Similarly, I see what Hooper was trying to do with Confrontation - break it up and make it less stagey - but I found that the action actually robs the scene of its tension. I liked it better when it was two men standing by Fantine's deathbed singing over each other. And I know they probably wanted to avoid people missing Javert's backstory but I've always liked the way they're too busy threatening each other to listen. ("You know nothing of Javert/I was born inside a jail/I was born with scum like you/I am from the gutter too" properly goes with "I am warning you Javert/There is nothing I won't dare/If I have to kill you here/I'll do what must be done." Come to think of it, it's also a shame to lose the one instance of Valjean actually threatening to kill Javert.)

I found the staging of that particular line really valuable - I'd never previously caught that line and having it hammered home really helped it get through what is usually a big musical muddle (the chorister in me hates it when different lines are sung over each other :P). As a result, I've got a much better perspective on Javert's character and anyway, I've never read musical!Javert as actually willing to kill Javert. So losing that line, while a pity, probably just takes out a bluff.

But then my version is the French-language version so I'm clearly a heathen anyway :P