It was the best of times, it was …

What do you do if you’re in charge of a franchise loved by tens of millions of people around the world and you’re about to bring it to the silver screen once again after a long absence?

You create a script of wooden dialog, direct actors to horrifically wooden performances, and create perhaps the most (validly) maligned CGI character in history, of course.

But let’s talk about Les Misérables, instead. (I know, two Les Mis posts in a row. As the saying goes, write what you know.)

Even people not paying attention (and that’s most of you) know I’m a Les Mis geek.

Does he or doesn’t he?

My wife and I went to see Les Misérables today, the musical adapted from Victor Hugo’s 19th century novel. It was a new staging, created for the show’s 25th anniversary. The new staging was quite a bit different, in a good way, than the other four times we’ve seen it (I know; I also own five soundtracks). And even if it hadn’t been, as has been said about other things, a bad day at Les Mis is better than a good day anywhere else.

The characters were starker and less “pretty.” Valjean actually looked like a convict who’d been in prison for 20 years.