Luke's Reviews: Hairspray

Regardless of the Christmas song, THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  From late January to early May highschools all over the country are performing their "Spring Musicals" and I feel like a kid in a candy shop.  I usually make it a point to see four or five productions in these few short months (in addition to performing in as many as I can) and I kicked off the season Friday night when I went to see Pebblebrook Highschool's production of Hairspray.

The School
Now, I've loved Pebblebrook ever since I saw them in a concert back in 2009, then the following spring I saw my first production that they put on (Aida) and was absolutely blown away!  Ever since then I have tried to make an appearance to every musical that Pebblebrook puts on (this was my fourth).  Their shows always have decent acting and good singing, but their real strength lies in their choreography, and Hairspray was no different.

The Show

I have a secret...I don't actually like Hairspray.  I know that it's really popular and stuff, and it's not that bad, but I always thought it got way more hype than it deserves.  Some of the songs are kind of catchy, but it's not powerful enough to move me or funny enough to get me laughing out loud, so it's just average to me.  If you don't know the show, it's basically about minorities (obese people and African Americans) being confident and fighting to have the same opportunities as their pencil then, blond hair blue eyed peers.  Now, this general plot line (the tough life of the downtrodden minority) is not an uncommon one (you can see it in Ragtime, Parade, and even Shrek), but what sets it apart from the others is its a much more cheerful version of this potentially heartbreaking topic.  Almost all of the minorities are used to their oppression so they just smile and dance it off most of the time, so it keeps the show lighthearted.  I think this is why I don't like it too much, it remains very shallow throughout the whole show (beauty within and all that stuff).  But, storyline aside, the music is actually pretty good, especially when it comes to it's high energy ensemble numbers, so it's really good fit for a school like Pebblebrook (who's ensemble is honestly stronger than their soloists).

The Performance

The show was a wonderful experience.  Although I still don't love the show, imagining the Pebblebrook kids perform it in my mind will give the songs more meaning to me and I think they did make me like it a little more than I previously did.  What made the show experience even more enjoyable is the fantastic company I was in.  I was joined by my mother and sister (I got my kid sister hooked on Pebblebrook after Ragtime) and our friends Jennifer (who made the night with her inspiring quote: "I can act and sleep at the same time, I call it crunch week") and Tami Reece.  This was their first Pebblebrook show to see, but they too caught the fever and I imagine will be frequenting it with me for the next couple of years.  But enough about my wonderful company, onto the show!  First, the technical side:

THE CREW

• The set was pretty minimal.  The Anderson Theater at the Cobb Civic Center (where they performed) has such a huge stage (great for Pebblebrook's high choreography shows) which they didn't clutter up with large bulky set pieces.  There was a backdrop of the city that came down when the characters were outdoors, and a few rooms that rolled on stage throughout the show (a living room, jail cell, clothing store etc.) but all in all it remained pretty minimalistic.  I think this was probably a good thing, because I have seen shows where the set crowded out the performance, but the designer of this set decided early on not to make the set flashy or distracting, so it was all pretty average, which is o.k.
• The Costuming surprised me a little.  Mostly because (and forgive my being blunt but there's no good way to say this) Tracy was too skinny.  The show opens with her under a set of covers so we only get to see her face for the first 40 seconds or so.  This kind of builds suspense as if there's going to be some great reveal when she gets out, but she didn't look overweight at all.  I know that you can't expect every actress to play Tracy to be plump, but it's very common to use padding to give the right effect.  Now, as my fellow theatergoers pointed out to me, the entire cast was incredibly fit, so it's possible she did have padding, she's just really thin, but it still kind of took away.  It made it kind of awkward every time a joke was made about her weight (and there were several).  They did try to compensate for this by making her shorter than everyone else.  All of the other girls had stiletto heels and she was naturally shorter than most of the guys, so proportionally, she did look a bit stockier, but I would've appreciated a little more.  As for the rest of the costumes, they were pretty average.  Once again they didn't really stand out, but at least they didn't distract from the show.  But the great triumph of the costume designer was the costumes for Mrs. Turnblad.  That was done perfectly (If you know the show you know why that's a hard role to costume).
• The Staging

