do You Hear The People Sing', 'One Day More', 'On My Own', 'Bring Him Home' and 'Empty Chairs' not even half the regular list of favourites! The casting is near-perfect. Having seen much of the original cast in the 10th anniversary production way back in my school days, and all but worn out the CD of the original cast recording, I never thought anybody could surpass Colm Wilkinson's definitive performance as the hero Valjean. Yet Alfie Boe does that superbly. His vocal range and emotion invested into the music equals that of his legendary predecessor, but he is also able to bring a power and resonance that gives operatic scale and strength to his performance. His dramatic renditions of solos such as 'What Have I Done?' and 'Who Am I?' are spine-chilling, thanks to the strength with which he is able to hit and hold the big notes, while his 'Bring Him Home' is quite simply awesome. Yet he is not alone. Norm Lewis's Javert is virtually his equal in emotional range, and Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras and Katie Hall as Cosette are also excellent. Matt Lucas, in a slightly leftfield casting choice, is surprisingly entertaining as the roguish Thernadier. While never claiming to be a first-rate singer, Lucas makes up for this by enjoying what obviously is a long leash given to him to put his own spin on the character, really hamming up the comical villainy and providing some genuine hilarity amongst all the weepies. Special mention must be made of the performance of Samantha Barks as the feisty Eponine. While Frances Ruffelle was excellent as the original, Samantha Barks sets a new benchmark, bringing a genuine heart-wrenching pitiable quality, leading audiences to virtually want to beat Marius over the head for not seeing her true feelings, and her haunting solo in one of the show's signature songs – On My Own – becomes a real tear-jerker.Which brings us to Marius. The casting of Nick Jonas, of Jonas Brothers fame, is little more than a casting publicity stunt, and one which almost backfires catastrophically. Quite simply, Jonas is leagues out of his depth, and his voice has not the power nor range to do justice to the role, and he comes across as a typical boy band singer, and a barely adequate one at that. His voice seems small and tinny next to the emotion of Barks or the raw power of Boe. Even his facial expressions come straight from Backstreet Boys 101! He is clearly there as a blatant stunt to draw in younger fans who would buy this just on seeing his name in the cast, a move which comes across as cynical and could cost the performance a star on its own. To be fair to Jonas however, by the time Marius's signature number of 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' arrives, he seems to have grown into the part somewhat and sings it reasonably well. Yet when Michael Ball comes onstage for the encore with the rest of the original cast to belt out 'One Day More', you cannot help but feel 'now that is how it should be done!' But even Jonas' potentially disastrous performance cannot prevent this spectacular production of the world's longest running musical from achieving full marks. The music is out of this world, the singing is almost universally phenomenal and the setting of the O2 is suitably grand. It is impossible to fully articulate the raw power of the emotions stirred by the spectacular songs of Les Miserables, but I defy anybody not to be moved to near tears, left breathless and feel a chill throughout the show, and if you are not moved, then you are either lying or dead inside, particularly given the extra treat of seeing the original cast reunite for 'One Day More' and the four Valjeans singing 'Bring Him Home' – a wonderful bonus.Many musicals encompass a range of emotions, but none run the whole gamut with quite the same power as Les Miserables. Awe-inspiring. Perfect.