Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Light of Rebellion Ablaze in Their Eyes: My PO On the Les Miz Movie Cast


Warning: excessively picture-heavy post to follow.  Proceed at your own risk.

The first time I ever followed a movie's production progress was when Samantha: An American Girl Holiday came out in 2004.  I checked the American Girl website nearly every day, scrutinized every movie still that was released, watched and re-watched the trailer every time I was allowed to use the computer.  The Felicity movie came out the year after that, and though I wasn't quite as excited as I'd been the first time (was anyone else just a bit peeved that the Samantha movie didn't follow the books more closely?), I kept up with that film's progress as well.  The same went for Molly and Kit, and then American Girl stopped making historical movies and I stopped keeping up with movie productions.  

Then my eleventh-grade World Literature class introduced me to Les Miserables in January of this year.  I read the book.  I listened to four different recordings of the musical and watched both concerts.  And I thrilled to my fingertips when I found out that Cameron Mackintosh was superintending a big-screen adaptation of the musical, to be released this December.

That's only a little over three months away.  
Are you excited yet?

So, in honor of the forthcoming event (about which I am insanely excited, as you may or may not have gathered already) I'm dumping my personal opinion regarding the movie cast onto all you lovely readers.  Comments are always encouraged on my blog, naturally, but I would especially love to hear your own PO's on this topic today!

(Oh, and before I begin I should just say that I have mixed feelings about quite a few members of the cast-- I've compiled my own Dream Movie Cast, but I'm not listing those people here for sake of space.  If anyone's interested in seeing the dream cast, I'll make another post for that one.)


Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean

Let's get this out in the open here and now-- I was definitely not thrilled when I heard that some random movie star was playing Jean Valjean on the big screen.  I'd hoped for a Broadway name, someone who could really sing and sing well.  After all, this movie is pioneering the new technique of having all the singing recorded live on-set instead of in a studio.  There's no option of having a voice dubbed.  And since Valjean's part is incredibly vocally demanding, I wasn't at all sure Jackman could pull it off.  I'm still not sure, but I'm a lot more confident than I was at the beginning.  Apparently he's played the leads in Oklahoma! and Carousel in Australia as well as several other shows in the U.S.  So he's not a stranger to the world of musicals, but then again, there's a huge difference between playing Curly or Billy and playing Valjean.  ("Surrey With the Fringe On Top" isn't exactly of the same caliber as "Bring Him Home.")  


As far as appearances go... eh, well, he has the starved convict look, all right.  But I've been accustomed to seeing more robust Valjeans, and Jackman struck me right off the bat as being too skinny (not to mention way too young) for the role.  Seeing production stills of him in full costume have helped somewhat, but I'm still a little unsure.  After all, Valjean is noted for being this enormously powerful man with strength way beyond his age (er, way below his age?).  He also happens to go from age 40-ish to his mid-60's throughout the course of the story, and from the pictures I've seen so far, Jackman doesn't look much older at the end than he does in the beginning (if indeed the pictures I saw WERE from the end).  We'll just have to wait and see.



Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert

Really, the big question here is "can this guy sing?"  Because as far as looks go, he is Javert to a T.  This is the man I pictured when I read the book, and even though Philip Quast quickly replaced that mental image when I saw the 10th concert, I'm still very pleased with Crowe's appearance.  But again, Javert is a really difficult singing role.  "Stars" isn't the kind of song that can just be floundered through, and though I did listen to a clip on YouTube of his singing voice, the song wasn't.... uh... Les Miz material.  It's one thing to belt out a rock-and-roll number with electric guitar in the background and another thing entirely to do justice to the "no way to go onnnnnnnnnnnn!" at the end of "Javert's Suicide."