THE CAST

• Kelsey B. (Tracy) - She was pretty fantastic.  I'm not going to lie, this girl nailed every note of the entire show.  I was a bit biased against her from the beginning (because of the costume discrepancy), so I was almost looking for her to make a mistake, but she didn't.  She sang every note of the show and never even seemed strained.  She effortlessly danced through the entire show so in character that I really did forget what I was watching some times.  Unfortunately, she was the main character.  This means that although she was arguably the best out there, it was expected, so she wasn't (for me) the most memorable.  But this isn't her fault, she really was pitch perfect the entire show..with one possible exception.  There was a point in the show where she had to take a fall (something that I personally take very seriously), this was done horribly.  I'm pretty sure that was done on purpose (because the strike that smote her was ridiculously horrible as well), so I think the idea was to make it seem really fake, but I would've liked to see some bruised skin...but that's just me.  For all intents and purposes, she didn't steal the show, but she didn't make a single mistake either.
• Hamilton M. (Link) - So this is the third performance I've had the pleasure of seeing Hamilton perform including his role as Tateh,my favorite character, in Ragtime last May.  And like every actor I've seen play Mark in RENT, he wasn't bad, but I had idealized the character so much that he didn't seem to live up the challenge.  Since then I've seen him in "The Heat Is On" (a vocal and dance concert), in which he regained my favor, so I was very excited to see him in a character I was less attached to.  He didn't disappoint.  I felt like he was more comfortable as Link than he was as Tateh and his talent really shined.  His singing was also spot on and he really did get into the character.  Occasionally he would get distracted by something and drop character for a second, but this was very seldom, and never when he was in the spotlight.  All in all he did a good job, but had (to me) a rather boring character, so he didn't stand out too much.  As with his romantic counterpart: no mistake, but nothing spectacular.
• George V. (Seaweed) - As the music for Run and Tell That (Seaweed's big number) began to play, I heard the patron behind us perk up saying "here we go".  Most fans of the show felt the same way.  With exception of the finale, this song is the most loved in the show, and therefore, a lot of pressure is placed on the actor playing Seaweed.  From the very beginning he needs to be exhumed in his character because fans of the show know to watch him from the beginning.  Part of me wonders if this pressure was a bit too much for George (as it would be for almost anyone).  He did seem (especially in Run and Tell That) to play it smaller than he conceivably could have.  He was really great, but I feel like he wasn't able to get completely into it, likely because he was a bit afraid (and no one can blame him).  It's possible this nervousness is what caused him to slur his words a bit and made it a bit difficult to understand what he was singing at times.  Now, this didn't prove to be a big issue, because, as I said, the majority of the audience already knew his songs and were waiting for them, but a bit more diction might have been nice.  This is me being very VERY picky.  I only wish I could perform as well as this young man did, but in order to remain credible I need to point out the good and the bad.  But in case this segment doesn't accurately display this, know that the good far out weighed the bad in the case of George V.
• Nicholas M. (Corny Collins) - Nicholas is another example of improvement.  I saw him in Ragtime also, and he seemed very small, keeping his character a bit one dimensional.  But he really shined as Corny Collins.  He kept the cheesy air about him all the time and never broke character for a second.  He did play the character a bit smaller than he maybe could have, but I accredit that more to the blocking and choreography than to the actor (he was confined to a corner of the stage for a good portion of it).  He was one of my favorite characters, and always perked me up as soon as he came on stage.  Go Nicholas!
• Dana M. (Velma Von Tussle) - Dana had her work cut out for her.  She had (by far) my least favorite character in the show and sang most of my least favorite songs (and reprised it over and over again).  This means that I don't have too many positive memories associated with her performance, but that isn't her fault.  When I put my bias aside and think about her actual performance, she actually did really well.  She didn't have to dance (unlike pretty much everyone else), so there's really not much to judge her by except for her voice, which was actually really good.  No complaints.
• Alexander S. (Wilbur Turnblad) - What is there to say about Alexander?  When I saw the movie I wasn't a big fan of his character (Christopher Walken wasn't much of a singer, and is kind of creepy). So I really wasn't expecting anything from this character.  I was pleasantly surprised.  From the moment he entered the stage, Alex's (you mind if I call you Alex?) character just picked up any scene it was in.  He was full of energy and everything from his accent to his physicality was spot on.  When it came time for his song with the lovely Mrs. Turnblad, Although his singing voice didn't knock me out of my seat, it was a very solid performance and allowed him continue acting beautifully throughout the song.  He was brilliantly cast and did a phenomenal job.  Although the part was small, it was the one I was looking for in every scene. Congratulations Alex!
• Nora S. (Motormouth Mabel) - Now, Nora has been in every Pebblebrook show I've seen (I think she's the only one I can say that about), which means that she was good enough to get good parts even when she was a Sophomore.  And let me tell you, she really did steal the show at Hairspray.  She had a nice little solo in Aida (2010), had a nice comic touch in Fame (2010), really helped to bring the emotion to Ragtime (2011), but really stole the show here in Hairspray!  Now her character doesn't even appear until the first act is almost done, but after that she makes her presence known with charisma and a "blow you out of the water" kind of singing voice.  The highlight of the show (vocal wise at least) was by far her performance in I Know Where I've Been.  At the last note (which she held out strong for a good 20 seconds or so), she received a well deserved applause and even a standing ovation from some.  And although she didn't get another note that big in the rest of the show, from then on the whole audience seemed to regard her with expectancy and awe ready to adore anything that came out of her mouth.  Since it looks like she's finally a senior, this might be the last time I see her in a pebblebrook show, but I wouldn't be surprised if she grows up to be the next Audra McDonnald.
• Mitchell H. (Edna Turnblad) - I saved Mitchell for last, because I think I left the theater with the most respect for him.  He, probably more than the rest of the cast, had a lot of pressure in doing this part.  His character has been played by such icons as John Travolta, and Harvey Fierstein, and, if done wrong, looks corny, insensitive, and even sexist.  However, Mitchell was absolutely splendid in his role. His voice was excellent, he did a fantastic job of singing in character (harder than it sounds), and everything about him just exhumed the character.  As an actor, I also know the struggles he likely went through along this journey.  I'm sure he got teased about the role for a few weeks after casting, I'm sure that practically every number he rehearsed out of costume was insanely awkward, and I'm sure there were plenty of snickers and giggles when everyone first saw him in his costume.  But despite all of this, he delivered a truly fantastic rendition of Mrs. Turnblad and made me personally respect him as an actor.
• The Ensemble - Like most Pebblebrook shows, they're really who make the show great.  As a unit, their dancing was spectacular, their singing was top notch, the acting of minor roles (specific shout out to Maddie Martin as Matron, Matthew Boyd as Sketch, and Taylor Eubanks as Penny) was fantastic, and their vocal conditioning was astounding!  They say that a cast is only as strong as it's weakest member, and if that is true, then Pebblebrook has one of the strongest casts out there.

