Les Miserables

Description
The first Chicago-produced Equity Les Miz is undeniably recommendable to even the most casual of the show's fans. Under the musical direction of Brad Haak, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's unmatched populist entertainment—few musicals that have been seen by this many people are this good— made from Victor Hugo's daunting novel about a responsible citizen fleeing his troubled past across war-ravaged France remains accessible and thrilling. But director Dominic Missimi passes on a once-in-a-career opportunity here to reimagine Les Miz, doing little more than retrofitting it to Marriott's space and relying on familiar bits like the marching-band-in-a-holding-pattern choreography for “Do You Hear the People Sing.”—CP