Not as good as expected

I was invited by a freind to see Les Mis for his 18th Birthday. From hearing about it from families and freinds about how good it was, and from hearing some of the songs, i wanted to see it, however i was slightly disappointed with the production.

First of all, the CONS.
I never reliased it was one long song, There was very little spoken dialogue at all, the exception being a few words during the show.
The story is set in early 19th century France, so I was expecting French accents and more staging and props which were from the time, however a lot of the songs were sang with English and sometimes Cockney (Londoner) accents, and the scenery also looked more 19th Century England. This made the production feel more like watching Oliver!
In regards to Queens Theatre itself, I am 6ft 3in, and I felt "boxed in" in the seats in the upper circle, which made watching the show quite an uncorfatble experience, I think that because it is an old theatre, and is rather small, it was not designed for tall people like myself :)
One final point, I am not sure of it is just when you sit in the upper circle, however a lot of the time, you saw the cast walk off the stage at the end of a scene. For example when Mauris is killed in the fighting scene, they turned the set round, and I got a glimpse of his back as he got up and left the stage.

However there were some PROS.
The cast were very good, they were in tune and quite a few had very strong voices. The songs were excellent, and some have stuck in my head.
The special effects, and the lighting created a very good and strong atmosphere, and was well designed and well executed.

Overall, the production is a very emotional and strong scene of the history of France, however it would of felt more genuine if the cast acted more french, and the desginers made the props and staging more Parisian and French.