Customer Reviews

Les Miserables (1994 Japanese Red Cast)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is actually the red cast of two live cast albums (the other one is blue with Sakae Takita) released in Japan (in Japanese), with Takeshi Kaga as Valjean and Kaho Shimada (who was featured in the CSR) as Eponine. The rumblings of the turntable set can be heard at times, as well as sporadic audience applause, but on the whole this is a fine album for Les Miz fans. On My Own gets quite a touching reading from Miss Shimada albeit in Japanese.

Though Taken by surprise with the occasional insert of the English Language, I was pleasantly surprised by this recording. Purchasing it with the intent to laugh and poke fun at it, I quickly found myself moved. It was nice to listen to this prestigious piece without understanding the lyrics.

Not overly impressed by this recording's Valjean or Marius, I was pleasantly content with the ripe performances of the other performers.

Most enjoyable to me was Fantine's I dreamed a dream. In my opinion, it is one of the better potrayals, second only to Randy Graff's performance on the Broadway Album.

Worth the price? For me, yes. You be the judge.

An album worth purchasing. Takeshi Kaga does indeed add a exceptional dimension to this production because of the incredible quality of his voice. However,you don't have to understand Japanese to sense the complete dedication and professional quality that every member of the cast brings as each and every line is delivered, and that the whole cast united as one unit, makes this story line very real and dynamic. It is very moving and if you allow yourself you can literally be drawn into the story and even find yourself crying at the end when Val Jean dies. I found I never thought of Chairman Kaga once.

This is a very good recording of the musical. It contains nearly all of the material, as compared with the London and Broadway casts. I would not recommend this recording to new listeners, but for those who already appreciate this monumental musical, this is a great experience. This was one of two live albums of Les Miserables released in Japan in 1994. The other one, known as the Japanese "Blue" Cast, is very good as well, but this one has slightly better performances from the main actors.

Yes, it's all about Takeshi Kaga, also known as Chairman Kaga on Food Network/FujiTV's Iron Chef. Anyone who enjoys this cast recording truely should take the time to watch at least the opening of Iron Chef, Kaga appears in a Liberace-esque wardrobe as an eccentric food afficionado. He's quite accomplished and has also played in Jesus Christ Superstar and West Side Story. If that's not quite your style, you can catch Kaga singing a verse at the end of the Les Mis 10th Anniversary recording.