Les Misérables

Last April a friend of mine had received an offer of decent stalls seats for the opening night of Les Mis at the new Sondheim Theatre at just £53.50 each - I think it must have been a group booking.  Not having seen the show for some time my partner and I jumped at the chance of going!  Our allocated seats were stalls P10 and 11.

We arrived at the theatre with the paint still drying on the walls and the toilets only just having been plumbed in that morning!  I must say that the refurbished theatre really looks splendid!

Once the audience had settled in their seats Cameron Mackintosh came on stage and gave a welcome speech.  He pointed out Claude-Michel Schonberg who was sitting in the audience.  But best of all Sir Cameron offered free drinks to everyone during the interval!  My two glasses of wine went down very well!

The show was very different to when I had last seen it, with many new sets and new staging.  I believe it has been brought up to date with the touring version and the many overseas productions.  One of the biggest improvements was to the sound.  At times it was like being at a big screen cinema with the sound flowing all around you.  This was particularly effective during the fighting at the barricades.

The performances by the mainly new cast were generally excellent especially from the two leads, Jon Robyns as Jean Valjean and Bradley Jaden as Javert.  There was just one stand-in; Gerard Carey who plays Thenardier couldn't perform because of a throat infection and, in fact, I believe he is off until at least the beginning of February, with Matt Lucas stepping in to fill the role in the meantime.  Why couldn't Mark Pearce who we saw as first cover not stand in until Carey returned?  There was certainly nothing wrong with his performance!

I will just mention two further things about the show, one good and one bad - spoiler alert!  The portrayal of the sewers was brilliant with spectacular moving images, and you certainly had an overwhelming impression of their and size and scale.  The most disappointing aspect to me was Javert's death.  You got the impression that he didn't jump off the bridge, he just walked off stage.  Hopefully this scene will be improved in due course.

Now on to our seats. They were very good!  The rake of the theatre at row P was very noticeable and I had a completely clear view of the whole of the stage without people in front obstructing my eyeline.  Perhaps I was also fortunate in that the two ladies sitting in front of me weren't especially tall.  Also the seats are arranged so you are not sitting directly behind the seat in front of you - they are staggered meaning you can see between the folks in front.  Despite being in row P you don't really miss the top of the sets due to the Dress Circle being in front of you.  The seats were comfortable and the legroom was very good.  Overall we were very impressed with our seats but I would have preferred to be just a few rows further forward but there was no way I would pay premium prices for these seats.  I can't believe it but the theatre has no less than three levels of premium priced seats in the stalls!

So to conclude, a great night out!  Scores on the doors?
The show:  five
Our seats:  four (probably not quite green seats at the usual price of £87.50 but not far off).
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"Judi's Box: "Les Misérables" (January 2020). These have to be the worst seats in the theatre. We attended the Sunday matinee on 10th Oct 21, and had purchased all 3 seats in the box. There was a warning that the "view may be obscured by circle overhang and patrons in front." It should be amended to be "the view may be obscured by circle overhang, but will almost certainly be obliterated by patrons in front."

The only chance you would have of seeing the majority of the stage would be if you had 5 year old children sitting in front of you in rows L and K. Even with the luxury of having chairs that could be moved, by positioning oneself between the heads of two people in row L, what little view one had, was then even more diminished by patrons in row K, particularly as they then fidgeted and adjusted to gain their own view as the action on stage progressed. One was then distracted still further by the front of house staff bopping down, but continually scurrying back and forwards along the aisle in front of us.

I would suggest that rather than selling seats in Judi's box, the theatre should just leave them unsold and utilise them for late comers."
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"Les Misérables" (January 2020). Dress Circle G7-9. great seats, loads of legroom, fairly central and able to see the entire stage as not affected by any overhang. Rake was also good enough not to be impacted by those in front. 
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Grand Circle:
L20 and 21: If you’re an upper circle patron you can’t beat rows L & M for me. Yes it’s far away and high up but you get a central, largely unobstructed view and avoid those leaning forward. The sound is great, you can see the whole spectacle and the legroom is acceptable. It’s very cool up here too which makes a change from the usual stifling atmosphere in theatres. Any seat in this row or behind would be fine.

M 15, 16 and 17: Central back row so you avoid the curse of the curve which can cut off so much stage if you’re at the sides. Clear view of the whole stage except some very front bits which are used very occasionally and not for anything important. You also tend to be far back enough to avoid the people leaning forward and the rake is sufficient that you aren’t too impacted by people in front. It was a toss up between here and side rear dress circle and I chose here to avoid the massive overhang. Glad I did as I hate the claustrophobic feeling of the letter box view. Would book here again in a heartbeat!
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Stalls A21-23 Les Mis (omg). From my usual back row of the grand circle to front row of the stalls thanks to Kids Week. It was amazing to see the show from this angle and have Jon Robyns do his stuff within touching distance! View is clear and unrestricted, stage isn’t too high so no neck ache, sound is terrific, it was great to have this opportunity. Would sit here again in a flash should I ever see a comparable offer.
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N24 to 27 stalls. Overhang is noticeable the further towards the end of the row you go because of the curve of the dress circle but you can still see the top of the stage from here so no issues with the barricade. Rake is poor and offsetting bad so if you have a taller person in front you could struggle. Legroom is ample though.
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Upper Circle M19 to 21. Our go to cheap seats - though less cheap these days! Love these seats, enough legroom, very central, no one behind you and as long as you don’t have a giant in front you should see ok. The only risk is people leaning forward which can have a knock-on impact.