I'm also anxious to see how Crowe and Jackman interact with each other as Javert and Valjean.  I read an article that said Jackman had requested to re-shoot some of the confrontation scenes with Crowe near the beginning because he was having so much fun hitting him.  ....Um, okay.  I'm really hoping this doesn't mean that they're playing up the violence in the first half of the film.  Doesn't "The Confrontation" have enough angry tension in just the lyrics to get the meaning across?  I'm not opposed to seeing Valjean punch out Javert, of course, since that's in the original story (even though I'm not a fan of violence in movies--had a hard time with that scene in the mill in North and South) but I do hope they don't overdo it.


Anne Hathaway as Fantine

Here was at least one actress whose name I recognized-- though from seeing her in bits and snippets of The Princess Diaries (and her role in Nicholas Nickleby, which from what I hear wasn't too accurate to the book), I couldn't quite fathom her as Fantine.  Then came the trailer, and I have to say I was MAJORLY impressed. Her voice isn't as strong as I might have liked, but hey, Fantine is supposed to be a broken character who's been completely trodden down by the life that killed the dream she dreamed.  She's not an opera diva.  

The only other complaint I might have had about Hathaway's portrayal is that she's not blonde, and the book very specifically says Fantine is blonde-- but Lea Salonga isn't blonde either and nobody complains about that.  She just has to have gorgeous hair, and from what I can see, she does.


Eddie Redmayne as Marius

Ah, yes, Marius Pontmercy himself, the heartthrob of the barricade, the guy who is reportedly so good-looking that all the girls turn to sigh after him in the street (according to the book)... played by a fellow whom my sister and I have rather uncharitably dubbed Signor Monkeyface.

Ahem.
While I still don't understand why one of the dozens of much more aesthetically pleasing Broadway actors out there couldn't have been chosen for the part, I'm actually really liking what I've seen of Redmayne's Marius.  In the trailer, I got goosebumps during that sweeping shot of him on the barricade, and the scene where he and Cosette meet for the first time? Cuteness!  In all of two seconds!  I think he might do a good job of bringing out Marius' youthfulness and naivete, something that's kind of hard to convey in a concert (Michael Ball was amazing, but he only had so much stage time to work with, and do not mention that Jonas kid to me at this time).  Also, he sings amazingly.  I heard a bit of a choral piece he did on YouTube and it was fantastic.  So "Empty Chairs" should be great.



Amanda Seyfried as Cosette Tholomyes (Fauchelevent? Which IS it?)

Another blonde Cosette-- hmm, do I see a parallel with the 25th anniversary concert?  I actually don't have any problem at all with Cosette being blonde, because I pictured her as blonde when I read the book (though I've heard since then that she's supposed to be a brunette).  This actress definitely looks pretty and innocent enough to be Valjean's slightly airheaded adopted daughter, but the big question is... wow, you guessed it!  Can she handle the singing?  Cosette is a very challenging soprano part, and that ending bit of "A Heart Full of Love" is definitely not for a beginner.  Amanda Seyfried has apparently taken voice lessons and been in a couple of musicals (sing ho for IMDb, isn't it wonderfully useful?) but that doesn't necessarily mean she's ready to take on Cosette.  I do like what I've seen of her in the trailer, though it bugged me a wee bit that her hair's down in the run-into-Marius sequence.   Maybe the style's just meant to represent her youth, but it seems to me that a girl in her mid-to-late teens would have had her hair up in 1832.


(I happen to be a really big fan of Keep Calm posters, and this one cracked me up.  YAY!)


Samantha Barks as Eponine Thenardier

Words can't express how happy I am with this casting choice.  Eponine is one of my top three favorite characters in Les Miz, and it's really important to me that she be played well.  And Samantha Barks did an outstanding job in the 25th concert.  The only thing that would be better than Barks playing Eponine would be if someone put Lea Salonga in a time machine... ah well.  Anyways, I'm greatly anticipating this performance at least-- and hopefully "Little Fall of Rain" will be MUCH better than it was in 25th.  Plus, since the movie is a movie (thank you, my dear) and not a stage musical (thank you again, dahling, they never would have known that, what on earth WOULD we do without you...) and projection isn't such an issue, she might not be so tempted to belt out "On My Own."  *ducks as Samantha Barks fans begin throwing tomatoes*  Stop, stop, I'm sorry!  She's an amazing actress and a great singer!  I just felt that she could have been a little more gentle with "On My Own" in 25th, okay?  Okay. 


