(From left to right) Gregory Lee Rodriguez as Marius and Addie Morales as Cosette with Nick Cartell as Jean Valjean in the background. (Photo courtesy MurphyMade)

With over three decades of chances to see it, San Diegans still flock to see ‘Les Miserables’ when it comes to town, typically every five or so years. Some have seen it multiple times. Yet it sells out quickly. The two-week run is giving more locals a chance to see the musical based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel.  

After seeing it for the first time, it’s no wonder why. Even the slimmed down version on tour is still an epic musical with complex set design, costuming and large ensemble rarely seen outside, and sometimes even inside, NYC and London. The ingenious use of projectors, with original art from Victor Hugo himself, designed by Matt Kinley and 59 Productions made the backdrops immersive and symbolic.  

The caliber of the cast was sublime, imbuing the performance with the full spectrum of emotions from humor to horror to joy to despair—not just the misery the title might suggest.  

Often in an ensemble cast, there are one or two standouts outside of the stars with stage presence that place them above fellow cast members who execute their roles with perfect skill, yet lack that ephemeral quality. The quality of this cast was different, with each actor at some point stealing the stage with their enthralling performance—whether or not they were placed in a key role.  

Randy Jeter’s solo near the beginning of the musical as the Bishop of Digne was so devastatingly beautiful it made me almost jealous of those who get to see Jeter, understudy of Jean Valjean, in the lead role if not for the pleasure of watching Nick Cartell giving such a masterful physical performance as the honorable thief.  

As Jenny Bates noted, the cast was given the freedom to bring their own ideas to the performances. Preston Truman Boyd as Javert made the self-righteous antagonist so annoying, the embodiment of evil, Thénardier played by Matt Crowle, was occasionally endearing in contrast to the police inspector with his wicked humor.  

Haley Dortch as Fantine lent a steeliness to the female lead role belied by her circumstances. Even some of the more boring lead roles, such as Marius, had new life breathed into them. Gregory Lee Rodriguez played Marius with such open-hearted earnestness that his traumatized, shell-shocked grief later in the musical was all the more tangible.  

The cast even elevated minor roles to complex, memorable characters. Grantaire, the alcoholic art student who is only part of the revolution out of friendship, is typically only a skeptical and disruptive presence, used as comedic relief during tense moments on the barricades. With Kyle Adams drunkenly swaying and heckling everyone through the revolution, the character’s story arc becomes one of the most tragic events of the musical in its culmination.  

With few lines, the resolute performance of Andrew Marks Maughan as Combeferre stood out on the barricade. Ensemble members like Mya Rena Hunter brought interest to each scene. The cast is too numerous to name each one, also a pleasure after some of the bare-bones ensembles we have come to accept, but each member, down to the four child actors, gave entrancing performances in such a fantastic musical.  

Visit broadwaysd.com for information on this week’s performances at the Civic Theatre.