'Les Miz' at Wolf Trap: Vive la Différence

Can you picture the international musical spectacle "Les Miserables" without the show's famous revolving stage? Can you imagine a rebellious 19th-century France without the computer-driven barricades impressively heaving themselves up before your very eyes?

You can at Wolf Trap, where "Les Miz," titan of 1980s mega-musicals, is now reaching a lower-tech middle age. A new staging of Jean Valjean's adventures by Atlanta's Theater of the Stars substitutes a lively projection design for the original hit's famously busy scenery, with misty woods and illustrated street scenes doing sufficient visual work in place of the old whirled architecture.

Otherwise, this version doesn't mess with established success. Huge cast, pounding orchestra, epic scale -- this is still "Les Miz" writ large, and at the end of Friday's opening, the crowd wasted no time leaping to its feet in approval. (The show runs through Sept. 7.)

It helps that director Fred Hanson's actors are up to snuff, with performers in many key roles (Valjean, Javert, Fantine and more) having done the show before. As Valjean, Robert Evan wastes no time establishing his vocal range and power, striding the stage and belting with authority. With that, the audience settles in for Valjean's familiar heroic trek through injustice and strife.

Brawny as it is, Evan's certitude is bettered by Robert Hunt's. As Javert, the self-righteous constable who chases the one-offense petty thief Valjean through the years, Hunt sings his staccato lines with a richly textured voice that's full of character. Javert is priggish, loathsome and fun to watch; Hunt shades the broad strokes of villainy with intriguing introspection and a winning sound that makes his performance the highlight of the night.

Not that there are any real slackers, though it's always a little hard to take the comically underhanded shenanigans of the Thenardiers, the married schemers who work cons throughout the show. The breathless, boisterous turn by Laurent Giroux and the underlined crudities of Cindy Benson are true to wearying form, but the abrasiveness is embedded in the script and probably impossible for actors to fight. After all, the epic-minded creators -- composer Claude-Michel Schoenberg and lyricist Alain Boublil -- aren't known for their light touch.

Except, that is, when they're penning feathery ballads for the oppressed: Valjean's high, tender "Bring Him Home," young Cosette's "Castle on a Cloud" and so on. "Les Miz" lives on the extremities of poignant ballads and thunderous anthems, and by this point in the show's evolution you're probably either with it (such passion and sweep!) or against it (such overdone bombast!).

Either way, this confident, faithful production lets you focus on the intrinsic merits of "Les Miz," from its hard-to-resist storytelling to its occasionally hard-to-reach notes. Even the capable Evan strains now and then to execute the score's demanding effects, but as the waif Eponine yearns for the heroic Marius, who spoons with the lovely Cosette when he's not joining his comrades in full-throated chorus on the ramparts, it's easy enough to surrender.

Les Miserables, music by Claude-Michel Schoenberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil. Directed and choreographed by Fred Hanson. Scenery and image design, Matt Kinley; lighting design, Ken Billington; sound design, Peter Fitzgerald and Erich Bechtel; costumes, Robert Fletcher; projection design, Zachary Borovay; music director, Dan Riddle. Through Sept. 7 at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna. Call 1-877-WOLFTRAP or visit http://www.wolftrap.org