And while we're on the Samantha Barks topic, I might add that her obvious enthusiasm for the part is HUGE plus.  Did anyone else see the video in which Cameron Mackintosh tells her she's going to be Eponine?  That was pretty much my reaction when I found out she had the part... rumors had been flying about Taylor Swift playing Eponine, and, well, let's just say I was quite pleased with how it all turned out. 


Aaron Tveit as Enjolras

With all due respect to Victor Hugo and his preference as to Enjolras' hair color, I firmly maintain that Enjo is not blonde.  NOT.  BLONDE.   Nor, I might point out, is Aaron Tveit.   He's wearing a wig in this picture, and not a particularly flattering one at that.  Both amazing Les Miz concerts featured dark-haired Enjolras, and though I'm not going to go into a tirade about how a certain actor who recently portrayed Enjo would be SO MUCH better for the part, I will say that I'm not very pleased with the wig.  Or the apparent lack of the Red Vest of Power and Awesomeness.  (Let's just hope it appears on the actual barricades... these photos may be from "Red and Black.")  However, Aaron Tveit is a seasoned Broadway performer and will probably do a good job with his songs. Though I still say nobody does "at the barricades of freedooooooooom" like Ramin Kar--okay, I'm stopping.



For some reason I'm also slightly annoyed by the fact that Marius is taller than Enjolras... it could be the way they're standing, of course, and I do tend to be overly picky about things like that.  But where, where, WHERE is the vest of power??? *weeps*


Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette

Young Cosette really doesn't have a whole lot to do in the movie except look cute and terrified and squeak out a few bars of "Castle on a Cloud", but Isabelle Allen looks pretty promising and she actually resembles Amanda Seyfried.  Which is more than Mia Jenkins did in the 25th concert... she and Katie Hall look nothing alike.


Claude-Michel Schonberg has apparently written a new song for the film, "Suddenly," sung by Valjean and Cosette after he rescues her from the Thenardiers.  I'm hoping it's up to par with the other songs in the film-- I'm sure it will be, though, since the original composer is doing it.  Maybe this picture is from that scene?


Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche Thenardier

I can't say I'm completely thrilled with this casting choice, because Huttlestone strikes me as being a little too young and cutesy for the part of Gavroche.  Gavroche is supposed to be a tough kid of the streets, not some adorable little boy with missing teeth.  But Huttlestone's played Gavroche on the West End in the past, as well as the Artful Dodger in Oliver!, so we know he can sing.  To be honest, I haven't yet seen a Gavroche who perfectly fits my image of the character.  Ross McCall in the 1988 Complete Symphonic Recording is the best I've heard so far, but he'd be way too old now and I don't even know what he looks like.

This shot is actually from Les Miz's 2011 West End run, with Fra Fee as Marius (that's him on the right), who incidentally is playing Courfeyrac in the movie.  Yay for stage performer cameos!

And speaking of which...


Colm Wilkinson as Bishop Myriel

Okay, so not the best picture (this is a shot taken off-set), but who cares? LET'S TURN SOMERSAULTS! Colm Wilkinson's in the movie!!!!

I was more thrilled about this casting choice than with any of the others, even Samantha Barks as Eponine.  The sad truth is that Colm's too old now to handle the entire role of Jean Valjean (even though he's the best and only Valjean ever in the history of musical theater, world without end, amen) but I'm SO pleased that he's been given at least a small part in the movie.  And the Bishop has some pretty heavy-duty singing to do in the beginning, so this should be outstanding.