Conclusion

In closing, I would implore all of my readers (all two of you) to make it a point to support your local highschools theatrical productions this year.  I personally already have 3-4 more highschool performances to attend before the semester is over, and I would suggest you do the same.  If you would like a list of some of the top theater programs in GA, then I'd suggest you look at http://www.shulerawards.org/calendar.aspx .  Or, if there's a specific show you're waiting to see, chances are you can find a list of it's performances nation wide at http://www.mtishows.com/find_a_show.asp .  And, in reference to my first link, This show was entered into the Shuler Hensley Awards where it will undoubtedly win Best Choreography (It has one every single year the awards have existed) and hopefully much more.  Look for that post sometime in May or early June.  And be sure to vote on the poll to the top right of this (I always get a kick out of your opinions).  Thanks for reading!

Les Miserables: The Movie

So, generally I stick to theater and don't branch into the movies, but I thought I'd make an exception to talk about the new Les Miserables Movie.  It's like someone just hit production studios in the head recently and said...MUSICALS!  I'm actually thrilled that the past 10 years or so have just cranked out movies versions of some of the best musicals out there including Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, The Producers, Mamma Mia, Chicago, and many many more.  But I think Les Miz might be the most daunting task yet (with the possible exception of Phantom).  With pressure like that I'm sure that they'd do everything possible to do it right and not alienate the millions of Les Miz fans around the world right?  WRONG!  Now I hear you saying: "Luke, this movie isn't out, they haven't announced the full cast, you have no clue where they're filming it or how good it's going to be, how can you be so judgmental?"  And you're right, I don't have enough info to know if it will or won't be a good movie, in fact, I think it's going to be a really good movie, but I can promise you it won't be all that it could be.  And how do I know that?

