Revolution revelation Touring production of Les Misérables a rousing, flag-waving feat By: Holly Harris Posted: 4:39 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026

Les Misérables boomed into the Centennial Concert Hall with the bombastic force of revolutionary gunfire Tuesday, as Broadway Across Canada’s North American tour of the Tony Award-winning mega hit launched an eight-performance run that wraps up Sunday.

Based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel and featuring the music of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, Cameron Macintosh’s sung-through tale of undying love, shattered dreams and ultimate redemption has ignited imaginations worldwide since its 1985 West End première and subsequent Broadway run, with a celebrated Hollywood film following in 2012.

Set against a backdrop of 19th-century France, its cat-and-mouse narrative, which leapfrogs from 1815 to 1832, is propelled by vengeful police inspector Javert’s obsessive hunting of his prey, Prisoner 24601, a.k.a. Jean Valjean, on parole after serving 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread for his starving sister’s family.

After receiving a second lease on life — courtesy of the benevolent Bishop of Digner (Lamont Whitaker, filling in for Randy Jeter), who forgives him for pilfering silver — Valjean dedicates his life to rising above his past. He adopts a new name, becomes a businessman and adopts Cossette, the young daughter of tragic factory worker-turned-prostitute Fantine.

The briskly paced nearly three-hour (including intermission) production, co-directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, features a crackerjack cast with nary a weak link among them.

Music director/conductor Glenn Alexander II leads an equally fine, 14-member live pit orchestra with military precision, in tune with each artist during their expressive solos and ensemble numbers. However, more “hold for applause” would have been welcome, allowing listeners a chance to fully respond.

The company is also to be commended for unflinchingly navigating a wayward set change that literally stopped the show for several minutes during Act I, breaking the fourth wall and reminding the house this is still live theatre, after all.

Acclaimed Broadway star Nick Cartell — who has performed Valjean an impressive 1,500-plus times — effectively traverses his emotional trajectory from bestial convict to transcendent saviour with the urgency of one who knows his time on this earth is short.

He held a near-capacity house spellbound during his solos, Soliloquy and Who Am I?; his later Bring Him Home, sung as a hushed prayer for the safety of Cossette’s love, the idealistic Marius, sees his fully supported, agile tenor voice soaring, eliciting more than a few goosebumps.

New Zealand-born Hayden Tee, marking his Canadian première as the steely, laser-focused antagonist Javert, provides a bullying counterpoint to Valjean’s rising goodness. He’s a man possessed — or obsessed — with achieving justice at any cost, infusing the production with swaggering bravado.

Tee easily handles the stratospheric range of his big number, Stars, before plunging to his death during its flipside, Soliloquy. A blink-and-you-miss it moment one wishes could be expanded upon is his own fleeting admission to Valjean that he too was “born in the gutter,” adding further weight to his role while beckoning with unrealized, potent subtext.

The multi-generational cast also includes Alexa Lopez as Cosette, who falls instantly head over heels with Peter Neureuther’s Marius, their voices entwined during their lushly lyrical trio A Heart Full of Love.

Jaedynn Latter’s “grown” Eponine, not so secretly in love with Marius, provides further emotional counterpoint throughout, shining during her standout solo On My Own, receiving loud whoops and cheers from the opening night crowd.

Lindsay Heather Pearce made every moment of her relatively brief stage time count as Fantine, her deeply felt rendering of I Dreamed a Dream, recounting her youthful aspirations for love and family life, only to be stripped away until her equally heartbreaking Come to Me, as she dies in Valjean’s arms, lit in ghostly white light.

Kudos to the show’s youngest thespians, who infuse its bloodstained battles with innocent hope for a better tomorrow. A particular bravo to Little Cosette (Lillian Castner), whose Castle on a Cloud is an early highlight.

More budding Broadway stars include Gavroche (Rocco Van Auken), representing the youthful fervour of social revolt, and Kayla Scola-Gianmpapa as Young Eponine.

Two of the show’s deliciously over-the-top characters — the bawdy, corrupt innkeepers, a.k.a. the Thenardiers (Matt Crowle and Victoria Huston-Elem), who are raising little Cosette while her mother earns money to send them — channel the volatile energy of opera buffa. As expected, their galumphing Master of the House, in which they swindle customers, plunges audience members into the dark underbelly of 19th-century life.

As the steady drumbeat of rebellion rises to a fevered pitch, Les Miz’s climax arrives with the coterie of students, after first performing a rousing Red and Black, manning jumbled barricades during the truly stirring Do You Hear the People Sing?

Their ultimate slaughter by military forces is heightened by thunderous explosions, cannon fire and blinding flashes (note to those sensitive to these things: be prepared, as this show goes for the jugular). The sacrifice is eased by a subsequent wedding scene between Cosette and the surviving Marius, following the latter’s harrowing Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.

Particularly strong production values include multi-layered set pieces, sliding flats and drops by Matt Kinley, with a neat twist in the highly stylized digital images projected upstage, inspired by Hugo’s own abstract paintings.

Lighting — often far too dim — is by Paula Constable, with an original costume design ranging from ragtag threads to splendiferous finery by Andreane Neofitou.

Despite the show’s warp-speed pacing, which tragically denies some of its more searing moments — Fantine, Eponine and Valjean’s deaths in particular — the chance to fully resonate, the crowd leaped to its feet at the end, roaring their approval for Hugo’s revolutionaries, still dreaming of “one day more.”

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