Review of Les Miserables/Solvang PCPA Theaterfest

The venue: I did not see a roof, I suppose they skipped part of the structure, this in order to keep the costs down. As a result, temperatures plunged with sun's departure allowing it to get c-c-c-cold, and most folks in the know packed in blankets and hats as if they were going to the Arctic (“dressed up like Eskimos”). The seating was hard -- not sure what it would have been on the Rockwell scale -- and also cold. One could rent a cushion for a buck from the official blanket-and-cushion concession. The buck started to look like a very good deal once you got situated and by the intermission, which came after several days, the price of cushions had increased to $100. There were lines to use the toilets during intermission, which were almost as long as the Great Wall of China. The men's line did hustle, likely due to the fact the all in line had enlarged prostates and none made friends with the others in line. The women's line moved slower. Some of the women in the line were still there from the prior evening's performance.

On to the performance: 180 minutes of singing, which translates into four human years and roughly twenty-eight dog years. Sing, sing, sing. Then more sing, sing, sing & so on & so forth forever and ever and ever. Sometimes there were many actors singing different songs at the same time. It sounded a lot like a chaotic call center with everyone hopped up on buckets of coffee. Sometimes I woke up when it got very loud. So I ended up awake a lot. Actors poured onto the stage and poured off. Back and forth. Like watching the tide come in and out. Actors moved props around. Actors carted dead or wounded actors. Actors aged. Actors died. Then more died. Sometimes many died at one time. Some sang on their deathbed. Then at the end, the dead actors and the surviving actors came back for a grand very loud whiz-bang finale. My rear end died during the performance, I suppose in sympathy for the actors. My rear also came back from the dead after everyone stopped singing and bowing.

All in all it was good.