Other familiar names from various stage productions are making an appearance in smaller parts as well-- Killian Donnelly is going to be Combeferre, Frances Ruffelle is playing the head Lovely Lady (ahem), Katie Hall and Adam Searles will be extras in crowd scenes and Hadley Fraser is going to be the Army Captain of the National Guard!  (I'm much too excited about that last one.  Heh.  "Give up your guns or die... that's all I ask of you!"  Okay, moving on.)



It looks like the movie is also going to include several little details from the book that didn't make it into the stage musical for practical reasons-- Gavroche's elephant, for instance.  (Yay!)  The whole scope of this movie is just going to be so much bigger and more impressive than anything that could be conveyed in a stage play or concert.  (I still love you, 10th.  You're still the best.  This just might be... second best.)


Somewhere beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing, say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring when tomorrow comes!

What are your thoughts on the upcoming movie?  What did I leave out in this post?  What's your opinion of the cast?  Who might you have chosen for the parts? And why on earth isn't Samantha Barks on that movie poster instead of Amanda Seyfried?  Leave a comment, do!


Also... this happens to be my 200th blog post!  I forgot to say anything at the 100 mark, so I'm saying something now.  Shall I throw confetti or would you prefer not to have the mess everywhere?

20 comments:

Arielle Melody Bailey said...

YAY!!!!!!! I saw the title of this post, and immediately pulled up the comment form so I can comment as I read!

(NOTE: if I'm making my comments too long, let me know and I'll email you all my gushing over Les Mis instead.)

LOVE the header picture!!!!

I haven't seen the Samantha movie, but I did see the Felicity movie, and I wasn't very impressed.

Am I excited??!! Does the sun rise in the east??!! :)

PLEASE post your Movie Dream Cast! As I go deeper and deeper into the book, I've been thinking of my own Dream Cast....

Yeah, I thought Jackman was too skinny, too.

I'm really looking forward to Anne Hathaway's performance. I too, have seen clips of her in The Princess Diaries and also Ella Enchanted and I was wondering how well she would nail the part of Fantine. Then I saw the trailer and heard her sing I Dreamed A Dream and went, "She's good!" Although I would have liked a blonde Fantine (I'm fussy about movies being as accurate to the book as possible) I think Anne would have looked odd in a blonde wig.

Signor Monkeyface???? Heehee. My first complaint with him was that he doesn't have the jet black hair Marius is supposed to have nor did he fit my mental image of Marius AT ALL. Then I saw him in action. I think he'll be a very good, if not a great Marius.

Have you seen this video of him on the barricade yet? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-B7RBVbntM&feature=youtu.be

SAMANTHA BARKS!!!!!!!!!!! NO ONE else could have played this part. (At least, without a time machine.) She is the BEST Eponine at this time. I had seen the video with her reaction and loved it! (Thank the stars Taylor Swift didn't get it!!)

Eponine is one of your top 3 favorite characters? Are Valjean and Enjolras the other 2?

Enjo is not blonde? Heehee. I spend half my time picturing him as blonde, thanks to the book, and the other half picturing him as RK. :) I'm really hoping Aaron Tveit does at least a decent job of Enjolras. He is my second favorite character in the story, and I'm going to be very fussy about how he is portrayed. And I agree, NO ONE sings the part like RK, (although I do like Michael Maguire).

YES!!!!!! I can no picture no other person as the Bishop now. I love it that Colm is playing him, even though the Bishop is only in the first part of the story, he is one of the most important people, because without him, there would be no Valjean. A fitting tribute to the man who created the role of Valjean on the stage.

'Give up your guns or die,... that's all I ask of you????' Now I can't stop laughing!

My dear girl, it is your 200th post and it is about Les Mis. Haul out the confetti by the bucketloads!!! Congratulations!

With all those cameos, which I am very pleased about, I am definitely going to be playing 'spot the actor' the second time I watch the movie! (The first time I'll be cheering or fuming about what they got right or not.)

Yay again for a great post , Amy!!!

Elizabeth said...

