"Les Miserables (Focus on the Family Radio Theater)" Review

   I was so very excited when Tyndale offered "Les Miserables" (Focus on the Family Radio Theater) for review.  Tyndale provides me the resource complimentary and I in turn agree to write a review.  I have never officially read Victor Hugo's book, "Les Miserables", but I have seen the movie and most recently the movie musical of the book that was just released during Christmas, so I am familiar with the story of "Les Miserables".   For this review I am really not going to go into details about the story itself as I figure most people are familiar with it.  I too would let you know that this presentation was all story telling and not at all a musical (no songs).

   I know this story has appeal to a vast audience, but as a Christian the redemption of Jean Valjean's life would be enough for me to watch and listen to the story over and over again.  I am too saddened by Inspector Javert's determination not to accept and give mercy, but to die by the letter of the law.  Ok, I did say I would not go too much into detail about the story so I will stop here and continue reviewing the resource I was given by Tyndale :)

  Focus on the Family Radio Theater have several radio drama presentations, including "The Chronicles of Narnia" series.  I listened to all of the Narnia series and was impressed with the quality of the audio CDS.  So when offered the audio presentation of "Les Miserables" I didn't hesitate.  The quality of sound of "Les Miserables" was perfect.  I listened to all 3 cds in my car and I got lost in the story as I listened (don't worry not to lost that I didn't safely drive). 

   My favorite thing about the audio presentation was the acting itself.  The story and characters felt believable and as far as a radio presentation goes I thought the acting was really good.  Especially the actor that played the role of "Jean Valjean".   Overall, I loved the audio presentation and felt the actors did a fine job, but I did get a bit distracted as in my mind some of the actors sounded "older" than what I pictured the characters to be.  IE: The actress that played "Fantine" sounded like she was in her 30 to 40's and I pictured her being in her early twenties.  Again, it didn't really take away from the story, but sometimes people picture characters the way they want or know them to be from the actual story. 

   In conclusion, I highly recommend purchasing this CD set from Focus on the Family.  It would be a great resource for the family (use discretion with children because of mature subjects) to use while they are traveling in the car on vacation, or to use during a family story time as well.  It is a timeless story that can be told over and over again and never get old.

 Thank you Tyndale for giving me this resource.