Say, Do You Hear the Distant Drums?

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” London, 2013. Cameron Blakely as Thénardier, Wendy Ferguson as Mme. Thénardier, Rob Houchen as Marius, Samantha Dorsey as Cosette.

An excellent performance. Cameron and Wendy are both spot-on as the Thénardiers: his gravelly voice and her brassy screech are perfect for the roles and they handle all their comic business (Mme. T. falling when she curtsies, her gulping down two glasses of wine, the dropping of the stolen silver, etc.) with expertise. They add some nice unique touches to: for example, the way Cameron demonstratively sags his body on “...like a bloody great sack!” and the moment in “Beggars at the Feast” when on “And here’s me breaking bread...” he accidentally spins his wife clear across the stage, then pauses, waits until she gets back, then starts the line over. Rob’s Marius is spot-on his exasperation too. It’s interesting that instead of punching Thénardier on “Take this too!” he fakes Thénardier out on that line, delivering it as if he were about to give him money, only to surprise him with the punch instead. That’s a touch of cunning we don’t normally see from Marius.

The ensemble is excellent, with their own subtle assortment of funny details: for example, one man’s gleeful reaction to catching Cosette’s bouquet, and the ever-perturbed expressions of the majordomo’s bespectacled young assistant. The latter gets quite a bit of camera focus, I think because he’s Anton Zetterholm, the cast’s Enjolras.

“Beggars at the Feast” (plus the very beginning of the “Epilogue”), Walnut Street Theatre, 2008. Scott Greer as Thénardier, Dawn Spence as Mme. Thénardier, Josh Young as Marius, Julie Craig as Cosette, Hugh Panaro as Jean Valjean.

I like the Thénardiers’ costumes in this production. They’re appropriately gaudy, but not jarringly cartoonish, and their color scheme of sickly yellow-green with accents of black and dark maroon makes them look sinister as well as comic.

Likewise, the staging of the scene lacks the slapstick found in most other productions, which is a refreshing change. The Thénardiers still have room to be colorful and funny, but never become clowns in the least. Their slimy effect is enhanced by the fact that the scene’s usually-cut lines are restored, including “When I look at you, I remember Éponine...” Seeing Thénardier fall to his knees in feigned grief for the daughter he abused and exploited makes the viewer just as eager to punch him as Marius.

Scott and Dawn are both excellently suited to their roles: colorful yet not cartoonish just like the staging. Scott accidentally sings “Beggar at the dance, master of the feast” instead of vice-versa, but that’s only a minor flub. Meanwhile, Josh’s Marius is excellent in his fiery indignance and anxious efforts to keep the unwanted guests from disrupting the party.

The brief clip of Hugh Panaro’s Valjean at the end points toward a touching finale, in distinct contrast with the dark-edged comedy of the previous scene.

US 3rd National Tour, Los Angeles, February 7, 2000: Part 13 ( “Valjean’s Confession” and “Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast”)

Ivan Rutherford as Jean Valjean, Tim Howar as Marius, Regan Thiel as Cosette, J.P. Dougherty as Thénardier, Aymee Garcia as Mme. Thénardier.

Ivan and Tim are both spot-on in “Valjean’s Confession.” Ivan is more stoic than Hugo’s Valjean is in this scene, but this is true of his Valjean throughout, and as always, in his subtle way he still conveys his struggle and pain. I’ve heard other Valjeans be more forceful and demanding on “Promise me, M’sieur, Cosette will never know!” but the way Ivan’s voice becomes so soft and pleading instead is probably even more disarming to Marius.