Wheeeee! I LOVED all the pictures you put up! And It was SO cute that the announcer guy actually picked Samantha Barks up in the video of her getting the part! And I agree strongly on the section on Enjolras's hair. Congrats on your 200th post! I can't wait til I can be old enough to see this movie.:)

Miss Dashwood said...

Miss Melody Muffin,
Dahling! Please don't ever apologize for long comments. I adore them. The longer the bettter!

I'd actually recommend the Samantha movie--it's not as close to the book as it could have been but it's still a sweet family film and perfect for Christmastime.

Ooh, yes, I forgot about Marius having jet-black hair. I'm willing to overlook that, however, since Michael Ball's is more of a sandy shade... heehee.

I hadn't seen that video yet! How awesome! Haha, did you see Hugh Jackman in the background giving falling-down-dead lessons to one of the students? Thanks so much for the link! Hey, how do you find these videos?

Actually Valjean and Gavroche are the other two favorites, but Enjo, Marius and Fantine are pretty high on the list as well. Javert, too. Let's just say I like almost everyone.

Ha, so glad the POTO reference made you laugh. ;)
Spot the actor the second time around sounds delightful. I'll be doing that, since I'll be too busy alternately swooning and shrieking the first time around...

Molly,
I know, wasn't that cute? And the look on her face!

Miss Dashwood said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirsten Fichter said...

200th post?! Confetti, confetti everywhere!!!!! I don't mind the mess. ;)

As I haven't read the book (I'm trying to read through all of Dickens right now, so I'm forcing myself to focus on those and nothing else; I'm so hard on myself ;) and have only seen one concert and snippets of the best songs from the other one, I can't judge myself a true proficient when it comes to Les Mis. If they mess something up with the plot or dialogue, I wouldn't notice (but I would definitely sympathize with any flaws that my fellow bloggers would lament). Because my family is musical, the thing I would judge would be the music. Ahem, yeah, music and singing in my family is an occupational hazard. But anywho... Music really makes up the movie. And I. Love. The. Music. In. Les. Mis. EPIC!!! I got the piano book out of the library and diligently played through the entire book about twice a day every day for the allotted three week loan period. I know the music, so be sure that I will harshly judge the singers in this movie. But hearing your praise of some of them makes me feel better. :)

Oh, and yes, I, too, closely followed the AG films progress. While I agree they weren't that close to the books, considering what they could have done to wreck the films, they did a pretty good job. Felicity is my favorite, and I confess I liked the different plot of Kit. But now, they're doing Julie as a musical (never liked Julie from the start) and all the modern AG dolls? Really? (cue Lydia's "I want to go to Brighton" tone) I want to see a Kirsten movie!

Kirsten Fichter said...

Oh, and your dream cast -- YES, PLEASE!! :D

Caroline L. said...

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!!! I DID NOT KNOW COLM WAS IN THIS!!! SO. VERY. EXCITED. And I haven't even finished reading your post!

More comments to follow when I do.

Melody said...

Congratulations on your 200th post, dearling!

*smirks*

Hayden said...

I'm still searching for the awesome vest of power.... WHERE IS IT????

Anonymous said...

I didn't pull up the comment form thing at the beginning of the post - to save you from my never-ending comments, why else?! - so you get my second reaction to a lot of it. : D

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean - I can't say if I like him or not b/c I haven't seen/heard him in anything. (Want to really bad now, though!!!) Although, with his kind of HUGE character, you kind of have to take the casting director(s)'s word for it and assume he must be good. (And it goes without say that I have a love-hate relationship with the CD of Les Miz 25th!)

Russell Crowe - Same here. I haven't seen him in anything and I'm taking their word for it that he can do a good job. It's a personal pet peeve of mine that they cast people in musicals who can act but not sing. (Or not act AND not sing, as we saw in the Les Miz 25th because of a person whose initials are Nick Jonas.... *cough, cough*) We'll see in three months, though, won't we?! MAJORLY EXCITED!!!!!

