Les Miserables: One Thread More!

[Gort Baringa]

Sorry Pink Ranger, still it would be strange TO ME.

I would rather something be portrayed as 'correct' rather than 'politically correct!'

It is like the portrayal of the children in the workhouse in the musical Oliver. I have seen clips where the kids are all races and also girls in what was a boys' workhouse in Charles Dickens' England. Immediately I get distracted from the story.

Sorry.

 

[Schlosser85]

Just came home from my second viewing of Les Mis, btw.

Took a friend to see it, he loved it, found it a little emotionally overwhelming though (in a good way).

 

[JP]

Sorry Pink Ranger, still it would be strange TO ME.

I would rather something be portrayed as 'correct' rather than 'politically correct!'

It is like the portrayal of the children in the workhouse in the musical Oliver. I have seen clips where the kids are all races and also girls in what was a boys' workhouse in Charles Dickens' England. Immediately I get distracted from the story.

Sorry.

And I'm sorry, but this is BS if you have no problems with Lea Salonga, or the fact that every character has a British accent, despite being French. Or the fact that every stage Valjean has had a beard, when rich men of Valjean's stature never wore beards in that time period.

 

[Gort Baringa]

Didn't know that about beards and rich French men. Sorry you think it is BS that I had no problem with Lea Salonga.

And the only way I would consider seeing a real opera is if it was spoken in English! I understand English; I don't understand Italian, German, or whatever. I have heard that Les Miz and Phantom of the Opera are indeed operas, so if this is true then I have seen operas - but I am not happily prepared to see the character in them portrayed incorrectly.

 

[danoyse]

Sorry Pink Ranger, still it would be strange TO ME.

I would rather something be portrayed as 'correct' rather than 'politically correct!'

It is like the portrayal of the children in the workhouse in the musical Oliver. I have seen clips where the kids are all races and also girls in what was a boys' workhouse in Charles Dickens' England. Immediately I get distracted from the story.

Sorry.

At the only stage production of Oliver I've seen, the Artful Dodger was played by a girl. She was great. Hell, even the little Cosettes in Les Mis understudy Gavroche in the stage version.

What difference does it make? Oliver is one of my favorite musical movies. But the importance of the workhouse in the story was that it was awful, not what the races and genders of the kids were. The kids in the movie were all white boys, but the clips I've seen from the two more recent London revivals (I believe one included Daniel Huttlestone from Les Mis) showed a more diverse cast and it was fine. If they're talented, and the integrity of the story is intact, it shouldn't matter.

Oliver is the very first Broadway show that my mom ever saw. It turned her into the musical fan she is today...but not once has she ever gone on about the races or genders of the kids. The music, the story, seeing it performed live...she goes on about that all the time. But the only disappointment that I've ever heard her express about the current version was how we just missed getting a chance to see it when we were in London.

 

[Gort Baringa]

Guys, it must be only me who feels this way!

Heck, I am still having a bit of trouble accepting a blond James Bond. Not the way Fleming wrote it!

(Daniel Craig is good though)

 

[Anita18]

Didn't know that about beards and rich French men. Sorry you think it is BS that I had no problem with Lea Salonga.

And the only way I would consider seeing a real opera is if it was spoken in English! I understand English; I don't understand Italian, German, or whatever. I have heard that Les Miz and Phantom of the Opera are indeed operas, so if this is true then I have seen operas - but I am not happily prepared to see the character in them portrayed incorrectly.

Um, Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera are not operas, they're musicals. Real opera singers scoff at them.

That's the thing. To sing REAL opera, professionally, you have to be immensely skilled. Back in the day they didn't use mics (mics didn't exist), and they had to sing in huge concert halls and be heard up in the boonies. Without mics. Even though mics are used now to some degree, they still train the same technique. It takes years more training to sing opera than to sing in musical theater. Thus, there are less people available to play the parts.

And if the opera company is foreign, they have to be a little more flexible with casting. I saw the Italian opera Tosca in Taiwan, and everyone was Asian. Obviously.

Also, traditional opera is almost never in English, because all the classical ones are written in Italian. Now if you go to an opera, they have giant screens on both sides of the stage, with subtitles. Given the way opera is sung, you wouldn't understand it if it were in English anyway.

 

[The Guard]

It's hard to act much in the concert setting.

Huh?

 

[johnrain]

When is Glee going to do some songs from this musical?

 

[Anita18]

Huh?

I presume he means being stuck standing at a mic on a mic stand on one spot on the stage. You can only act with your face and hands, as opposed to using more of the stage and general body movements. You can only do so much....

