Review: Les Misérables Arena Spectacular at Radio City Is a Glorious Farewell to a Bygone Era

“To love another person is to see the face of God,” the ghosts of Éponine and Fantine sing with the dying Jean Valjean at the end of Les Misérables. If that’s true, then the Les Mis “Arena Concert Spectacular,” concluding its two-year world tour now through August 9 at Radio City Music Hall, is about as close to a religious experience as musical theater can get. And it’s every bit as spectacular as its subtitle promises.

This edition of the genre-defining mega-musical is duly inspired by producer Cameron Mackintosh’s 25^th anniversary concert that played London’s O2 in 2010, as well as the all-star “Staged Concert” that ran in the West End in 2019. It’s Les Mis, Encores! style, with the focus placed on Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s score, majestically played by a fully visible orchestra. If all you’ve ever wanted out of Les Mis was for the actors to come downstage center to send power ballads like “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Stars” soaring up to the heavens, have directors James Powell and Jean-Pierre van der Spuy got a show for you.

Traditional staging elements are kept to a bare minimum, and thus, certain plot elements are either abbreviated or jettisoned. You’re going to be at a relative disadvantage if you’ve never experienced the psychotic police chief’s dogged pursuit of the rehabilitated bread thief through 19^th century France, so here’s a brief rundown, with apologies to Boublil, Schönberg, English lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, and, most especially, novelist Victor Hugo.

Jean Valjean (Alfie Boe, Killian Donnelly, or Gerónimo Rauch) is paroled after 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s child. When the kindly Bishop of Digne (Philip Quast) inspires him to reform, Valjean reinvents himself as a wealthy factory owner under an assumed name, only to be recognized by his former jailer, Inspector Javert (Bradley Jaden or Jeremy Secomb), now the police chief. They continue this cat-and-mouse game for well over a decade.

Meanwhile, factory worker Fantine (Samantha Barks) gets fired for being an unwed mother, becomes a prostitute, and dies after entrusting Valjean with the care of her daughter, Cosette, a child servant for the grifting Thénardiers (Matt Lucas and Marina Prior). Years go by and adult Cosette (Beatrice Penny-Touré) falls for idealistic Marius (Jac Yarrow), who doesn’t love Thénardier daughter Éponine (Shan Ako) the way she loves him. Joined by student revolutionary Enjolras (Christian Mark Gibbs) and adorable urchin child Gavroche, they’re swept up in the wind of a coming revolution. Go have a pee; that’s just Act 1.

Powell knows his way beyond the barricade: he co-directed (with Laurence Connor) the now-standard, economically more viable production that replaced Trevor Nunn and John Caird’s brilliant original. John Napier’s storied turntable is long gone at this point, replaced by Matt Kinley’s distressed wood and cinematic backdrops inspired by Hugo’s paintings. Kinley’s design for the arena tour is somehow both grander in scale than it’s ever been, and even more stripped down, with many of the key moments achieved either through Finn Ross’s video design or Paule Constable and Warren Letton’s flashing lights. The costumes, however, have remained largely unchanged across the decades. You can still spot Andreane Neofitu’s iconic tailcoats, supplemented by longtime collaborators Christine Rowland and Paul Wills.

The performers are basically a Les Mis(h)-mosh of greatest hits, some of whom have been associated with the property for decades. This iteration serves as Boe’s farewell tour; he’ll play Valjean one last time on August 4 having done the role on and off for 16 years. Donnelly is, according to expert Rosie O’Donnell, the best Valjean ever. And Rauch is an Argentine hunk with the dreamiest falsetto, an innate sense of compassion, and the slightest hint of a Latino accent that adds some unexpected flavor.

Our Valjeans are paired with two vastly different Javerts. Jaden’s youthful anguish is a stark contrast to the older Secomb, whose pathological intensity burns so bright that he doesn’t even blink while he’s singing. You’re in excellent hands no matter which cast you get, but Rauch and Secomb are the pairing that can only be experienced live. Donnelly and Jaden lead the recent 40^th anniversary recording, while Boe’s work lives on in pro-shots from 2010 and 2020.

They’re supported by an equally Les Mis-proficient ensemble. Barks, who played Éponine in Tom Hooper’s motion picture, is a glowing Fantine whose smile isn’t even dimmed by death. Ako’s Éponine is a tenacious foil for Penny-Touré and Yarrow’s young lovers Cosette and Marius. Gibbs is fervent and charismatic as Enjolras, a revolutionary leader whom anyone would follow to their grim death. Lucas and Prior (the original Australian Cosette) steal the show as the scheming innkeepers, finding surprisingly fresh comedic moments in “Master of the House” and “Beggars at the Feast.” Quast, the original Australian Javert, brings gravitas to the cameo role of the priest who changes Valjean’s life.

Undeniably, the evening belongs to sound designer Mick Potter (using the venue’s completely enveloping Sphere Immersive Sound system), orchestrators Stephen Metcalfe, Christopher Jahnke, and Stephen Brooker, and the symphonic orchestra of 26 (playing 36 instruments) conducted by Alfonso Casado Trigo. You can hear the heavenly pluck of every violin string during “Bring Him Home.” The brass section booms throughout Radio City Music Hall, those evocative opening horns echoing off the vaulted ceiling. The lyrics and harmonies are delivered with crystalline precision.

Given the precarious state of theatrical economics these days, we may not see a Les Misérables of this scale again for a long time. So, go hear the people sing, and drink with them to days gone by. It is dramatic, epic, and a glorious throwback to a time when budgets felt irrelevant. In short, it’s everything Les Mis should be.