The Cast:

                 JeanValjean: Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman                         Colm Wilkinson

So, actually, I'm not too upset about this choice.  He is one of the three Broadway veterans in the principle cast (the other one is even more exciting, but I'll get to that) and the only one with a musical related Tony under his belt.  I've been told he can sing, but I haven't heard anything on Youtube that's particularly encouraging.  He's not bad, but I've yet to hear him really nail a song as tough as many of the Les Miserables ones.  I'm sure he's good, but he's going up against Alfie Boe and Colm Wilkinson.  I'm not sure any mere mortal can even attempt a feat so great.  However, with all this negativity, he's one of the ones I'm more excited about.  Since he's a theater man , he realizes the magnitude of the role (I'm not sure all of the other actors do), and he knows that this will either make or break him.  An interview I read quoted him as saying: "I feel, weirdly, that all the things in my life — particularly my professional life, which has been close to twenty years — have been converging to this point....It just feels like a pinnacle".  With that kind of expectations of himself, I trust that he will work hard, and become synonymous with the role as his two aforementioned predecessors have.

Javert: Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe                                   Phillip Quast

For those of you who don't know, I played Javert this past spring so this role is very special to me, so it's important they find the perfect guy.  All though I'm not thrilled with this casting, I have had some time to think about it, and it's not that bad.  As far as acting goes I think he'll pull it off very well.  He's known for his understated, almost mumbling roles, but I've seen him get worked up too.  I also know he takes his roles very seriously and does lots of research, that's a good sign.  I won't know until I see the movie if he makes the right choices in how to play the role, but I have full confidence in his abilities.  But the big question on every body's mind is "can he sing?".  To figure this out, I googled "Russell Crowe sings" and when I clicked on the first video that popped up (him singing at the Country Music Awards) I saw a comment that said: "like if you are watching this to see if Russell Crowe would be a good jarvet" (I know they can't spell Javert, but lets see if we can make that the most liked comment anyway).  His performance on said video I found mediocre, but then I've never been much for country songs.  But what did encourage me is that they asked him to come sing.  So, even if this song didn't showcase his full vocal potential, he has at least some kind of reputation as someone who can sing.  I don't expect him to steal the show or blow me away, but I didn't expect Johnny Depp to in Sweeney Todd either, so I'm not losing hope quite yet.

Fantine: Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway                              Susan Gilmour

This is a role that I'm actually really excited about.  If you read my Jimmy Award post carefully then you might remember that Miss Hathaway did some musical theater when she was younger (and wasn't half bad).  We also got a chance to hear her sing in Ella Enchanted and, although the song wasn't "Fantine-like" in any respect, it shows that she's still got it.  Although I've known she could sing for some time, I'm excited about the rest of the world learning it too.  I think she is the one who's gonna surprise everyone this time.  She's one of my favorite actresses in Hollywood and I think people are going to see a whole new side of her in this movie, and it's going to be an awesome musically inclined side (which is always the best side).  As for the role of Fantine specifically, it's not ideal, but it's not bad.  She appears to be one of the best trained female vocalists in the cast, and that is probably most important for Fantine (because Eponine and Madam Thenardier need to be raw and no one really cares about Cosette).  I think she's going to pull it off nicely and be known for this role for a long time.

Madam Thenardier: Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter                         Jenny Galloway

I'm actually very proud of this choice.  I thought of this before I heard that they were talking to her about the role.  It honestly is perfect for her.  She is going to need to lose her dainty British accent (which I haven't seen yet, but I have confidence she can do) and it will be a stretch for her.  Even her villains are generally relatively refined.  Vulgar and disgusting will be something new for her.  If she goes into this knowing that this movie is not going to make her look pretty (even in a creepy way) just wanting to make a good movie then she'll do great.  I know from interviews that she was a Broadway fan since childhood, and I know from Sweeney Todd that she can sing OK, so we really don't have much to worry about.  Of course, Madame Thenardier isn't the sort of role that wins lots of fame, but it's an important role and I'm glad that the casting directors are taking it seriously.  And may I just add that the Thenardiers are possibly my favorite characters so they better nail them!

