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INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2025 A7REVIEWFELLOWSHIP%u00a8Continued from A6chloegm@indyrecorder.comBy CHLOE McGOWAN%u00a0I%u2019ll just start this review by saying %u201cOne Day More%u201d is still stuck in my head.%u00a0%u201cLes Mis%u00e9rables%u201d was one of the first musicals (film, 1998) I ever saw as a kid. I didn%u2019t get it then, but it left me wanting more. I saw it again as a teenager when one of our rival high schools performed it. It was fantastic, but I still didn%u2019t quite get it. With Broadway Across America bringing the show to Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University Nov. 4-9, I figured I had to see it again as an adult to understand the monumental hype behind this absolute behemoth of a show. I attended the performance on Tuesday with a friend who knew much more than I did about %u201cLes Mis%u201d and the French Revolution, and she was able to add a little perspective to some of the things I noticed and ultimately enjoyed about the show.While not entirely about the French Revolution, the causes for it %u2014 such as the growing economic crisis, the widening wealth gap and social inequity and injustice among the common people %u2014 play a crucial role in the motivations of each character. Despite the story dating back to Victor Hugo%u2019s 1862 novel, it%u2019s easy to draw parallels to some of the things we are experiencing in America today.Set against the backdrop of growing cries for justice and liberty, %u201cLes Mis%u00e9rables%u201d begins just after prisoner Jean Valjean (Nick Cantrell) is released on parole in 1815 Digne, France. The story follows his struggles as he attempts to rebuild his life while being relentlessly hunted by justice-obsessed Inspector Javert (Preston Truman Boyd). Jumping to 1823, Valjean%u2019s story begins to intersect with several other %u201cmiserable%u201d characters residing between Montreuil-sur-Mer and Montfermeil, including single mother Fantine (Lindsay Heather Pearce), who, after a beautiful mixed belt rendition of %u201cI Dreamed a Dream,%u201d does whatever she can to send money for her young child Cosette (Kayla Scola Giampapa). Valjean promises Fantine he will care for the child, whom Fantine left in the care of con artists Thenardier (Matt Crowle) and his wife (Victoria Houston-Elem).%u00a0Although persistently annoying, the greedy characters do give us one of the more raunchy, vibrant and artfully busy numbers with %u201cMaster of the House.%u201dThe story jumps again, to Paris 1832, where a group of young college kids wax poetic about revolution, singing of social justice in %u201cRed and Black%u201d and their rallying cry %u201cDo You Hear the People Sing?%u201d It%u2019s during these public protests that Cosette, now grown (Alexa Lopez), meets and falls hopelessly in love with rebel Marius (Peter Neureuther). Their duet, %u201cA Heart Full of Love,%u201d is a lovely reprieve from the previous laments, with just a touch of hope as it leads into the Act I finale, %u201cOne Day More.%u201dIn full transparency, %u201cLes Mis%u201d isn%u2019t like other shows. It is a sung-through musical with operatic components, featuring more than 40 characters, 28 painting, murals, and installations. Her art confronts stereotypes of Native peoples and exposes environmental racism in her homelands, often incorporating elements of her cultural traditions.John Feodorov (Navajo [Din%u00e9]): Formerly of Seattle, Washington, Feodorov explores identity and the experience of being an urban Indian through paintings, drawings, three-dimensional artworks and video performances. He recently retired as an associate professor of art from Western Washington University.Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich (Koyukon Den%u00e9 / I%u00f1upiaq): Based in Anchorage, Alaska, Gingrich draws inspiration from her heritage to create carved, painted, and beaded sculptures and mask forms. Her multidisciplinary practice also includes photography, film, installation, poetry, and design, serving as an homage to her Native Alaskan ancestral homelands.Maria Hupfield (Anishinaabek, Wasauksing First Nation): A faculty member at the University of Toronto, Hupfield merges performance art, design, and sculpture. Her work pursues Indigenous storytelling traditions through a lens of collaboration and social justice.Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan / Hidatsa / Arikara / Lakota): From Glorieta, New Mexico, Luger is a multidisciplinary artist known for monumental installations, sculpture, and performance. His work communicates urgent stories of 21st-century Indigeneity, presenting new perspectives on collective humanity and bringing an Indigenous worldview to the forefront.Eiteljorg curator of Native American Art Dorene Red Cloud (Oglala Lakota) praised the 2025 cohort. %u201cEach 2025 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellow is a powerhouse, incredibly talented and articulate and whose practice is equally compelling,%u201d Red Cloud said. %u201cThe %u2018Emerging Current%u2019 exhibition will be a pure visual and cerebral delight, and we are so excited to share this momentous program with our visitors and members.%u201dThe Eiteljorg Museum is located at 500 West Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis. For more information on hours and tickets, visit eiteljorg.com.Contact Multi-Media & Senior Sports Reporter Noral Parham at 317-762-7846. Follow him on social media @HorsemenSportsMedia.Onstage at the newly renovated Clowes Hall, %u2018Les Mis%u00e9rables%u2019 was a sight to beholdsongs and several time jumps. Oh, and it%u2019s three hours long. However, the pacing moves the story along fairly quickly, jumping from one song to the next, as seamlessly as the streets of Paris become a rundown inn, chateau or a barricade.It is an emotional journey filled with yearning, doubt and self-reflection. It%u2019s not in my top five, but I appreciate the complexities that lie in turning a more than 2,000-page book into a threehour musical with not one, not two, but about a dozen different songs that just get stuck in your head for days.After about a 15-minute intermission, I was eager to get into Act II as many of my favorite songs in the show take place back-to-back. Eponine (Jaedynn Latter) is simply magnificent on stage despite her character%u2019s tragic backstory. %u201cOn My Own%u201d is heart-wrenching every time I see it, casting an overall pitiful vibe as the walls part and the shadow of the barricade looms over the stage.%u00a0However, immediately following %u201cOn My Own,%u201d the show came to a screeching halt due to technical difficulty. The audience sat in the dark, chatting amongst ourselves for a little less than 10 minutes before the lights came up on stage, revealing the barricade.The scenic design for %u201cLes Mis%u00e9rables%u201d is brilliant and complex, and I don%u2019t think I could even adequately describe it. It%u2019s something you have to see for yourself to truly appreciate how much time, engineering and technical brilliance go into getting these shows to work every night. Even with the tiny hiccup, the rest of the show continued to dazzle the audience.There%u2019s something special in the way lighting gives a character depth and in the way it signifies a character%u2019s death.This was my first time back at Clowes Memorial Hall since the renovations were completed, and I had a really good time. Getting in and out of the theatre was much smoother than before. I also enjoyed the new concessions and the themed drinks (Cosette%u2019s Kiss was the mocktail, and it was delicious).%u201cLes Mis%u00e9rables%u201d is such a bold and powerful choice to start off the Broadway in Indianapolis season, especially as people around the world continue to sing the song of revolution and fight for their own freedoms %u2014 both by taking to the streets in protest and by making their voices heard at the polls. It%u2019s intense, complicated and challenging in a lot of different ways. The characters, who are all largely just misunderstood or misinformed, juxtaThe Broadway National Tour of %u201cLes Mis%u00e9rables%u201d kicked ofi the Broadway in Indianapolis 2025-26 season with a run at Clowes Memorial Hall Nov. 4-9. (Photo/Matthew Murphy)pose ideas of freedom, justice, mercy and redemption.Beyond that, the show contains flashing lights, loud noises, simulated gunfire, smoke and haze, as well as themes of violence, death, suicide, sex work, child abuse, war, rebellion and adult language.Also, a lot of people die onstage %u2013 most of them actually. Such is the nature of a tragedy. It%u2019s not really a happy ending, but it%u2019s an ending we can ultimately understand and accept.That being said, it%u2019s one of those shows I think everyone should experience at least once.For more information about future performances visit butlerartscenter.org/performances.Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.