LES MISERABLES AT 5-STAR THEATRICALS

This is how phenomenal this latest production from 5-Star Theatricals is: When Les Miserables was over on Opening Night, my friend Doug, who has seen many versions of this legendary musical all over the world, told me, “My life is better for having seen this production!” He even teared-up from it. I’m with him on both fronts.

No matter how glowing my review is about to be, I really don’t feel it will do this show justice. The supreme shame is that you have only this coming weekend left to see it, so I strongly suggest that you do.

Les Miserables is perhaps 5-Star Theatricals’ most massive undertaking, and it’s 100% successful. I’m always still amazed by the absolute excellence of everything they do. And this one is their most stunning presentation ever.

Every one of the thirty-seven cast members, (and yes, I did read every single one of their bios in the program, as every audience member should,) is very talented. I can say that with certainty because even though most of them are members of the ensemble, (as opposed to having a named role,) the director, Doug Kreeger, gives each of them a little bit to sing on their own. They all possess Broadway-quality voices, especially Richard Bermudez, who stars here as Jean Valjean; he’s incredible. To break-down just how wonderful Richard is, I’m declaring that he has the best voice I’ve heard since the singular one of my long-time way-before-he-was-famous favorite, (and 5-Star alum,) Adam Lambert, so you know how serious I am about this praise.

5-Star Theatricals, (along with the audience,) is sooooo lucky to have found Richard. I was bowled-over by his captivating voice. When his riveting rendition of the gorgeous Bring Him Home was over in the middle of the second act, I wanted to jump up and give him a standing ovation right then! And I got chills from his Who Am I?. And he’s handsome, too! As a matter of fact, as I was exiting the theatre shortly after I had written that very note, (I rarely use the word “handsome,” but that’s what he is,) I bumped into a casting person I know, and when discussing Richard’s immense talent, the man also mentioned that he’s handsome! So that confirmed my opinion.

And, shockingly, Richard is just about as strong as Jean Valjean, the lead character he’s playing! At one point in Act II, he throws a similar-sized guy over his shoulder and carries him off stage. And down steps, to boot! Doug, a strong man himself, couldn’t help but exclaim, “Impressive,” out loud. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. If this had been on-line, I would have been sure that that feat of strength was AI.

As to the rest of this amazing musical, even though I had seen it a time or two in the past, I had actually forgotten that there’s no dialogue—it’s entirely songs! And in this case, I could make out just about every word of the three hours of singing! That’s quite the achievement on the part of the entire cast. And of the Sound Designer Jonathan A. Burke. Kudos to everyone involved.

As for the visuals, because Les Miserables is mostly a bleak (but beautiful) tale, the basically brown-and-gray-toned minimal sets are spot-on. They make the perfect background for tableaus in a few of the scenes, especially the one that takes place in an inn, (where the comic relief proprietor couple sing the very witty Master of the House,) which reminded me of Pageant of the Masters.

Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is one of the longest novels ever written; it contains 655,478 words! (So, it’s akin to my reviews in this e-zine!) Because of that extreme length of the source material, there are many parts to the story in the musical version. Yes, that does make the show a tad long, (it’s a full three hours,) but you’ll find that you really never want the brilliance of this production to end. The narrative is helped along with the various years and locations being projected above the stage at the beginning of the scenes.

Doug adds to my thoughts with a few of his own. He observed, “The staging is remarkable! And the direction is good. The singers all have strong voices, and are well-matched together. The sound mixing is very good; the voices and music don’t overpower each other, and they all blend well.”

In addition to every aspect of this production’s magnificence, seeing it again has me marveling at the gargantuan efforts of all involved with Les Miserables. First with Victor Hugo for writing such a complicated and powerful novel to begin with, which took him from 1845 to1862 to do, and then to the person who came up with the idea to turn it into a musical, and then to the artists who did just that in the 1980s in France. And then Cameron Macintosh and his team for furthering it into the English language spectacular that it is today. Every aspect of these dazzling accomplishments boggles my mind. Truly. And seeing the show on Friday night had me doing massive research on the topic all weekend long. It’s all so fascinating.

I have to give one more very special shout-out before I go: I believe that Executive Director of 5-Star Theatricals, Cindy Murray, fought very hard to get permission to produce this classic musical, so I give her extra credit for that eventually-successful effort. It was sooo worth the wait. To paraphrase my friend Doug, I feel we’re all better for having seen this show!

You may have opportunities to see other productions of Les Miserables over the years, but I guarantee you that absolutely none will be better than this one! Hands down. Nor will it ever be in as comfortable and easy a place as the Bank of America Performing Arts Center. So if you can be anywhere near SoCal this coming weekend, do yourselves a favor and see this show. It’s the best one I’ve seen in a very long time!

Les Miserables running through October18, 2026
Bank of America Performing Arts Center’s Fred Kavli Theatre
2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Thousand Oaks
805-449-2787 www.5startheatricals.com