This arty, funny, radiant production of Les Miserables runs at the Paramount through June 17.
An arty, funny, radiant production of Les Miserables runs at the Paramount through June 17. Matthew Murphy

Hold up—funny? How can Les Miserables be funny? Sure, the Thenardiers are supposed to be funny, and that song they sing, "Master of the House," is supposed to be funny, the comic relief amid the misery. But did you see the movie? With Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as master and madame Thenardier? Have two funny actors ever been less funny than they were in the dreary spectacle of missed opportunities that was that movie?

In the new national tour of Les Miserables at the Paramount, the Thenardiers are played by J. Anthony Crane (he's the one being hoisted into the air in the center of the photo above) and Allison Guinn (she's the one on the far right), and they are better than they need to be, better than Cohen and Carter, with fiendish appetites and dead-baby-eating grins.

But the funny part that knocked me sideways, that I did not see coming, was a throwaway line sung by Marius, the sap whom Eponine is in love with, the one who doesn't love Eponine back, which causes her to sing probably the most famous song about unrequited love in the history of musicals, "On My Own." Marius has no interest in Eponine because he is busy falling for Cosette, and that courtship involves one of the most boring love songs in the history of musicals, "A Heart Full of Love."

Joshua Grosso cleverly plays Marius as a funny dork.
Joshua Grosso cleverly plays Marius as a funny dork. Matthew Murphy

Instead of the earnest treacle you're probably familiar with in other portrayals of Marius—hi, Eddie Redmayne—Grosso undermines the heavy blankness of "A Heart Full of Love" by reinterpreting one of the earliest lyrics in the song.

A heart full of love.
A heart full of song.
I'm doing everything all wrong.
Oh God, for shame,
I do not even know your name...

Instead of the thundering self-seriousness that makes listeners of the soundtrack usually skip this track, Grosso does the line "I'm doing everything all wrong" as slapstick, as a moment of spoken humor, and in departing from what the audience expects, he produced unanimous, loud, startled laughter throughout the theater.

This production does a lot of things differently. Thank god.

It's still the same material—police overreach, revolutionary zeal, reversals of fortunes, stealing, love, forgiveness, etc.—but the way it's staged has changed since the '80s and '90s. Completely redesigned for the 25th anniversary tour in 2009, this production has no turntable in the stage floor. This newer set, designed by Matt Kinley, incorporates projections of artwork by Victor Hugo. The lighting design by Paule Constable is sharp and clever, especially during the scene when the students are getting picked off by snipers at the barricade.

Even the iconic character of Eponine is shown in a new light. Emily Bautista plays her as manic and twitchy, which goes some way toward explaining Marius's lack of interest in her.

Emily Bautistas portrayal of Eponine is idiosyncratic and manic.
Emily Bautista's portrayal of Eponine is idiosyncratic. Matthew Murphy

Though I have to say, I did not cry during "A Little Fall of Rain," when Marius comforts a dying Eponine. Well, okay, fine, tears did well up in my eyes, and they wobbled there on the verge of falling, but they did not fall. Okay?

Obviously, nothing matters if the guys playing Jean Valjean and Javert are just okay, but Nick Cartell and Josh Davis are fantastic. They are better than Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. Hands down. No question. End of debate. Even my date, who loves Russell Crowe in the movie (I think he just loves Russell Crowe), admitted there was not a weak link in this cast. Davis's Javert is slicker and darker than Crowe's portrayal of Javert as a self-satisfied potato sack.

Josh Davis as Javert, left, and Nick Cartell as Jean Valjean.
Josh Davis as Javert, left, and Nick Cartell as Jean Valjean. Matthew Murphy

Les Miserables is complex enough that new layers emerge every time you experience it. In the era of the movie's release, I was thoroughly sick of this musical, couldn't even remember what I used to like about it. It just seemed so unappealingly Christian. So much maudlin stuff about forgiveness and charity and prayer.

Imagine my shock, then, to discover that my favorite moment of this production was a prayer. A prayer that Jean Valjean sings in act two for Marius on the barricade, the song "Bring Him Home." I don't know how to explain that transcendent, ineffable moment, but it had something to do with the tableau of the barricade, the glowing lanterns, and the high, rich, gentle clarity of Cartell's voice. Nothing compares with seeing these complicated, generous, undefeated songs performed live, performed perfectly.

In closing: Would you like to see another picture of Allison Guinn as Madame Thenardier? But of course.

This is right after she used the baguette to make a joke about a penis.
This is right after she used the baguette to make a joke about a penis. Matthew Murphy

Les Miserables plays at the Paramount through June 17.