Moving on to the wedding, it’s so nice to hear Marius’s exchange with the Thénardiers uncut. Éponine is remembered, her parents earn more hate with their cold, selfish response, and they build up their revelation about Valjean with just the right preamble to entice Marius – even if they do have to chase him around the ballroom to do it. I notice that Tim’s Marius tries to walk away before Thénardier brings up the “murder” (presumably he thinks they’re just going to reveal that Valjean is a convict, which he already knows), but a soon as Thénardier makes the murder claim, he becomes concerned and listens. This is different from Niklas Andersson’s London Marius in the same year (so far the only other video I’ve watched of the uncut scene), who stalked away in disgust after Thénardier made the murder claim, refusing to believe that Valjean could be a killer as well as a thief.

Regan’s Cosette looks appropriately startled and confused after Thénardier drags her into a wild spinning dance and then Marius punches him. I wonder if she recognized him in that moment?

J.P. and Aymee do a fine job with the Thénardiers’ final flourish. Just enough slapstick to get laughs (e.g. Aymee’s pantalette-flashing fall when she tries to curtsy, the business with the dropped silver later), but not enough to turn them into caricatures. “Beggars at the Feast” is just the right exuberant uplift (however cynical the lyrics) that we need before the finale.

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” US 4th National Tour, 2011. Richard Vida as Thénardier, Shawna Hamic as Mme. Thénardier, Justin Scott Brown as Marius.

An exuberant performance that must have been hilarious in person, judging by the audience’s laughter. Richard’s Thénardier exudes smug slime from his voice alone, while Shawna’s Mme. Thénardier compliments him perfectly, and Justin’s Marius exudes well-deserved contempt for them.

The ensemble sounds a bit hammy – e.g. the evidently drunk Major Domo – but in a way that suits the tone of the scene.

It’s interesting that this production divided Thénardier’s traditional solo lines in “Beggars at the Feast” between him and his wife. As I’ve mentioned before, this is a trend I’ve noticed throughout the 2000s: giving more of Thénadier’s lines to his wife and making her more of his equal, not just his sidekick.

“Masters of the land, always get our share... Jesus, won’t we see you all in hell!”

42 minutes of triumphant Thénardiers.

Once again, the attributions to Stephen Brian Patterson and Craig Mather must be mistakes: they played Marius, not Thénardier. Likewise, the Thénardier in the clip from the 2007 North Shore production is Ron Wisniski: Charlie Brady was that production’s Enjolras.

I mentioned in a previous post that in recent years, it’s been a bit of a trend to reassign some of Thénardier’s lines to his wife and make the nefarious pair more emphatically “the Thénardiers,” not “Thénardier and his sidekick-wife.” But that trend seems to have actually started as early as 1987, when “And when I’m rich as Croesus, Jesus, won’t I see you all in hell!”, which was originally sung solo by Thénardier, was changed to “And when we’re rich as Croesus...” and sung by the couple together.

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” London, 2012. Cameron Blakeley as Thénardier, Linzi Hateley as Mme. Thénardier, Craig Mather as Marius.

An excellent performance. Cameron’s Thénardier is colorful without being a ham, as in all the clips I’ve shared of him so far. Linzi (the only actress I know of to have played both Éponine and Mme. Thénardier) has a naturally prettier voice than other Mme. T.’s do, but she uses it to just the right brash, characterful effect. The sweet, elegant voice of Craig’s Marius makes him the perfect foil for them.

This is the first time I’ve ever heard Mme. T. sing “It was the night that the barricades fell” with her husband. I’ll have to listen to more clips of this scene from London to figure out when that change was implemented. It seems that throughout the 2000s, a lot of productions (the movie, the School Edition, recent tours) have reassigned various lines of Thénardier’s to his wife to make their presences more equal rather than having him dominate.

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” US 2nd National Tour, 1988. Gary Beach as Thénardier, Kay Cole as Mme. Thénardier, Reece Holland as Marius.

Lumiere blackmails the March Hare out of 500 francs.

An excellent performance which, judging by the audience’s laughter, must have been hilarious to see live.

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” London, 2000. Barry James as Thénardier, Mandy Holliday as Mme. Thénardier, Niklas Andersson as Marius, Zoë Curlett as Cosette.