Anne Hathaway - I've seen her in Princess Diaries and... I think that was it. She totally surprised me by her voice in the trailer and I loved it muchly! (And on the hair - what does it matter that it's really pretty? She cut it off! In real life!)

Eddie Redmayne - (Heh, heh... cracking up that he has a Blondmayne, not a Redmayne. Heehee...) Signor Monkeyface indeed!! I can't wait to see his portrayal of Marius - I'm thinking it's going to be very believable. : )

Amanda Seyfried - Hoping she can do well, too!!! I'm glad she's a blonde, though... goes with her character and all the blonde jokes going around. ("Green side up!") : )

Samantha Barks - SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!

Aaron Tveit - Muchly disappointed that it's not The One With The Sunburst of Awesomness (or whatever it was) and VERY MUCH hope that the Red Vest of Power and Awesomness comes out!!!!!

Isabelle Allen - She looks cute, which is all she needs to do. I'm completely happy with her. : )

Also INSANELY looking forward to "Suddenly" and hoping it's as amazing as I want it to be!!

Daniel Huttlestone - I think I'm going to disagree with you here. He's a street kid, yes, but an adorable one who just feigns knowing everything. And if he was Gavroche on the WEST END and the Artful Dodger - who are, like, the same character, I just like Gavroche a lot better!! - then I really think he'll be able to pull it off. (And adorable little boys are my one weakness....)

COLMWILKINSONWOOT!!!!! That's all I have to say about that.

HADLEY FRASER!!!! "Give up your guns or die... that's all I ask of you!" - L.O.L!!! I can't wait to see him. I'm going to do little shrieks in the theater, I KNOW it! : D MUCHLY can't wait!!!

Gavroche's elephant? Seems I need to get around to reading the book before it comes out. : P (The Hobbit and Les Miz - how on earth am I going to do THAT?!) I so can't wait....

My thoughts are the same as yours (minus the small details on Gavroche), you didn't leave anything out, my opinion is the same as yours (see above), Ramin as Enjo - DUUUH - and I HAVE NO IDEA!! What on earth?! She's such minor character! Number FOUR at the top! Why not have Anne or Daniel or Aaron?! Goodness.... Someone needs to get in touch with the publicity department.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! : ) *tosses confetti up and watches it slowly fall down, thinking it's the same as the Les Miz 10th and muchly excited*

Eowyn

Alexandra said...

Hmm! So you know my opine of this, but since I can always talk Les Miz movie I'll talk it here. :-P

I'm okay with Hugh...I *think* he'll do well (anyone's better than Gerard Butler's Phantom, so I'm totally not complaining here), although the high notes in Bring Him Home are still freaking me out. We shall see. (HOPE THEY DON'T TRANSPOSE IT like they did some songs in the POTO movie. Argh.)

Russell Crowe is the one I'm reallllly worried about. Vocally, I mean. We shall see. As for violent...since it's a movie about a revolution, in my mind I've all ready settled for lots of violence. It's like asking TSP to not show heads cutting off. So I'm just preparing myself for it so as not to be surprised. :-D

Fantine - absolutely THRILLED. While her voice is maybe a bit weaker than I'd like (I prefer a bit angrier/despairing I Dreamed a Dream ending ala Lea or Sierra), I love Anne Hathaway to bits and she does a great job in dramatic roles (while I loved Princess Diaries and Nicholas Nickleby, she won me over in Becoming Jane...fantastic in that role). SO I'm reallly excited about her part. Naturally.

Eddie, Eddie. He doesn't look that bad when his hair isn't so...interesting. My question is how can DT pull off that hair and look amazing and Eddie tries and looks so...Monkeyface? Sigh. Anyway. I am BLOWN AWAY by his AMAZING voice and that totally makes up for any lack of cuteness. Can't wait to hear his Empty Chairs. And he was in a movie with AA. AND DT. So naturally I am willing to forgive whatever mistake in his ancestors' past left him less than amazingly handsome. Hehe.

