Damn their warnings, damn their lies. Signature Theater has proven that it doesn’t take a turntable stage and a National Tour to produce a dazzling and, more importantly, individualized production of one of the theater’s most beloved musicals, Les Miserables.

The company is only the second theater to stage a regional production of the ubiquitous musical, now that the rights are available for more than just a touring show to grace local stages. And director Eric Schaeffer has made this show his own, with bloodier battles, breathtaking lighting courtesy of Mark Lanks, and a much more intimate relationship with the audience, who are right on top of these anguished and triumphant performers.

It’s clear from the beginning that this is no retread. Dingy costumes and shadowy makeup make this the ugliest set of poor French souls “one day nearer to dying.” Ominous hanging chairs will immediately put any audience familiar with the show in a mindset of the terrible sacrifice of the revolutionaries, and the props are cleverly worked into the opening scene, set in a jail. The choreography almost seems to thrust the chorus into the audience, having us confront the emotions on their faces in a much more direct fashion than we’re accustomed.