My little grip with Les Mis 25th

I personally prefer the 25th anniversary version to the 10th, although I wonder how much of it is influenced by the better quality visuals and sounds from the Blu-ray disc. It really makes a discernible difference even on my humble 32" LG.

So what problem do I have with it? Nick Jonas. Yes, he's a great singer. Pop singer. But putting him in Les Mis is like throwing a little puppy in a den full of lions. All the lions - young, old, male, female - have grand and powerful roars, and even their grunts or whimpers have more power and intensity than the little yapping barks coming out of Jonas. Cute puppies have their places, and can even have solo concerts on their own which I can appreciate and enjoy. Just don't try to force them in lion roles that they can't fill, and only look silly doing so. Anyone in the ensemble could have out-roared him easily, even if their roars aren't as pretty melodically.

Jonas couldn't move his head much whenever he sings, because even a little shift resulting in a larger distance between his lips and the mic rendered his voice inaudible (again, lack of power). You don't see that problem with any of the other cast members. Thus you get a Marius who couldn't look at whoever he was singing to, e.g. Cosette or Eponine. He sang the whole thing with the same voice (not much variation in tone, volume or emotion) and the same look (seemed to be saying: "Oh lord please let me get through this alive"). Sometimes I can't bear to see/hear him and just want to fast forward through his parts.

When I first watched snippets of the 25th on Youtube, I was a little concerned. But I thought, maybe it's just the bad youtube quality. He'll probably sound better on Blu-ray. However, the better Blu-ray quality only served to emphasize and highlight the difference between him and the rest of the cast. Some people commended his performance in "Empty chairs and empty tables". I liked it too, only because it was a solo and there was nobody else singing with him for compare/contrast. But with most musical numbers, there's a lot of layering and combination of different parts, and the play on the balance and dynamics is what makes musicals so interesting. Nick Jonas, imho, can't provide the balance and dynamics needed for a role in such a musical.

That said, there are so many things to love about Les Mis 25th. Most of all (for me) are Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, and Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras. Oooh, their voices, their looks... I'm still waiting for the day that a guy with that kind of voice will come and sweep me off my feet.