Apparently I'm an Eponine stan

Notes on Les Misérables

The Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg hosted the musical Les Misérables in 1991¹. My neighbours went, and I was very jealous, and my dad made me a copy of their 1987 Original Broadway Cast Recording cassette tape.

Winnipeg Free Press - January 20, 1992 - Page 28

The next year, it returned and my mom took me to the show. I was 8 and a half years old and had received Lights and Lace Barbie² for my previous birthday. I still remember where we were sitting. The beautiful voices and emotions behind those songs! The costumes! A Pepsi at half-time! I loved it. Though maybe not as much as Victor Hugo loved the Parisian sewers³. Did Les Mis make me a socialist? The foundation was there!

Now it’s 2023 (gross). The recording is on *pple Music, so I’m listening again and it’s just as glorious. I still remember all the same incorrect lyrics as before! The EMOTIONS!

Original Broadway Cast Recording - Les Misérables

Here are some highlights:

1. Overture/Work Song - Wait a moment, this wasn’t on my tape. Possibly left off!

2. Valjean Arrested/Valjean Forgiven - Also wasn’t on my tape

3. What Have I Done - What the heck. Maybe the tape didn’t have enough room for everything

4. At the End of the Day - This is absolutely how the tape started, so for me, it’s the beginning. Forget tracks 1-3. This song has some big messages about capitalism and the working class! The lyrics are crystal clear.

5. I Dreamed a Dream - That… instrument… that comes in right after 0:47. That is 1987 as heck.

6. Lovely Ladies - I think I understood that there was a huge plot involving sex work . I definitely didn’t get the euphemisms until, oh, now. “Make money in your sleep” sounds more like an MLM than prostitution, though.

7. Who Am I? - Lest you forget the main character, JVJ

8. Come to Me (Fantine’s Death) - “Where all the children PLAAAAAAY” 2:15 oh my GOD

9. Confrontation - This version is great too:

10. Castle On a Cloud - Every little girl pictured themselves as Cossette, covered in dirt but still artfully pretty

11. Master of the House - This jaunty number would not be out-of-place in one of the classic Disney animated films that came out in the 90s, minus the salty language

12. The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery - That transition from the end of this song into Look Down still gives me chills

13. Look Down - I was obsessed with this song

14. Stars

15. Red and Black - Marius cements himself as a Disney prince

16. Do You Hear the People Sing? - Just remembered that my tape had a huge empty space after this song. HMMMM

TURN THE TAPE OVER

1. In My Life - The “but daddy I love him!” of this Disney movie

2. A Heart Full of Love - Eponine piping in at the end of the song. No best-friends-to-lovers for this lady!

3. Plumet Attack - Eponine’s scream in this song… tasty.

4. One Day More - There are so many characters in this song, singing against each other. Sorry, but Eponine has the best parts once again.

5. Upon These Stones (Building the Barricade)

6. On My Own - IT’S TIME FOR EPONINE’S BIG NUMBER. Frances Ruffelle⁴ is incredible. The part from 2:20 is like a punch in the feelings.

7. Upon These Songs (At the Barricade)

8. Javert At the Barricade/Little People/The First Attack - Little People is maybe too jaunty for the subject matter?

9. A Little Fall of Rain - Spoiler alert, Eponine died.

10. Drink With Me

11. Bring Him Home

12. Dog Eat Dog - NO

13. Javert’s Suicide

14. Turning - Interesting juxtaposition to Lovely Ladies

15. Empty Chairs At Empty Tables

16. Wedding Chorale/Beggars At the Feast

17. Finale “Les Miserables” - Ghost of Eponine is back!

1. Every single show in history at the CCH, a list that sadly was not updated after, yikes, February 2020. Accessed online at https://centennialconcerthall.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=history&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id= in 2023

2. Barbie | commercial lights & lace barbie | 1990 - YouTube. Accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HupqMYRF_k in 2023. I also received the Barbie Hawaiian Fun Flower Shop. It was a great birthday.

3. Why sewer systems are the key to understanding Les Miserables - Vox. Accessed at https://www.vox.com/23026734/one-good-thing-les-mis-sewer-systems in 2023.

4. Wikipedia - Frances Ruffelle. Accessed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Ruffelle in 2023.