YOU COULD HEAR THESE PEOPLE SING, ALL RIGHT
First performed in Shanghai in 2013, the Hollywood Bowl hosted a new installment of The Music of Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and More: Boublil and Schönberg’s Do You Hear the People Sing? on Sunday, July 28, 2024. This tribute to the team of lyricist Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schönberg was much like their shows: less than fully satisfying, but still irresistible.
The Company
Headlining the cast was two-time Tony nominee Patrick Wilson, most recently seen on screen last year in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Emily Bautista made her Broadway debut when she was 19 in the 1997 revival of Miss Saigon. So Help Me Todd (2022-24) star Skylar Astin was last seen at the Bowl in 2019 as The Baker in Into the Woods. Rachel Tucker keeps a busy schedule and performed Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard last year in London. Nikki Renée Daniels was just in Stephen Sondheim’s Company on Broadway and is about to start on the new production of Once Upon a Mattress this month. Jon Jon Briones was part of the original cast of Miss Saigon and currently stars in Hadestown on Broadway. Completing the cast was Marie Zamora, who originated the role of Cosette in the 1991 French adaptation of Les Misérables in Paris.
Emily Bautista
The first half focused on Miss Saigon, a takeoff on Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, but set in 1970s Vietnam. Notable was Bautista, who belted “I’d Give My Life for You” to the max. When Astin came on to sing “Why God, Why?,” girls throughout the audience got giddy with excitement at seeing that dreamy heartthrob. Like all of their shows, B&S continue to rewrite Miss Saigon, so it was a treat when Daniels came on to sing “Who Says I’m Hurt,” the first of four songs written for that point in the musical. However, instead of the full song, we got only brief snippets of the four, each with more belting than the last, and concluding with Tucker singing “Maybe.” It was dramatically unsatisfying, a recurring theme of the night.
Patrick Wilson
By far, the most entertaining performance of the Saigon section was Briones, who sang “The American Dream.” Whereas the other songs devolved into tiresome power ballads, Briones was comparatively restrained and refrained from being cartoonish and overblown, yet still milked some good comedy out of this list-song. His off-script banter at the audience and fellow performers was effective at masking, for a while at least, how repetitive the song is.
Jon Jon Briones
I’ve only seen Miss Saigon once, in a fine production from McCoy Rigby at La Mirada in 2012, after which the musical failed to make a lasting impression on me. Tonight’s performance showed the music was more lyrical than I remembered, but my assessment is the same: This musical is loud.
Marie Zamora
It’s always struck me as odd that B&S’s work apart from the big two gets so little notice, if any at all. Zamora came on to sing “Au petit matin” from La Révolution Française, their rock opera from 1973. Unlike the other performers, Zamora’s singing had a rough edge, reminiscent of the performances in the concept album of Les Miz. She sang with subdued drama, a welcome respite from the earlier songs.
Nikki Renée Daniels
Then we got three songs from Martin Guerre, B&S’s modest success from 1996. Astin sang the galloping and tense “I’m Martin Guerre.” Daniels and Wilson sang the lush “Live with Somebody You Love” without yelling. Astin and Daniels then sang “In the Land of the Fathers,” which had beautiful choral work. I enjoyed this section and would like to see a full production. Martin Guerre never had a Broadway run, and was last seen in Los Angeles in 2000.
Patrick Wilson
Before one last song from Saigon, the concert jumped the gun and gave us “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miz. It had a great start: Zamora came on stage and sang, “J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie.” Singing the original French was a daring and exciting choice. Alas, after a verse, the other three women joined her, switching to English, and then proceeded to out-diva each other. When the triumphant chorus joined, it made “I had a dream my life would be so different from this Hell I’m living” some kind of exhilaration in Fantine’s misery. It was fanservice and made no dramatic sense.
Skylar Astin
The second half began with selections from The Pirate Queen, their 2006 mega-flop. Some Irish dance music with pop flair, another power ballad with lyrics about “my dream,” and a love duet. My only notes were, “not bad at all.” Moving on.