Monsieur Thenardier: Sacha Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen                            Alun Armstrong

This is another one that I was pretty unhappy with at the beginning but I'm slowly warming up to.  Here's why I was (and still am a little bit) upset with this casting.  Olivier winner Alun Armstrong (pictured above) was by far the perfect Thenardier and is a legend in my book.  I see that they didn't want to get him for the movie, they didn't get anyone who's known for the role, I get that.  But that's OK, because I picked out the perfect Monsieur Thenardier.  He has three Tony Award Nominations, an Emmy, is very active in Hollywood and theater, and (with the possible exception of Alan Cumming) is the creepiest guy to grace our stage:  Tim Curry.

Tim Curry                                  Alun Armstrong

ISN'T THAT PERFECT!  What's more, we know he can sing (The man has three Tony nominations), we know he can act (check Wikipedia, he's been in a ton of stuff), and we know that he can terrify the audience by just looking at them.  He's known for doing roles that are grimy and evil (and a few that are cross-dressers or psychotic killer clowns, but we're not going to go into that).  HE WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT!!!!!

OK, now that I've got that out of my system...Sacha Baron Cohen won't be that bad.  Granted I don't like most of the things he's been in.  He's most known for his movies centering around the characters "Bruno" and "Borat".  I never saw these movies because frankly they look horrible (vulgar and cheap humor).  So, the only real insight I have to his abilities is is small role in Sweeney Todd (That movie is coming up more than I thought it would....oh they should get Toby to play Gavroche!).  In this movie he played the cockney/Italian blackmailing barber Adolofo Pirelli.  He didn't do a bad job, his singing was pretty impressive (even if the song wasn't my cup of tea).  But he certainly had a comedic sense about him and appears to have some form of vocal training.  And it's possible that having worked with Helena before will make that relationship pop more.  Although he's nowhere near as awesome as Tim Curry would be, I don't think he'll blow it.  I think he'll do a pretty good job.

Marius: Eddie Redmayne

Eddie Redmayne                                    Gareth Gates

Eddie was really the only guy who I had no idea who he was when I saw his name on the cast list...or so I thought.  Over the past couple of days I've thought that his face looked familiar, but google informs me that he hasn't been in any musicals or movies that I've seen.  Then, today, typing this blog, it hit me.  This man won a Tony Award in his Broadway debut in 2010!  Now, before you get excited, he won for best supporting actor in a play, so we don't know if he can sing, but this fact is still very encouraging.  What I remember from the 2010 Tony's was that the plays were almost as interesting as the musicals and his show (Red) was the first thing I looked up after I left the TV to acquire Internet access.  This kid did an excellent job in that show, it was only a two man show so he spent lots of time on stage and displayed a huge variety of emotions.  He also seemed really charismatic in his acceptance speech and all of the interviews I've seen with him.  He captures Marius's conflicted innocence pretty well actually without even trying.  But, as with Russell Crowe, the question on every one's mind is: "can he sing?".  The best I could find online was a poor quality version of him singing opera in college, but even with this I'm hopeful, because most of the people who said they've heard him sing shower him with lavish praise, so I have hope.  I'm excited about this because I feel like he's still young and undefined unlike many of the stars in this show.  He is (possibly the only) one who people don't kind of relate to a specific character, and I think from now on he will be Marius (at least better than Nick Jonas).

Enjolras: Aaron Tveit

Aaron Tveit                                   Ramin Karimloo                                      

This is probably the role that I am most excited about.  I first saw Aaron Tveit when he performed with Next To Normal on the 2009 Tony Awards.  Since then I've scoured the Internet to find videos of him in Wicked, Rent, Hairspray, and most recently, Catch Me If You Can.  He has this absolutely remarkable voice and I'm just so thrilled whenever I hear he's going to be in something else.  And although he would make a good Marius, I think this is a better fit for him.  I think he has a lot of power in his voice, and he's going to blow some minds with this comes out.  I'd implore any of my readers who haven't heard him sing look up songs like "I'm Alive" [Next to Normal], "Goodbye" [Catch me if you Can] or "Someone Else's Skin" [Catch Me If You Can], you won't be disappointed.  This is the caliber of Broadway performer that should've made up the whole cast (although having Hollywood people is a kind of a cool twist) so I'm glad at least he's here to represent the Great White Way and all of it's glory.