Amanda is really iffffy. First off, I'm really ticked that they didn't pick an actress that looked more like Anne Hathaway (Emmy Rossum, anyone?! Although since she played a practically identical part all ready I doubt that would have ever happened). And like you said, extremely challenging part. I was shocked to hear she got it (although she looks much more period-drama-ish than when I first heard the news and all I could picture was the heavily-made-up face I was used to seeing on film posters). Anyway....we shall see, I guess. Please don't have a whistling weak higher range or I shall strangle CamMac.

Samantha has really won me over...to be honest I was SO unimpressed by her Eponine the first time I saw the 25th, although I will freely admit that a large part of that had to do with the child they cast as Marius. (Little Fall of Rain?! We *laughed* through it...LAUGHED...which is of course a horrific tragedy.) Anyway, seeing her in other stuff since (Oliver bits, her work on I'd Do Anything) has convinced me that she's really grown and I think will be fantastic with these other actors (But yes...pleassssee don't belt On My Own).

Aaron - I was sooo disappointed. This is the not-so-AA-clone, you know. The guy I cast as Percy's son in the sequel. He isn't that...unattractive in real life. SHEESH, peoples. The hair, what is with the HAIR?! His voice is very Enjo-ish, he'll do well in the role...but RAMIN!!! (There, I said it). Sigh.

I am excited about the cameos (and Frances' role had me snorting wickedly after her major wardrobe malfunction at the 25th)...and of course Colm is TOO AMAZING. Did you see the wee vid clip of him on set I posted on Pinterest a while back?

Anyway. SO EXCITED and it's COMING! Cannot WAIT.

Also. Very much looking forward to the stuff added in. And verrrah interested in hearing the new song. The kiddies are cute, BTW. But I do agree about Gavroche. :-P

Ok, long comment. I leave now.

PS. Did my last post show up on your blogger dashboard? Several people said it didn't on theirs. BLOGGER. :-/

Rachel Heffington said...

Good grief. Am I the only one who had that monkey-face picture of Marius tagged as Enjo? I totally had my casting wrong in my head. At any rate, I don't like the look of that actor. But everyone else is really great, and I'm excited about Russell Crowe after seeing his version of Robin Hood and Master & Commander!

GreenMedallion said...

Hugh Jackman is one of my favorite actors... so I was excited when I heard he was going to be in this movie. I think I've briefly heard him sing, and he's pretty good, but again--the songs in Les Miz are very demanding, and I just hope he can deliver.

As for Anne Hathaway... I'm a little unsure. I still think of her as Mia from Princess Diaries and Ella from Ella Enchanted, having, thus far, only seen her in those movies (oh, ok, well, I've seen her in Nicholas Nickleby too)... So it's still kinda hard for me to imagine her doing a super-dramatic role. I've heard her sing though (she sings in Ella Enchanted) and I personally think she has a beautiful voice. Also, she sounded pretty good in the trailer. But again, we'll have to wait and see.

I'm very happy Samantha Barks is going to be in the movie! Yay! I thought she was terrific in the 25th concert.

Yay! Loved this post! :D

Anonymous said...

Um, YES. I am majorly excited about this movie, as you well know, m'dear Chauvie. =)

I've seen Hugh Jackman in a few films, and I love him as an actor. And once I heard him sing, and he gave me goosebumps. =) So I'm not sold on him as Valjean quite yet, but I'm totally willing to give him a chance. I'm excited to see how he does!

Russell Crowe... NEED. I. SAY. MORE? I am thrilled to pieces at this guy being cast as Javert. Russell Crowe is my FAVORITEST ACTOR EVER, and Javert is one of my fave Les Miz characters. I've heard Russell sing, but I've never heard him sing Les Miz-type music. So I'm eager to see him. And even if his singing isn't up to par with Philip Quast, I KNOW his acting will be phenomenal. =) He will nail Javert to a T.

