The guy who originated the role (and who is in the PBS concert) was amazing, as were the touring guys I saw. Jackman was more reedy/nasal, but once I got over it (and it took a while, admittedly), I was fine. And I thought his acting was awesome - many of the stage guys wouldn't be able to pull off the pure emotion in those close-up scenes, because that's not how they play things.
I forgot to mention it here yesterday, but I thought Sasha Baron Cohen was an inspired M. Thénardier.
Kelly, now that I finally saw the movie, I can comment on here. LOL I saw Les Miserables on opening night in LA many many years ago - having no idea what I was going to see. Got a little confused then with the characters. When we lived in Reno/Tahoe, we played Do You Hear the People Sing to the kids every Sunday during our short drive to go hiking. Kids were about 2 and 4. Then on our 5 day drive to Chicago, DH played the soundtrack the entire way. I usually listen to the soundtrack once a month - and my favorite night was when I discovered the 25th Anniversary show one night on PBS. I was glued to my chair
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Film is a completely different story-telling vehicle than stage, even though they have a lot in common. It's more about nuance and the personal performance, and the details matter so much more.
I thought Tom Hooper got that just right, and honored a much-beloved play as best he could with some of the shots (Javert's two solos, for instance, with their big backdrops, and the death of the students, where the guy falls out the window with the red flag - a direct echo of the barricade in the stage show).
My brother was thrown by the fact that Russel Crowe's pieces were done in a lower key than the original soundtrack to accommodate his baritone. (He listens to it so much that he knows the relative pitch of things, and marked the difference.)
Did you realize it was Colm Wilkinson as the abbott who gave the candlesticks to Valjean? Because I didn't at the time I saw it, though I kept thinking "I know that guy!"
I agree with you - I was far more thrown by the nasality of Hugh Jackman's voice than by the fact that Russell Crowe was a baritone. Also, I never held out high hopes that Crowe would be a great singer, so he was all upside for me.
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I forgot to mention it here yesterday, but I thought Sasha Baron Cohen was an inspired M. Thénardier.
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I thought Tom Hooper got that just right, and honored a much-beloved play as best he could with some of the shots (Javert's two solos, for instance, with their big backdrops, and the death of the students, where the guy falls out the window with the red flag - a direct echo of the barricade in the stage show).
My brother was thrown by the fact that Russel Crowe's pieces were done in a lower key than the original soundtrack to accommodate his baritone. (He listens to it so much that he knows the relative pitch of things, and marked the difference.)
Did you realize it was Colm Wilkinson as the abbott who gave the candlesticks to Valjean? Because I didn't at the time I saw it, though I kept thinking "I know that guy!"
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When we got home, daughter and husband went on and on and on about Colm Wilkinson in the movie and more factoids that I was unaware of.
Guess I was more thrown by the difference in Hugh's voice than Russell's voice. Gotta go listen to the soundtrack again today!!!
Again, thanks for chatting with me... aka letting me hijack your post. :)
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