Amanda Seyfried: Cosette

Amanda Seyfried                                Tamra Hayden

So, many people (including myself) know miss Seyfried for her role as Sophie in the 2008 movie Mamma Mia.  I thought that her performance there was average and not really note worthy.  It wasn't bad, and the fact she's got her foot in the door of musical movies means that at least some people probably really like her.  Personally, I've never favored the role of Cosette, so someone average in the role isn't a big disappointment to me.  I think she will do well, but I don't think people will leave the theater talking about her (either in a good or bad way).

Eponine: Taylor Swift

       Taylor Swift                             Lea Salonga

So This is the decision that has caused a bunch of controversy and that inspired me to write this post.  It wasn't surprising me that Eponine was one of the last that they casted, because she is universally loved as (probably) the favorite all around character in Les Miz.  This means they have to get the absolute perfect actress to play Eponine so I wasn't worried that they were taking their time.  But when I read that the role had been offered to Taylor Swift I was like:

                                                                                             Illustrated By Jamison Mills

I simply couldn't believe it.  I mean I wasn't incredibly thrilled about the other actresses they were considering (Lea Michelle and Scarlet Johansson) but I thought there was no way that they'd ever choose Swift.  Musical theater fans around the world have been gritting our teeth and not saying too much about the Hollywood-izing of the cast.  It was already obvious that they were packing this movie with stars instead of the best people for the job.  But we said to ourselves, you know, they need to make money, it won't be that bad...but this crosses a line.  They really didn't need more star power in this movie, I've heard of and have seen every single actor/actress in this movie (most of them in multiple things).  If they absolutely had to add Taylor Swift to this movie then she should've been Cosett, because Taylor Swift fans wouldn't know the difference and they wouldn't have alienated the Les Miserables fans so much.  I've heard Taylor sing and she's not completely wretched, but she goes against everything the character is.  Eponine is strong, powerful, kind of innocent, and everyone just loves her from the moment she enters the show.  Taylor has a nasty habit of whisper singing most of her songs, I imagine there's a good bit of auto-tune involved in most of her albums, and as soon as she appears on screen everyone will know who she is and (even subconsciously) translate their feelings about her to the character.  I'm hoping to attend a midnight showing of this movie, and I would not be surprised to hear a chorus of boo's when she first comes on.  Technically I can't find any reports of her actually accepting the role yet, it's only been offered (but she's been auditioning for it for a while so I can't imagine her turning it down) but it's possible that if we make enough noise on the Internet then we can make something happen.  So, although I'm not condoning anything extreme, a strongly worded facebook status might been in order.  So some of my more indignant readers might ask "alright Luke, you think you could cast it better?"  To which I would respond: kind of.  Because I think that the best thing they could possibly do is get an unknown to play the role.  I've seen enough Youtube to know that there are lots of ridiculously talented young actresses who are just waiting to make their mark.  If they got someone to make their acting debut (or at least close to it) in this movie, then she would be so amazing that she would be instantly loved by all and propelled into stardom.  Heck, they could even make a reality series about "choosing the perfect Eponine" for all I care, I just think that the energy and the rawness necessary for the role would best be found in a newcomer.

The Method:

LIVE SINGING.  There have been confirmed reports that director Tom Hooper has decided to have the actors sing live on set.  For those of you who don't know, the standard in a musical movie is to record a song in a studio and then have the actors lip sync on camera.  The advantages to this method is that in dancing numbers, vocal conditioning is less of a big deal, there are less things that can go wrong in a given scene (because now if the singing or the acting is messed up they have to start over), and the singers can have headphones, microphones and the equipment to hear themselves and be heard as comfortably as possible.  The other thing that might come up with this particular cast is, I'm not sure how much digital editing they can do to voices when it's done live. So it looks like they might try to get a more genuine sound.

MINIMAL DIALOGUE.  I didn't expect this at all but I'm really excited about it.  The Les Miserables musical is, like Jesus Christ Superstar or Cats, completely musical (devoid of spoken lines).  And it looks like that won't change much.  Based on what I heard from an interview of Tom Hooper, it sounds like he intends to make it songs strung together by one or two lines here and there (very similar to the stage version of RENT).  I find this absolutely wonderful, there are very few things to me as frustrating as people cutting songs for movies.  They did it some in Sweeney Todd, but the most obvious (to me at least) was in the movie version of RENT when some of the spoken lines actually rhymed because they were taken directly from songs (You OK Honey, and Life Support, and the Happy New Years come to mind).  So I'm really excited that their keeping it mostly music.  And, as in every song, there are going to be certain lyrics that are spoken instead of sung within the song, but I think that's absolutely fine, that's how you make a song your own.

