The Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization present Les Misérables

The material itself is partially to blame. Despite the anthemic score by Claude-Michel Schönberg, this popular adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel often seems stiff and anticlimactic. Although the story centers on the decades-long conflict between the convict Jean Valjean and the police officer Javert, their tussle leaves little room for dramatic commitment.

Thinly drawn characters

Valjean’s character arc resolves within the musical’s first 10 minutes: hardened by his treatment in prison, he begins to hate the society that failed him—only to be redeemed by Christian charity. Javert takes the opposite trajectory: so sure is his faith in the letter of the law that when he finally recognizes Valjean as a decent man, it drives him to take his own life.

The other characters are just as thinly drawn: the storybook lovers Marius and Cosette, the tragically mistreated Fantine and Éponine, the wicked Thénardiers, the righteous but foolhardy student revolutionaries. The events of the June Rebellion that supposedly drive the plot regularly seem like an afterthought.

The original production by Trevor Nunn and John Caird possessed a spare, elegant theatricality that superseded these deficits. The current staging, by Laurence Connor and James Powell, looks in contrast like a theme park attraction. With the famous turntable gone, the ensemble members resemble animatronic statues as they march in place at the first-act conclusion. Matt Kinley’s sets call to mind grim Victorian London rather than 19th-century France.

Delivering on the songs

Still, Les Mis is known as much for its songs as its storytelling, and on that front, the tour cast mostly delivers. Nick Cartell brings a clarion voice to Valjean’s “Who Am I?” and “Bring Him Home,” along with a noble stage presence that communicates the character’s good-heartedness. The same cannot be said for Preston Truman Boyd, who hoots and wobbles his way through Javert.

Jake David Smith makes a dashing Marius, and although Delaney Guyer sounds somewhat pinched in her highest register, she is convincing in her portrayal of Cosette as a girl in the first flush of love. Mya Rena Hunter brings an appropriately tough countenance to Éponine, and she belts the famous “On My Own” to the rafters.

Although the Thénardiers mostly represent comic relief, they also provide a wry commentary on France’s continuing class struggle in the decades after 1789. The musical’s bleakest line may belong to Thénardier in “Dog Eats Dog” as he pilfers belongings from corpses to sell: “I raise my eyes to the heavens, and only the moon looks down!” Unfortunately, Matt Crowle and Victoria Huston-Elem seem content to luxuriate in the more stereotypical aspects of their roles.

Understudy Emily Fink performed Fantine on opening night in Philadelphia with a beauty of tone that never wavered. (The role is regularly played by Haley Dortch.) With simple, committed theatricality, she charted the character’s arc in “I Dreamed a Dream” and remained subtle even in Fantine’s overwrought death sequence.

The allure continues

The enduring popularity of Les Misérables isn’t likely to break any time soon. The rousing music, populist message, and pageantry of the production continue to allure new theatergoers and veteran audiences. Despite the strong vocals on display at the Academy, though, the people’s song sounds uncomfortably wan to this audience member.