ON STAGE

"Les Miserables." Theater of the Stars, Fox Theatre. Through Sept. 28. 404-817-8700, ticketmaster.com

I've seen "Les Miserables" about 18 times since the late 1980s. I'm not saying that makes me an expert —- just a fanatic.

For years, while I was living in New York, I always seemed to have "Les Miserables" tickets in my pocket. I exercised to the music, I vacuumed the house to it, and I took lessons to sing the songs, which created a misery all its own for my girlfriend.

There was a time I envisioned a "Les Miserables" cable channel, playing day and night. The channel would air the musical often, as well as live feeds from productions around the world. Hosts would talk to the stars and experts about that period in French history, the religious overtones of the characters, and so on.

That's why seeing the latest production running at the Fox Theatre was so gratifying. You see, I had stopped seeing the show in recent years. The production, I felt, had gone stale. Performers were no longer delivering the level of commitment and quality that this kind of epic requires.

But the thrill is back. This is a shaken up, stripped down and revitalized "Les Miz."

The Atlanta production has taken away much of the huge stage trappings. Some critics had blasted "Les Miz" as among the stage behemoths of the 1980s —- along with "Phantom of the Opera" and "Cats" —- that depended more on stagecraft than quality.

Now, with the gadgets removed, the songs of the show truly shine, as well as the performances. Rob Evan brings just the right emotional brawn to the lead role of Jean Valjean, the convict who breaks parole and turns his life around. Robert Hunt as Javert —- the grim, unforgiving policeman who chases Valjean through the years —- is just right: obsessed but never evil.

After almost 20 years of seeing this musical, I sense that it is being passed to a new generation. Some of these actors were only kids when "Les Miz" started, and this is the kind of a show that, once experienced, can inspire a young person to get into musical theater.

From the staging on down, I had the feeling that this "Les Miz" invited taking chances. The character of Fantine, the tragic single mother traditionally played by a blonde, was played by an African-American woman, Nikki Renee Daniels. Jenny Fellner, the young woman playing the street waif Eponine, made the character a bit edgier and a little more punk.

All that said, this isn't the greatest "Les Miz" I've ever seen. That may have been the first one, which sent me into the street spellbound and transported, filled with a sense of promise and mystery.

This time, I didn't really care for the new illustrations projected on the back of the stage, which I felt closed in the production. And I missed the turntable and moving barricade, which added wonderful cinematic effects.

Most importantly, when "Les Miz" is done just right, ending with the entire cast singing of hope for future generations, the show stirs the great possibilities of the human spirit. This show reached many levels of magic, but it did not hit me on that level as strong as some other performances.

Still, I may see it again this week.

Craig Schneider is public health reporter for the Journal-Constitution.