Philadelphia Weekly

The Walnut Street Theatre concludes their 199th year with a stirring production of Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's blockbuster musical Les Miserables.

Debuting in the early '80s, Les Miz has played for millions of theatergoers worldwide. It's the show audiences love to love and critics love to hate. Theatergoers revel in the musical's massive scale and epic story of love and redemption. Critics find the story bloated and the music numbingly repetitive.

In truth Les Miz is neither as good or bad as these divergent opinions would suggest.

Inspired by Victor Hugo's 19th century novel, the story follows the exploits of Jean Valjean (the dynamic Hugh Panero). Released from prison after 19 years on a chain gang, Valjean is spiritually reborn. Over the course of the next 30 years he rescues a young orphan from the unscrupulous Thenardier (a wonderfully depraved Scott Greer), raises the girl as his own, joins a band of revolutionary schoolboys and saves a man's life. All the while the saintly Valjean must elude the determined Inspector Javert (a stern Paul Schoeffler) who relentlessly pursues the ex-con across the decades.

At three hours the musical runs about 20 minutes too long. And while the musical themes are repeated, the reprised tunes give Les Miz an emotional cohesiveness that the sprawling tale might otherwise lack.

Les Miz has nothing tremendously profound to say about the human condition, but the songs give the musical its enduring appeal. Composed by Schonberg with lyrics by Herbert Ketzmer, the score is packed with tunes that stick in your mind for days and the cast (a blend of accomplished local and national talent) makes the most of the material. The lengthy list of musical highlights include a rousing version of "One Day More," a powerfully defiant rendition of "Stars" by Schoeffler, a heartbreaking "On My Own" from the talented Christina DeCicco, and Panaro's tender rendering of "Bring Him Home."

In the past the Walnut's large-scale musical productions have suffered from mechanical, stilted staging, but under Malcolm Black's direction the production is fluid and surprisingly passionate. Lacking the turntable stage that became Les Miz's signature effect, Black utilizes every inch of the Walnut's mainstage to maintain the show's sense of movement.

Making fine use of Todd Edward Ivins' multi-tiered set and Jeff Newlis' breathtaking lighting, the production is visually impressive without the spectacle overwhelming the story.

With over 30 performers, towering sets and countless costumes, the Walnut's rousing Les Miz proves that given the proper resources a nonprofit theater can not only stage the world's biggest musicals, but provide audiences with a healthy dose of goosebumps in the process.

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Les Miserables
Through Aug. 3. $10-$70.
Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St.
215.574.3550.
www.wstonline.org

Riddle East

The InterAct Theatre Company concludes their 20th anniversary season on a high note with the world premiere of Larry Loebell's striking new drama House, Divided. Thoughtfully directed by Seth Rozin and impressively performed by a six-member cast, the story revolves around two long-estranged brothers and their sons. Lou (David Howey) resides in Israel where his son Oren (David Raphaely) serves in the Israeli military. Doug (Paul Meshejian) and son Paul (Dan Hodge, in tremendous performance) live in Philadelphia. The brothers disagree about everything, most notably the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Marvelously constructed, Loebell employs flashback to draw parallels between the brothers 30-year estrangement and the conflict between Israelis and their Palestinian neighbors. In theater, storytelling has long been used to build a sense of community and in House Loebell investigates how stories can build bridges and heal divisions. Exploring our obligations to country, history, family and faith, Loebell shows that communication is a two-way street. Like Palestinians and Israelis, the brothers are incapable of listening to one other. Dramatically engaging and intellectually stimulating, the play endorses neither the Israeli nor Palestinian positions, and Loebell offers no easy resolutions to the conflict. Instead House offers the simple proposition that families and nations would benefit if they only listened to each other's stories. (J.C.R.) � Through June 22. $23-$27. The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St. 215.568.8079. www.InterActTheatre.org