Say, Do You Hear the Distant Drums?

“Dawn of Anguish,” “Second Attack/Death of Gavroche” and “The Final Battle,” Broadway, 2014. Kyle Scatliffe as Enjolras, Gaten Matarazzo as Gavroche, Andy Mientus as Marius, Ramin Karimloo as Jean Valjean, John Rapson as Grantaire.

This is one of the few videos on the “Miserables Moments” channel to credit Gavroche: obviously because Gaten Matarazzo is one of the few Gavroches to become famous for other projects after doing this show.

The 12-year-old future Stranger Things actor performs with excellent spirit and vocal power. His last shuddering breath in the silent moment after the bullet hits him, just before he falls dead into Enjolras’s arms, is very poignant.

The adult cast is excellent too. I’ve written my thoughts about them before, in another video from the same year with a different Gavroche.

As much as I complain about the Connor/Powell production not equaling the original Nunn/Caird production, I do think their staging of this scene is powerful. At least it has been since 2013, when they changed their original 2009 staging to have Gavroche die at the top of the barricade instead of offstage. So many details are so effective. Grantaire talking to Gavroche and evidently bidding him a heartfelt goodbye before trying to send him away. Grantaire trying to charge up the barricade to save Gavroche, only for Enjolras to restrain him. Gavroche nearly making it to safety, only to be shot down into Enjolras’s arms. Enjolras giving the boy’s body to the distraught Grantaire, who mourns over him even as the battle rages on. Enjolras and Valjean both running to Marius’s side when he’s shot. Grantaire trying to stop Enjolras from charging up the barricade and Enjolras bidding him a brief yet warm farewell before doing it anyway. Enjolras as the first to die in the final battle, Grantaire as the last.

The camera is static and only offers a distant view of the stage, but the power of the scene still shines forth.

“Dawn of Anguish,” “Second Attack/Death of Gavroche” and “The Final Battle.” Broadway, 2014. Kyle Scatliffe as Enjolras, Andy Mientus as Marius, Nathaniel Hackmann as Jean Valjean, John Rapson (?) as Grantaire, unknown Gavroche.

An excellent performance by everyone. Kyle’s Enjolras is fierce, caring and majestic all at once, John Rapson’s Grantaire (I don’t know for sure if it’s him, but I’m fairly positive) is heartbreaking, and the uncredited Gavroche is excellent too.

I’d also like to take some time to appreciate the effective details of the 2014 Broadway staging. I know I tend to talk like an old fogey when it comes to Les Mis productions, waxing on and on about how magnificent the classic Nunn/Caird staging was and how the Connor/Powell staging never quite equals it, but the Connor/Powell staging is effective and moving in its own right, and I’d like to give it some praise for a change.

Grantaire’s close friendship with Gavroche is one of my favorite aspects of this production. I’ve seen Nunn/Caird Grantaires try to send Gavroche away with the women and fathers too, but never take a moment to talk to him and hug him goodbye first! <3 <3 And then we have Grantaire frantically trying to climb over the barricade after Gavroche when he goes to collect the bullets, but protective Enjolras stopping him! Oh my heart!

I’m so grateful that the Broadway revival (and subsequent tours) altered the 2009 staging so that instead of dying offstage, Gavroche makes it back to the top of the barricade only to be shot down into Enjolras’s arms. I’ll admit I like it just as well as Nunn and Caird’s classic staging. Arguably it gives his death even more heartbreaking emphasis. While the Nunn/Caird staging does depict the killing itself more intimately and brutally, the turntable instantly sweeps his body out of sight afterward. But here we can’t look away from the dead boy as Enjolras hands him down to Grantaire, and as Grantaire carries him toward us, screams over him, and keeps on mourning over him even as the battle rages around him.

The staging of the moment when Marius is shot is like a cross between the traditional version (Enjolras and Grantaire run to his side, then share a moment) and the 2006 Broadway version (Grantaire and Valjean run to his side, Valjean gently dismisses Grantaire – e.g. “I’ll take care of him, you’ve got a battle to fight” – then gets down to the business of rescuing him). Here we have Enjolras and Valjean at his side, with Valjean directing his “I’ll handle this, son” gestures to Enjolras, who then meets Grantaire as he charges toward the barricade and shares a moment with him. This is a good combination, I think. It suits Valjean’s dedication to protecting Marius, but also has the Marius/Enjolras friendship reinforcement and the E/R moment of the original staging.

It’s always good to see an E/R hug. <3 <3

I’ve noticed a very small difference between Nunn and Caird’s handling of the two big symbolic gunshots and Connor and Powell’s. In the original production, the first one kills Enjolras, while the second kills all the others and leaves them to collapse in slow motion. In the Connor/Powell version, the first shot wounds Enjolras and makes him drop the flag, but he still stands tall in defiance, while the second shot kills him, with all the others quickly dying afterwards in a volley of more realistic gunfire. Both variations I think are effective; I can’t say which one I prefer.

Either way, I think it’s interesting that in both stagings, Enjolras is the first of the barricade boys to die. It’s just the opposite of Hugo’s version, where he and Grantaire are the last to go. But I suppose it’s effective symbolism onstage. The death of Enjolras equals the death of the rebellion; the doom of all the revolutionaries is sealed when their leader falls.

The wounded Marius briefly regaining consciousness as his friends fall and trying to climb back up the barricade while Valjean tries to wrangle him to safety is another touch I’ve never seen before. I think I like it. First of all, it makes it obvious that Marius isn’t dead; secondly, it highlights his sheer courage and loyalty to his friends; and third, it might allude to the novel, where Marius is aware of Valjean taking hold of him from behind (although he doesn’t know it’s Valjean) just before he loses consciousness.