In just two notes, the audience let out an enormous whoop to the overture of Les Misérables, B&S’s captivating work. Zamora began the first song, “Mon Histoire,” but was undercut again when Bautista took over with its English version, “On My Own,” giving a loud, jarring, all-caps performance.
"I Dreamed A Dream"
Kevin Stites conducted the orchestra, which sounded a bit thin. The above song was conducted too fast, and the next, “At the End of the Day,” got messy. Surprising, given how much he’s performed Les Miz. Maybe it’s beginning to wear on him. I know I would go mad if I had to listen to it as much as he has.
I dread “Master of the House.” It’s joyous, catchy, and a deadly repetitive earworm. Adding to the oppression, it begs actors to devour the scenery. However, Briones and Tucker surprised me. They were restrained and played it more or less straight, letting the song sell itself without overwhelming everything else. Another bright spot of the night.
Nikki Renée Daniels
Daniels was next with “In My Life.” She sang it a little lower than the typical ear-piercing soprano, and it felt full, easy, and relaxed. This went straight into “A Heart Full of Love,” with Astin and Bautista joining, matching her energy and going all-in on its romanticism.
Astin and Wilson, as Valjean and Javert, respectively, performed the confrontation scene. Wilson is about the right age to play Javert, but his voice was light and gentle, not at all like other, harder, Javerts. More surprising was hearing Astin’s very young Valjean. It was interesting and refreshingly free of odd quirks that the roles attract like cat hair. They then sang “Bring Him Home,” the rip-off of Puccini’s “Humming Chorus,” as a duet, set to a bombastic arrangement with chorus. I wasn’t a fan.
The CompanyThe concert proper ended with “One Day More,” Les Miz‘s thrilling Act I finale. There was still one song missing. It’s in the title. Why hadn’t they sung it? Ah, they saved “Do You Hear the People Sing” for an encore. Not even the full song, but the reprise that concludes the musical. Lame.
I never know which earworm is going to attack me after encountering Les Miz. This night, the stars aligned and I got “A Heart Full of Love.” Its lovey-dovey swoopies kept me feeling high as I got all green lights from the lot at Odin down to Fountain. A solid end.
photographed at the Hollywood Bowl, courtesy of the LA Phil
photographer Farah Sosa/@farastop (ig)
The Music of Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, and More:
Boublil and Schönberg’s Do You Hear the People Sing?
played on Sunday, July 28, 2024, at the Hollywood Bowl
for more info, visit Do You Hear the People Sing?
Song List
Miss Saigon
“Bui Doi” – Patrick Wilson
“The Heat Is On In Saigon” – Full Company
“I’d Give My Life for You” – Emily Bautista
“Why God, Why?” – Skylar Astin
“I Still Believe” – Emily Bautista, Rachel Tucker
“Ellen” Evolution – Nikki Reneé Daniels
“Maybe” – Rachel Tucker
“The American Dream” – Jon Jon Briones
La Révolution Française
“Au petit matin” – Marie Zamora
Martin Guerre
“I’m Martin Guerre” – Skylar Astin
“Live with Somebody You Love” – Nikki Reneé Daniels, Patrick Wilson
“In the Land of the Fathers” – Skylar Astin, Nikki Reneé Daniels
Les Misérables
“I Dreamed a Dream” – Bautista, Daniels, Tucker, Zamora
Miss Saigon
“This is the Hour” – Full Company
– Intermission –
The Pirate Queen
Entr’acte: “The Wedding”
“Woman” – Rachel Tucker
“If I Said I Loved You” – Nikki Reneé Daniels, Patrick Wilson
Les Misérables
Overture
“Mon Histoire”/”On My Own” – Marie Zamora / Emily Bautista
“At the End of the Day” – Full Company
“Master of the House” – Jon Jon Briones, Rachel Tucker
“In My Life”/”A Heart Full of Love” – Nikki Reneé Daniels, Skylar Astin, Emily Bautista
“L’un vers l’autre” – Marie Zamora
“The Confrontation” – Skylar Astin, Patrick Wilson
“Stars” – Patrick Wilson
“Bring Him Home” – Skylar Astin, Patrick Wilson
“One Day More” – Full Company
Encore: “Do You Hear the People Sing?” – Full Company