Lavish 'Les Miz' talent on a spartan set

If I could change one thing about the Media Theatre's spectacularly sung production of Les Miserables, I'd give them $20,000 to spend on sets.

After seeing Friday's opening, I'd wager they devoted most of their budget to the talented cast of local performers, Broadway veterans, and seasoned professionals that delivered a thoroughly smashing account of Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyricist Herbert Kretzmer's songs.

As the convict Jean Valjean, John Smitherman unleashes a heartrending falsetto to vocally parry the chilling baritone of James Zanelli's Inspector Javert. While Zanelli may not be the most menacing Javert ever, he certainly sings the role with a rich, pleasing voice that matched any I've caught in London, New York, or locally.

The female leads are equally impressive, with Elisa Matthews displaying her lovely voice as Fantine, and recent Villanova grad Sarah Moya giving a delicate, wistful portrayal of Eponine.

Christopher Ertelt's music direction glides effortlessly through the multiple scene and tonal changes, with choral numbers rousing in the tavern and factory scenes, and charming when led by Zach Monroe's honey-tenored Marius or the delicious voice of Sean Thompson's Enjolras.

Xiachen Zhou dresses the characters in costumes that range from sumptuous tuxedos and ball gowns to Valjean's tattered prison rags and the dirtied, stitched-together knock-offs of the scheming tavern owners.

All this high quality is poorly served by a set that consists only of a wood-bordered proscenium flanked by piles of debris, and a pair of metal staircases. No barricades to shoot from, no bridge from which Javert makes his fatal plunge.

Instead, scenic designer Matthew Miller substitutes projections that range from woodcut etchings depicting Parisian streets, expressionistic images of crosses and candles (not to mention a horse), video imagery of the sun's surface, and out of nowhere, an allegorical photograph of the 1989 protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

These images, as odd as they appear, at least evoke the religious and ethical heart of the musical's book and let director Jesse Cline center the story on the psychological and moral battle between Javert and Valjean.

While I don't mean to carp about a show that moved me in multiple moments (and that I would love to hear again), I don't regard this concern about sets as quibbling. On the way out, I overheard two women talking about the 2012 movie version. One said, "If I hadn't seen that, I wouldn't have even known Javert died!" I wonder what they thought of the backdrop of Tiananmen Square in 19th-century France.

Les Miserables

Through Jan. 11 at the Media Theatre, 104 E. State St., Media.

Tickets: $25-$50

Information: 610-891-0100 or www.mediatheatre.org

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