An excellent performance. Barry and Mandy are outstanding Thénardiers, as in all the videos I’ve shared of them so far, striking the perfect balance between funny and slimy. Besides all the standard comic business, I love the small, unique touches they add, such as the way Barry refuses to help Mandy up from her fall out of annoyance that she ruined their entrance, or the (by 19th century standards) highly inappropriate way she holds up her skirt. Niklas’s Marius is also excellent in his dignified indignity.

It’s nice to see the uncut version of this scene, which I never have onstage. If we didn’t already hate the Thénardiers, we definitely have to hate them when Marius mentions their daughter’s death and their only response is, effectively, “yes, such a pity” before quickly shifting back to their money-grubbing. And it’s hilariously ironic when Thénardier tells Marius that he saw the corpse of Valjean’s murder victim “clear as I’m seeing you.” I also like that the staging has Marius bolt away in disgust as soon as Thénardier accuses Valjean of murder, forcing them to chase after him. This definitely says something positive about musical-Marius: even though he knows Valjean is a convict at this point, he refuses to believe he’s a murderer without proof.

I notice that Thénardier is dancing by himself when Marius punches him, which seems unusual. In every performance I remember seeing, Thénardier has forced Cosette to dance with him at that point, which becomes the direct impetus for Marius punching him. Of course Thénardier deserves a punch no matter what, but I thought the business with Cosette was always the standard staging. I guess it must be a more recent addition, or more of a trend in US productions.

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” Broadway, 1987. Leo Burmester as Thénardier, Jennifer Butt as Mme. Thénardier, David Bryant as Marius.

The performers are familiar from the OBC album, but here we get to hear them in Marius’s full dialogue with the Thénardiers, which the cast album cuts. That includes the lines usually cut from performances today, which I wish would be reinstated – the irony is delicious when Thénardier tells Marius “I saw the corpse clear as I’m seeing you!”

Once again I’d like to express my fondness for Leo and Jennifer’s vivid, colorful Thénardiers. Just because they lack Cockney accents doesn’t mean they have any less character than their London counterparts in the roles.

I agree with most fans’ consensus about David’s mediocre Marius, though. There’s nothing offensive about him, but he does tend to sound leaden and bland. I’m sure he came across better onstage, though, and he’s definitely miles better than some later Marii (e.g. certain pop singers stunt-cast in the role).

“Wedding Chorale” and “Beggars at the Feast,” Broadway, 2002. Peter Lockyer as Marius, Sandra Turley as Cosette, Nick Wyman as Thénardier, Kathy Santen as Mme. Thénardier.

An all-around great performance which shows that less is more.

Neither of these Thénardiers are over-the-top with their slapstick comedy. Both are fairly understated throughout the scene. Yes, the standard broad humor is there: Mme. Thénardier falling down when she curtseys, her drinking from two wine glasses at once, Thénardier’s fake posh accent when he tries to hide his identity from Marius, the stealing of silver (hey, more “dark mirror of Valjean” symbolism in the guise of comedy!), Thénardier dropping the stolen tray and trying to frame the majordomo for it, and then his wife dropping her own stolen silver and the two of them pretending it fell from the ceiling. But they manage to do it all without seeming cartoonish.

And it works. Mme. T.’s fall is still funny, even though she only lands on her rear without flinging her legs in the air and exposing her pantalettes to everyone. Nor does she scream “But first you pay!”, yet the humor is still there with the line sung at normal volume, because she’s still demanding money within earshot of the guests.

Now I’m not one of those people who insists “The Thénardiers shouldn’t be the least bit funny! They’re evil criminals and child abusers and making them funny means you don’t care about their victims!” I see no reason why they can’t be both hilarious and genuinely terrible, and goodness knows the musical needs some comic relief. But I don’t think they need to milk the slapstick too much. Especially because the more they do, the more out-of-place they seem in what’s basically a realistic – if Romantic – drama.

This performance strikes the right balance.