NEW SONG.  In the aforementioned Tom Hooper interview he said something real quickly about a new song Claude Michel Schönberg wrote for the movie.  We have no idea what it is, but it's the kind of news you don't know what to do with.  There has been some buzz over the Internet about it, and I agree with them on two major points.  1 - it's very possible "new song" really means "old song that had to be cut from the original show".  This happens all the time in movies turned musicals (if you watch the old Disney movies you can hear the Broadway songs in the form of instrumental themes), so it's kind of a cool irony that a song cut from a musical might potentially be inserted into the movie.  2 - I wouldn't be surprised if this is a ploy to get an Oscar.  There is an award for "best original song" but all of the Les Miz songs won't be eligible because they weren't written specifically for the movie.  But if they add a song then it will be eligible, and if it's written by the original Les Miserables team, then it's already won in my book.

Conclusion:

It's going to be a pretty good movie, despite my griping, there is a lot I'm excited about, and I'm always thrilled to see musical theater sent out to the masses.  Even if they can't compare the stage version (which they never can) hopefully they draw people to see the show and learn the magnificence and majesty that is Live Theater.  I'm certainly going to go see the movie (hopefully as soon as it comes out) and I have every intention of liking it.  So come December you can expect to see a movie review on this blog.


*UPDATE!!!!


Since the original post there have been some developments in the production that I thought deserved noting.

1. DING DONG THE WHICH IS GONE -- TAYLOR SWIFT IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  HALLELUJAH!!!  HALLELUJAH!!! This was the best news I had heard in a long time.   I haven't heard an official reason as to why she didn't take the role, but I believe it's because the internet rose up and showed that we would not have this.  So, on behalf of Les Miz fans everywhere, "THANK YOU BROADWAY GEEKS WITH INTERNET ACCESS!!!"  Now, although Tom Hooper didn't take my suggestion and find an unknown for the open role of Eponine, he did do the next best thing: he got Samantha Barks.  For those of you who don't know, Samantha sang the role in the 25th Anniversary Concert (where she blew Nick Jonas out of the water).  This was a relatively safe choice for Hooper (likely made because they didn't have much time after Swift fell through) but a good one.  Everyone knows she'll be wonderful, and it's one more way to make sure people who were already fans of the show will have to flock to the theater.
2. THE KING IS THE BISHOP -- I am thrilled to tell you that the role of the Bishop will be played by none other than king of the classics: Colm Wilkinson!!!!!  Why do I call him the king?  Well, Colm had a part in Les Miz, Phantom of the Opera, Jekyll & Hyde, and Evita before anyone knew they existed.  Even if Les Miz is what he's known for, he has set the groundwork for so many legendary characters that he's become a legend himself.  And what better way to pay tribute to this living legend than to have him portray the character that inspires Valjean?  The Bishop, though a small role, is very symbolic and sets the course for the rest of the show, I think it's a classy, tasteful decision that I couldn't be more happy with.  There doing something similar in making Frances Ruffelle (the original Eponine) one of the featured "lovely ladies". 
3. REACHING INTO THE WEST END --In looking for a memorable ensemble, Tom Hooper looked in exactly the right place: The West End (England's Broadway equivalent).  If one scrolls the list of the "small roles" they will see lots of names they don't recognize because they have played/are playing replacements or minor rolls on The West End, but there are also many big names including Bertie Carvel (Best Leading Actor Olivier Nominee [ Matilda: The Musical]), Kerry Ellis (Svetlana [Chess: In Concert]), Daniel Evans (Best Leading Actor Tony Nominee [Sunday in the Park With George], Linzi Hateley (Best Leading Actress Olivier Nominee [Joseph...Dreamcoat]), and many many more.  I think it's great the way they're involving so many people with a history in theater (specifically British theater) in this production.  It's cool, because if you look at their resume's many have them have been in some production of Les Miz at some time or another, so this gets to serve almost like one big reunion.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Spiderman: Turn off the Dark

