Les Misérables 1991 At The End Of The Day

Susan Gilmour as Fantine, Gary Morris as Jean Valjean, Todd Thurston as Foreman, Workers include Christopher Carothers, Daniel C. Cooney; Women Workers include Regina O'Malley, Valerie Fagan, Jeanne Croft, Kay Elise Kleinerman
[WORKERS]
At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor
It's a struggle, it's a war
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day, standing about, what is it for?
One day less to be living
At the end of the day you're another day colder
And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill
And the righteous hurry past
They don't hear the little ones crying
And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill
One day nearer to dying
[WOMEN & MEN (overlapping)]
At the end of the day there's another day dawning
And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise
Like the waves crash on the sand
Like a storm that'll break any second
There's a hunger in the land
There's a reckoning still to be reckoned
And there's gonna be hell to pay
At the end of the day
[FOREMAN]
At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing
Sitting flat on your bum doesn't buy any bread
[MALE WORKER]
There are children back at home
And the children have got to be fed
And you're lucky to be in a job
[WOMAN #1]
And in a bed
[BOTH]
And we're counting our blessings!
[WOMAN #2]
Have you seen how the foreman is fuming today?
With his terrible breath and his wandering hands?
[WOMAN #3]
It's because little Fantine won't give him his way
[WOMAN #1]
Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands!
[WOMEN & MEN (overlapping)]
At the end of the day it's another day over
With enough in your pocket to last for a week
Pay the landlord, pay the shop
Keep on grafting as long as you're able
Keep on grafting till you drop
Or it's back to the crumbs on the table
You've got to pay your way
At the end of the day!
[WOMAN #1]
Now what have we here, little innocent sister?
Come on Fantine, let's have all the news!
"Dear Fantine, you must send us more money
Your child needs a doctor
There's no time to lose"
[VALJEAN]
What is this fighting all about?
Will someone tear these two apart?
What is this fighting all about?
This is a factory, not a circus
Now come on ladies, settle down
I run a business of repute
I am the Mayor of this town
I'll look to you to sort this out
And be as patient as you can
[FOREMAN]
Now someone say how this began
[WOMAN #1]
At the end of the day she's the one who began it
There's a kid that she's hiding in some little town
There's a man she has to pay
You can guess how she picks up the extra
You can bet she's earning her keep sleeping around
And the boss wouldn't like it
[FANTINE]
Yes, it's true there's a child and the child is my daughter
And her father abandoned us, leaving us flat
Now she lives with an innkeeper, man and his wife
And I pay for the child
What's the matter with that?
[WOMEN (overlapping)]
At the end of the day she'll be nothing but trouble
And there's trouble for all when there's trouble for one
While we're earning our daily bread
She's the one with her hands in the butter
You must send the slut away
Or we're all gonna end in the gutter
And it's us who'll have to pay
At the end of the day
[FOREMAN]
I might have known the bitch could bite
I might have known the cat had claws
I might have guessed your little secret
Ah, yes, the virtuous Fantine
Who keeps herself so pure and clean
You'd be the cause I had no doubt
Of any trouble hereabout
You play a virgin in the light
But need no urgin' in the night
[WOMAN #1]
She's been laughing at you
While she's having her men
[WOMEN]
She'll be nothing but trouble again and again
[WOMAN #1]
You must sack her today
[WOMEN]
Sack the girl today
[FOREMAN]
Right, my girl. On your way!

[@susanwesson1841]

Suse!! Oh, I wish we had video like this from our Toronto company. Wonderful. Thanks for sharing!

[@lamisere8337]

