les miserables digital staging

Last night my family, friends, and I attended Les Miserables at the Buell Theater in Denver. It did not disappoint!

I was most impressed by the new staging. Incorporating digital media into a classic is always a tricky business. The set designer, Matt Kinley, has received a lot of slack for "modernizing" the longest running play on Broadway. I think it was an absolute success! He incorporates video projections based on paintings by Victor Hugo that give a better sense of the setting and enliven the dark stage. In two acts, the projections move with the actors, but not in a cheesy way, in a haunting way. The staging was never distracting, but always impressive and left me wondering "How did they do that?".

the single photo I managed to snap before the show

new digital backdrops

Photos of the staging aren't readily available, but the above pictures give a little glimpse of the pen and ink, washed out scenes originally painted by Hugo himself.

[other photo credits www.lesmis.com]