OK, so I know everyone was really excited about seeing these guys perform, me included.  And since it was the last one....I get to type longer (mwah ha ha). Honestly, I've seen them on the Tony Awards, on the tonight show twice, American Idol, and I think this was their best performance.  They had a great blend fun visuals and pretty good sound.  I liked the idea of a medley.  I was also proud of them for not using Boy Falls from the sky or Rise Above.   I was surprised, but I think it shows that they aren't cheap.  The first bit they did (Bouncing Off The Walls) they had to cut short because it's one of the biggest technical songs (from the little Youtube I've seen on it it looks pretty cool), but I still liked seeing it live.  I feel like it had more depth, so now I might like the song a bit more.  The next song they did (and reprised at the end) was one that I hadn't heard before, so that was kind of fun.  It was well performed and it's always nice to see something new.   The third song they did (A Freak Like Me Needs Company) I had seen before and it was kind of disappointing both times.  I mean, I had heard so much about Patrick Page (The Green Goblin) and I was so excited to see him perform, and he barely sung; he just kind of groaned almost.  Granted, this isn't his fault at all, but the fact that one of the highlights of the show was a guy who didn't really sing is kind of sad.  Once again, his performance is top notch, his acting and his speaking voice were both great, I just would've liked if they got a real song.  Now, something I saw that was new was the acrobatics.  I had never seen any of those flips or anything...those were really cool!  I wish they would've let Jennifer Damiano (Mary Jane) perform, but if the songs don't work out then there's nothing you can do.  All in all, I was more impressed than I thought I would be, good for you spiderman!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Pricilla Queen of the Desert

So..................yeah.  As always, the costumes were pretty dazzling.  The show scares me, so I haven't looked into it very much, but their performances have been solid so far.  As I said, I know just enough about the plot to not want to look into too much more.  However, they made smart song choices.  They chose a song that people knew, but had never seen done quite like that.  Personally, our family played  "is that a guy?"  Because the show is famous for it's drag queens, so I'm certainly that at least a few of them who looked females were in fact men.  But, all jokes aside, it was entertaining, and as Matt said...it did look like they were having fun, so I guess that's all you can really ask for.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

So....I was pretty sure Daniel Radcliff left this show, but either he didn't or they brought him back for this performance, regardless he did a pretty good job I suppose.  I'm getting a little tired of this song.  It's the one they chose to feature on the Tony's and twice on the Jimmy's so I was hoping for a bit more variety.  Of course, I have heard the soundtrack and I see that they don't have all to many options, but it seems like they could at least try.  The performance was well done (as would be any Broadway show), but I didn't feel compelled to watch really closely because I had seen it before.  They certainly are a strong cast, but I've seen it before......If you want to I suppose you can read my Tony award post, because it looked (at least to me) pretty much the same.

I

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Sister Act

The next production was Sister Act's performance of Spread the Love.  It wasn't bad.  I was a bit disappointing only because I had high expectations for this show because this show was spectacular at the Tony's (you can see their video elsewhere on this blog if you missed it).  But, that being said it was still pretty good.  It just seemed kind of boring.  I'm sure the show was still great, and their performance wasn't off, I just might have chosen a different song.  I suppose they just wanted their highest dance number, but it might not have been the best choice.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Newsies

So, this is my first attempt of a live blog.  So it's very possible that these will be kind of short because I'm not going to have a whole lot of time to write each one.  So let's start things off with NEWSIES performance of King of New York.  First off just let me say that I am SO glad that this is coming to Broadway, and it's just icing on the cake that they got to perform on the Parade!  THEY WERE AMAZING (I love the song choice)!  I was a bit taken aback by them changing the reporter to a girl.  I did know that there was going to be a female reporter in the show, but I thought that that was in addition, not instead of.  But even that isn't necessarily bad, I'm excited to see how they play with that.  I loved the performance, it wasn't that much better than the movie version, but the very fact that they can recreate that on stage is still pretty awesome.  I was excited to see Ryan Breslin (brother to Abigail and Spencer Breslin) performing as Racetrack.  He did really good.  I love the great energy of the group and I hope and pray that the show will be a massive hit!  I CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO BE FREAKISHLY SUCCESSFUL!