This is a great video. The quality is amazing as it's a proshot. Very rare a video of this quality of the original production as it was first introduced to the world without ANY alterations. Plenty of good quality videos exist of the production post the numerous cuts and the Broadway 10th anniversary alterations (very minor and all of them only made the show better like the lighting for this number). However, those of us who have seen this show live onstage know very well that this show has a magic to it that has never, can't ever be replicated via video no matter how great the video is. There's an amazing quality video of the London production from 2014 uploaded on here and it's as good of quality as you can ever hope for but even that fails to capture the experience of seeing this production live onstage. I wish there was a way of describing it but there isn't. But I will once again try my best to give an idea to those who have never seen the beautiful original production.
No matter how many times I've seen it, the very beginning when the convicts are coming in and you see them behind that scrim and when that scrim rises, It always shocks me how amazing the show looks and how majestic and very theatrical the surrounding set looks, which gives the entire stage an incredible atmospheric grit that is present throughout the show. On video, it just looks like Les Mis is a very dark show with little color and mostly bland, sparse scenes. People have even called the original a "black box" production, something i disagree with tremendously. The way the action onstage contrasts with the grey, dilapidated set always there looming in an almost cartoonish way with how it was designed to exaggerate the perspectives to make it appear like it's all nearly about to collapse in on itself barely being held up by those huge wooden beams, is stunning. It truly looks like a living painting especially during scenes like "Lovely Ladies" and the barricade scenes ("Drink With Me," "A Little Fall of Rain," "Bring Him Home," etc..). David Hersey, the lighting designer, achieved a similar beauty with the way he lit the original production of Evita, making all the action "pop", almost looking surreal. This is why I describe seeing the original as "dreaming with my eyes open."
If I were to name the video that comes the absolute closest to recreating even a semblance of the original on video, it would be tough because every video has at least a scene or two that reminds me of when I've seen it live but if I had to name one it would probably be the proshot Argentinian production and the 2008 Rotterdam bootleg both of which give as much as the show on video could possibly ever give of the live experience. But even those aren't like seeing it live obviously. Nothing on video is but that's especially true with this show far more than others. For example, Phantom has plenty of videos that give a very good idea of how it is to see the show live. When you see the show live onstage, it is obviously far more exciting but on video you get the gist of the live, physical show, its set, lighting, etc... with Les Mis, the video versions are ridiculously inaccurate representations of the live experience. That was one of the things (of many) that made me loath the new 25th anniversary production; all that magic taken away and replaced with something so insignificant and common yet sold as an improvement over and an "upgrade" to the timeless, masterfully staged original. I get red in the face talking about it to this day. I might never get over what Cameron Mackintosh has done to the show out of plain greed.
Even numbers like "What Have I Done," with Valjean lit by a couple of spotlights was nothing like it is on video where it looks like Valjean just in pitch darkness. Live, you see Valjean and that towering monster of a set in the background providing an atmosphere rich in detail and infuses every scene with an epic sense and "feel." And it's pure magic when the sets shuttered windows glow warmly during "Look Down" and especially "On My Own."
I'd continue on with a word or two about the new orchestrations but I not in the mood of turning dark purple and saying passionately angry and mournful things about the music of a musical and how it has changed into something bland and annoyingly inferior to what was created by John Cameron. I will just say a big Thank You to John for what he gifted this musical with that stays with me to this day and makes me yearn to hear it live in a theatre once again someday but will likely never come to be as that has been permanently replaced by the new orchestration which I dislike so much, I can't listen to.
Such First World problems, eh? Whatever it is, it still sucks but I maintain hope that Mackintosh will someday be touched by an angel and decide to bring back the original on tour, at least for a limited time. Sigh.

[@bookemdano7567]

Everything you’ve said is so true!! I was blown away when I first saw Les Mis in Boston back in 1989. It was playing for 4 months and I went back once a month to see it. Since then, I’ve seen the show 30+ times ( I’ve lost count lol!) Between Boston, New York, London, FT. Lauderdale and Orlando. Nothing will compare to the first 10 years of the show. I hated the 15 minutes of edits they made, starting on their 10th anniversary. Yeah, they added an edited version of the well scene, which is nice, but, not necessary, especially at the expense of editing other songs. Now I find the newer productions are over sung ( like they are auditioning for American Idol) and rushed through. And the new 25th anniversary production is crap! It is NOWHERE near as good as the original staging. It’s such a downgrade! And Cameron Mackintosh should be embarrassed. And as many things wrong with the new production as there are…. The biggest one for me is the electric lamps hanging over the worker women’s table in the At The End Of The Day number!! I am beyond irritated at this!! They didn’t have electric lamps in 1823 France! It was the first thing that caught my eye when I saw this production. Who didn’t do their homework?? At $150 a ticket, I expect more. It’s just plain sloppy and lazy and shame on everyone involved!

[@kaceeconklin2330]

A little out of order but glad to find them.