Catch 'Les Mis' if you can!
Les Miserables, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, until January 16
The boy from Burry Port will have you in tears – that’s a guarantee.
John Owen-Jones commands the stage in the 25th anniversary touring production of Les Miserables now being staged at the Wales Millennium Centre.
And if you manage to get to the interval without reaching for your hanky, then be assured you will need it in the second-half.
The role of Jean Valjean, aka Prisoner 24601, is tailor-made for the 38-year-old who must now be ranked as one of the finest Welsh exports to the West End.
Playing at the vast Donald Gordon theatre (not an empty seat in 1,900 places) is something of a homecoming for the singer who started out with Llanelli Youth Theatre.
The emotion of the homecoming is not lost on Owen-Jones and the audience as he reduces everyone to tears during Bring Him Home, the prayer for Marius (played by Gareth Gates of X factor fame).
Few people have the range and depth of emotion to pull this one off. The way Owen-Jones does it can be summed up as magnificent.
The cast of this production of Les Mis (expect differences to the West End version) is made up of a large percentage of Welsh faces, including Owain Williams from St Clears, who plays Feuilly.
The set is dazzling, played out to a backdrop of Victor Hugo paintings. Scene changes are swift and the special effects, particularly Javert’s bridge scene, have the power to amaze. The sound system in the Donald Gordon will also have you ducking the crashing cannonballs and whizzing bullets during the barricade scenes.
This is an outstanding production (sadly, tickets are now scarce). See it if you can. A breathless John Owen-Jones said after the show: “Take it from me, there’s still fine tuning in this show and more changes to be done. It’ll be better still in a few weeks time.”
“Better still . . .” Wow. It’s going to be some show!
The boy from Burry Port will have you in tears – that’s a guarantee.
John Owen-Jones commands the stage in the 25th anniversary touring production of Les Miserables now being staged at the Wales Millennium Centre.
And if you manage to get to the interval without reaching for your hanky, then be assured you will need it in the second-half.
The role of Jean Valjean, aka Prisoner 24601, is tailor-made for the 38-year-old who must now be ranked as one of the finest Welsh exports to the West End.
Playing at the vast Donald Gordon theatre (not an empty seat in 1,900 places) is something of a homecoming for the singer who started out with Llanelli Youth Theatre.
The emotion of the homecoming is not lost on Owen-Jones and the audience as he reduces everyone to tears during Bring Him Home, the prayer for Marius (played by Gareth Gates of X factor fame).
Few people have the range and depth of emotion to pull this one off. The way Owen-Jones does it can be summed up as magnificent.
The cast of this production of Les Mis (expect differences to the West End version) is made up of a large percentage of Welsh faces, including Owain Williams from St Clears, who plays Feuilly.
The set is dazzling, played out to a backdrop of Victor Hugo paintings. Scene changes are swift and the special effects, particularly Javert’s bridge scene, have the power to amaze. The sound system in the Donald Gordon will also have you ducking the crashing cannonballs and whizzing bullets during the barricade scenes.
This is an outstanding production (sadly, tickets are now scarce). See it if you can. A breathless John Owen-Jones said after the show: “Take it from me, there’s still fine tuning in this show and more changes to be done. It’ll be better still in a few weeks time.”
“Better still . . .” Wow. It’s going to be some show!
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