I was also majorly impressed with Anne's singing. Fantine is a broken woman, and that's exactly what Anne's voice portrayed. I'm excited for her Fantine!

Eddie Redmayne... I'm not happy, Bob. NOT HAPPY. But I suppose his looks can be overlooked in favor of his remarkable singing voice. =)

I've never really been too impressed with Amanda Seyfried, but hey, if she can sing and hit those notes, I'll be happy. =)

SAMANTHA BARKS AS EPONINE!! SCREAM!!! Thrilled to itty bitty bits at this casting choice. I couldn't imagine anyone better. She just screams Eponine!! And her voice is stellar!!

I almost cried when I saw who they cast as Enjo. And what he looks like! That hair! Shriek!! Ugh, I am sooo disappointed. I really, really, REALLY wanted Ramin to play Enjo in the movie!! And there's no Red Vest of Power and Awesomeness!! =( All I'm saying is that Aaron Tveit better have some amazing acting and singing to convince me that he's worthy of my Enjo!

Gah, Little Cosette is soooo cute!! =)

I can actually see Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche. He's a cutie!

COLM WILKINSON AS THE BISHOP!! WOOT, WOOT!! =) *Petie promptly turns a somersault*

I noticed you didn't mention the Thenardiers, but who's missing them? :P

Lovely post, m'dear! =)

Arielle Melody Bailey said...

Amy dear, did my second comment show up? I left it last night.

Margaret Hale said...

The movie looks really good! I haven't actually read the book yet, but I'm planning to.

Miss Dashwood said...

Everyone--eep, I wish I had the time to respond to each comment! For now I'll just say that I'm LOVING this discussion. More on that later.

Miss Melody Muffin-- nope, it didn't. :( Can you try sending it again? I hate it when Blogger eats my comments... "I know, my love. It's very vexing."

Miss Dashwood said...

Everyone--eep, I wish I had the time to respond to each comment! For now I'll just say that I'm LOVING this discussion. More on that later.

Miss Melody Muffin-- nope, it didn't. :( Can you try sending it again? I hate it when Blogger eats my comments... "I know, my love. It's very vexing."

Arielle Melody Bailey said...

Ok, I'm going to try sending this comment again, and if Blogger eats it this time, I'm going to give it a piece of my mind. *cue evil laugh*

NEWS FLASH! Have you all heard that the US release date for Les Mis has been pushed back to Dec. 25? That better be the last time they move it!

Aaanyway....

What aren't you willing to overlook in Michael Ball's portrayal of Marius, Amy? :)

Yes, I loved the getting-shot-and-falling-down-dead lessons, too! I'm wondering if that is Fra Fee Jackman is giving those lessons' to. I can't quite tell....

How do I find these videos... um, usually through google or You Tube searches. That particular video had a less straight path. I had done a google search on something about the Les Mis stage production, and the results took me to the official Twitter page of the London Les Mis. It answered the question I had, (about costumes), and then as I was scrolling down the page I saw that video link. It was a special release when they reached 24,601 followers.

Here is an amusing picture from the Twitter page: https://twitter.com/LesMiserables/status/245569654481879040

I did get to hear Aaron Tveit singing and, I don't know. I think he MAY have what it takes for Enjo, but I'll admit, I'm going to be VERY picky about that character!

So, you like POTO?

I wish we could have a big Les Mis watching party with everyone here on Blogger. Wouldn't that be the best ever?!

BTW... I have finally seen the 10th anniversary concert!!!!!! I watched it on Saturday and am in the middle of writing up a post on it. I thought about emailing you all kinds of gushing over it....

Alexandra, what songs did they transpose in the POTO movie? I've only seen a few scenes from it so far. And, can I hear more about the sequel and Percy's son thing?

Marie said...

I read this post awhile ago, but now that I'm reading the book I came back to see some of the pictures again. It is such a long book I had thought that M. Myriel would get a passing appearance at best, so when I saw the picture again and saw the name I mentally squealed. It HAS him! Yay!