Digital Review

Les Miserables in Concert

On its 10th birthday, Les Miz isn't just a bombastic stage musical — it's a mini-industry. And celebrating the global flow of les francs is what this Royal Albert Hall gala is all about, what with cutaways to a chorus in souvenir Les Miz T-shirts, a multinational lineup of costumed principals culled from troupes around the world, and a finale of self- aggrandizing speeches from the composer, Claude-Michel Shonberg, and others. This wide-screen release memorializes a scenery-free staging, but you'll hardly notice, since high-definition video cameras zero in on singers who wring every theatrical flourish from such all-stops-out anthems as ''One Day More.'' Thanks to laser's chapter-skip function, you are able to applaud the hummable highlights of Les Miserables in Concert and then lower the curtain at your discretion. B+

Originally posted Jun 28, 1996 Published in issue #333-334 Jun 28, 1996 Order article reprints

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