Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...the reason that “Les Miserables” will long outlive all the other so-called megamusicals of the 1980s and 1990s has little or nothing to do with all that. It will abide because of its score — a masterpiece of theatrical music from a French composer, Claude-Michel Schonberg, still trying to repeat the feat. For anyone who grew up watching this show or comparing the innumerable different cast recordings, gorgeously familiar melodies to “Bring Him Home” or “A Heart Full of Love” (or an excess of others) now spill from the stage like a flood of old friends."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Fanatic admirers of the show will be happy to learn that all the most crucial elements of the musical, and the overall grand sweep of the Victor Hugo novel that inspired it, are intact, though at times there is something more Dickensian English than French about the whole thing."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...By intermission, this touring production of the popular Broadway musical had left me battered and numb. The unrelenting, maximum-volume singing, booming, brass-heavy orchestrations, and compulsive smoke-blowing felt more like riot control than storytelling. When the storm abated in the second act, there wasn't much left but thin relationships and meager motivations."
Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...The turntable has been subtracted, but the production has added a stunning element of video projections, atmospheric backdrops based on the paintings Victor Hugo created to illustrate his novel. Such elaborate elements of stagecraft could easily become beautiful distractions, with cinematic depictions of starry skies, Parisian streets and rushing rivers overshadowing the flesh-and-blood actors actually telling the story."
Copley News Service - Highly Recommended
"...With all its bright new ideas, the new production holds up very well against its predecessors. The battle at the barricades remains powerful and somber. The turntable may be gone but the set design by Matt Kinley is still a sequence of eyefuls, like a series of panels morphing into floor to rafters tenements in mid nineteenth century Paris. New co-directors Laurence Connor and James Powell have put their mark on the show, embellishing virtually every scene while retaining their respect for the iconic original."
Talkin Broadway - Highly Recommended
"...The team Mackintosh has assembled has put together a production that lives up to the memory of the original, while respectfully freshening it up just a bit. This touring production offers good reasons for longtime fans to revisit the piece from a slightly altered perspective while giving newcomers a chance to experience the show in a production equal in quality to those that have played around the world for the past quarter-century."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...A musical classic is a timeless treasure, and the recent Cameron Macintosh production proves why this sumptuous, melodramatic morality tale has endured in popularity the world over for 25 years. There’s a cast of characters audiences care about, a story line that spans decades, important themes and life lessons, and a score that soars with melody and emotion. Experiencing as fine a production as this one, you understand why it has been translated into more than 23 different languages and earned every theatrical award heaped upon it. Based upon Victor Hugo’s sprawling novel, the musical is universal in its appeal."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...
Don’t get me wrong: The thing is still as schlocky as all hell. The book substitutes breadth for depth, and the overblown score has all the subtlety of a Celine Dion power ballad sung by an army of American Idol hopefuls hopped up on shots of 5-hour Energy. But just try to remain unstirred by “One Day More,” the first act finale, or the scene where poor, tomboyish Eponine dies in the arms of her unrequited love, Marius. It simply can’t be done."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...This 2011 National Tour of Les Miz is a wonderful production that sings nicely with some exquisite moments; it also stirs the emotions. It is an epic story of oppression that finds one good man, one zealot and a group of idealistic students each trying to make a difference in a harsh and cruel world. We see how eventually, goodness and humanity contained in resilient folks wins for a bright future. This is a richly emotional show filled with big anthems, rousing marches and tender love songs and sad laments that will leave you in tears. The power of the live stage and haunting music rings so true. See Les Miserables once again and rekindle your spirits. This beautiful show is artful that teens will enjoy. It is one of my all-time favorite shows."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Les Miserables is an extremely powerful piece. Since its original debut back in 1988, “Les Miz” has reigned king as one of the most influential musicals. The perfect score by Composer Claude-Michel Schonberg and Lyricist Herbert Kretzmer turns this wonderful piece of work into pure gold. Producer Cameron Mackintosh adds to his theatre empire with his latest production of “Les Miz”. Mackintosh's work screams through Broadway with his other hits 'The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats”. Directors Laurence Connor and James Powell's new revised production is a hit, if compared to the old show, this one is a definitely worth seeing."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...For those of you who understand that many of the Broadway In Chicago shows are “touring” productions often referred to as “bus and truck” shows, in order to cut expenses, they need to make cuts. They still bring, for the most part, replicas of the original Broadway productions ( sometimes, even better) but with slight changes that will hardly be noticed by new audience members. While the Cadillac Palace is one of the larger stages in the Broadway in Chicago “stable”, it appears that they have reduced the actual size of the usable stage with a reduced set, slightly different than the original. No more turntable floor, which made scene changes flow perfectly, but with this new smaller stage area, they can have less actors ( keeping costs down, which transfers to more affordable ticket prices allowing more theater patrons to have the magical memories of the theatrical experience known as “Les Miz”."
Chicago Theater Beat - Recommended
"...Blessed with an effortless tenor, Lawrence Clayton’ sturdy Valjean, the inspiration for “The Fugitive,” is ardent as required but the fact that he’s also African-American makes him even more of an outsider than Hugo would have imagined. (Now Javert seems as much a racist as a reactionary.) Though the implacable pursuer is a one-dimensional villain (his anthem "Stars" is too noble for this reactionary bully), Andrew Varela delivers the evil with inexhaustible conviction and a barrelhouse baritone. Betsy Morgan breathes power into her proudly fallen Fantine whose ghostly reappearance differs little from her saintly earthly existence."