 

[JP]

Huh?

They're performing the show (albeit with a lot of scenes cut) while standing still in front of a microphone. They're not actually acting the roles out. Sure, they're in costume, but that's it. In the 10th anniversary they actually put text up on the screen to explain what was happening, which they didn't do in the 25th, which is why if you're not already familiar with the show you have no idea what's going on.

 

[The Guard]

It's just that the statement made was that it's hard to act much in a concert setting. It's quite possible to act while standing in place, and possible to use your entire body to do so, not just your face and hands. It's not really inherently any harder than when you can move about, and in fact it might be less so. You can very much act the roles as you sing even if you're standing still, and many of the actors did just that, in both the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts, and in concert versions of other musicals.

Also, by definition, aren't musicals a type of opera?

 

[JP]

It's just that the statement made was that it's hard to act much in a concert setting. It's quite possible to act while standing in place, and possible to use your entire body to do so, not just your face and hands. It's not really inherently any harder than when you can move about, and in fact it might be less so. You can very much act the roles as you sing even if you're standing still, and many of the actors did just that, in both the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts, and in concert versions of other musicals.

It's still incredibly restricting when you're singing a song that is a part of a scene with movement, but all you really have to do is stand there and look at the audience.

It would be like watching a group of actors stand in front of mics and recite the lines to a movie.

 

[Quasimod0]

What are everybodys top 5 favorite songs?

 

[JP]

What are everybodys top 5 favorite songs?

I've come to the realization that it depends on who's singing what.

 

[Quasimod0]

I've come to the realization that it depends on who's singing what.

top 5 songs from the film, by the actors. lol

 

[JP]

top 5 songs from the film, by the actors. lol

Hahahaha! Forgot what thread this is for a sec.


1. Soliloquy
2. I Dreamed a Dream
3. Empty Chairs

These three are forever changing.

4. On My Own
5. One Day More

 

[Quasimod0]

Awesome picks. I'd probably choose
1. Soliloquy
2. I Dreamed a Dream
3. Red and black
4. Empty chairs
5. One day more

 

[JP]

Red and Black

 

[CapedCrusader14]

No particular order:

Look Down (Work Song)
Valjean's Soliloquy
I Dreamed A Dream
The Confrontation
One Day More

 

[DACrowe]

Yes indeed Norm Lewis was great as Javert . . . but I am just not all that great at suspending realism!

And Lea Salonga, if you google her images, could pass as a European in many of the photos. Check out Wikipedia: Filipino People, and read that many have a strong Spanish heritage and a lot of the Filipinos don't have the traditional 'Asian' appearance. I loved Lea as Eponine in the 10th Anniversary concert, and also thought that Ruthie Henshall was absolutely marvelous in that same show as Fantine.

I am sorry but that is just silly. Lea Salonga is clearly Asian. If you are going to say that Norm Lewis cannot play Javert because of his race, then you cannot accept Lea Salonga as either Fantine or Eponine. Cannot have it both ways.

 

[Earthland]

Who is Brett Ratner and what were you hinting at?

10th anniversary concert had some problems, yes, but THAT CAST ...

 

[Kansiov]

What are everybodys top 5 favorite songs?

Before the movie:

1. Javert's [BLACKOUT]Suicide[/BLACKOUT]
2. Valjean's Soliloquy
3. Stars
4. One Day More
5. Bring Him Home

After the Movie:

1. I Dreamed a Dream
2. Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
3. Valjean's Epilogue
4. Valjean's Soliloquy
5. Red and Black

 

[Pink Ranger]

Who is Brett Ratner and what were you hinting at?

10th anniversary concert had some problems, yes, but THAT CAST ...

Brett Ratner is the director of Rush Hour 1-3, Red Dragon, X-men 3, etc.

Basically, he's a hack that makes Michael Bay look like an artist. I feel that Tom Hooper gets the same kind of results, albeit with more high-quality and intelligent material.

 

[CGHulk]

Who is Brett Ratner and what were you hinting at?

10th anniversary concert had some problems, yes, but THAT CAST ...

My favorites from the 10th

Ruthie Henshall - Fantine
Jenny Galloway - Madame Thénardier
Alun Armstrong - Thénardier
Michael Ball - Marius
Philip Quast - Javert
Judy Kuhn -Cosette

My favorites from the 25th

Alfie Bo -Jean Valjean
Samantha Barks -Eponine
Ramin Karimloo -Enjolras