‘Les Miserables’ boasts a strong cast

The spell cast by “Les Miserables” never seems to fade.

This was my sixth viewing of this musical epic (five of those have been right here in the Opera House) and I was every bit as moved, inspired and entertained as I was the first time.

That’s a credit to the quality control in this show, which has been on the road since the 1980s. This cast ranked right up there with the best I’ve seen, with an especially outstanding Jean Valjean (Randal Keith).

Keith is a born Valjean, with a voice that can growl in the lower registers and still go impossibly high for the song-prayer “Bring Him Home.” He’s built like a pugnacious wrestler and is totally convincing as an immovable force. No wonder producer Cameron Mackintosh chose Keith to be Valjean in the Broadway grand finale last year.

This touring company (the only one remaining in North America) boasts a strong cast, top to bottom. I was especially impressed with Melissa Lyons as Eponine, who delivered the most emotionally wrenching version of “On My Own” I have heard.

This entire production seemed to have a clarity and a sharpness unusual in a long-running show. Somehow the lyrics seemed easier to understand than in previous productions, when a touch of sloppiness crept in, at least when it came to diction and articulation. From the first scene of this production, the words had a crispness that may have come from an improved sound system, but which I suspect comes from a cast taking particular care with the show’s meaning.

The glory of “Les Miserables” – and what sets it apart from just about any other musical – is the depth and breadth of its themes. Every new viewing gives you a deeper understanding of the story’s complex issues and emotions.

This time, what struck me was the power of Valjean’s religious conversion. We first see him as a thief and a convict. When a kindly priest shows mercy on him and refuses to turn him in to the police, Valjean undergoes a powerful conversion and dedicates his soul, and the rest of his life, to God.

This is no pious sham. Everything that he does in the ensuing decades is his attempt to show the same compassion, the same mercy, the same selflessness that the long-ago priest showed to him. It’s why he adopts the urchin Cosette, and why he joins the struggle for economic and social justice on the streets of Paris in 1832.

I’m not saying I never noticed this before. I’m just saying that there are so many other powerful themes – the plight of the poor, the bond between mother and child, the idealism of youth – that I never appreciated it properly.

As I heard one audience member say at intermission, “It’s amazing the way you can get different things out of this show at different stages of your life.”

Yes, that’s what great art can do. And make no mistake, “Les Miz” is great art.