'My Name Is Marius Pour Merci', 'And Mine's Cosette'

'cosette i don't know what to say'

'then make no sound'

'i am lost'

i am found'

i just found these photos via 'vogue' and just wanted to share them. i think they are quite beautiful. they have the air of 'their time' about them.

'Les Miserables' Revisited ****stars

when i first reviewed 'lez miz' i gave it***1/2stars. not too shabby. but after rewatching it this past weekend i am giving it back the 1/2* it had not gotten. i'll use the excuse that i was not fully recovered from my surgery when i saw it in the theater. uncomfortability can be an influence.

first i knocked russel crowe's singing. yes it is still not that good but damn it it fits the role. i mean would josh groban's voice have worked for the character javert? no! as i see crowe play the role his voice or lack of works perfectly.

second i believed anne hathaway was being applauded for one song. i was wrong. her performance throughout her 18 minutes or so on screen was magnificent. no i did not have a lobotomy. on the second and third view she stll amazed me. 

i originally wrote it was a brilliant piece of film. i still say this. however, i add it is a masterpiece of musical film. i always believed 'fiddler on the roof' was the best translation from stage to film. it has moved to second place.

and oh amanda seyfried....she made me smile and cry on my second viewing. she is wonderful and the unsung piece of this film this past award season. it's not often i am more amazed the second time i see a film. generally i am less impressed or just feel the same as the first time. not so with 'lez miz'. 

and hugh jackman. in another year he would have won the oscar for best actor. but there was mr. lincoln. but today i wonder if mr. jackman was not the best actor this year. just thinking out loud. you must decide for yourself.

aaron tveit and eddie redmayne and samantha barks remain wonderful.

sasha baron cohen and helena bonham cater were both great comic relief in an other wise tragedy.

bravo tom hooper.

and here is the lovely unsung amanda seyfried with eddie redmayne

the cast at this year's oscar ceremony

More 'Lez Miz' Soundtrack

just some of my favorites from the score

  

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'Les Miserables' Releases Today on Bluray and DVD

a grand filmed version gets it's home release today. it is worth every cent you pay to rent or buy it. mine is already preordered from amazon. if you haven't you get to see some damn good performances, one of the worst musical singers of all time in russell croew and anne hathaway's demand and plea for an oscar that she did get over the better sally field in 'lincoln'. crowe and hathaway aside this is a gem with two flaws.

hugh jackman, amanda seyfried, samantha barks, aaron tveit and eddie redmayne are brilliant!

the cast at the oscars:

It Was Inevitable As Hathaway Campaigns for Her Oscar

'Les Miserables' ***1/2

'les miz' is brilliant. the show that is. the tom hooper directed film is somewhat short of brilliant. but that is good. all of us 'les miz' fans have seen the film in our minds over the past 25 years. some of our thoughts and hopes may have been realized with this version. quite a few of mine were. well almost were. but i did not conceive it...mr hooper did and he is to be congratulated. he remained faithful to the original adding snippets here and there to tie together formally loose ends to make a more complete scenario. also a good move.

i cannot quibble with the production values. it is generally amazing to look at and listen to. generally.  for instance: there was just a bit, no maybe too much, excrement in the sewer scene. sometimes less is more. but this is a minor quibble. and vocally the idea to record live on set is quite remarkable with the exception of russell crowe.

the story of jean valjean (hugh jackman) begins with his release from prison, owning a factory encountering his former prison guard javert (russel crowe), encountering the down and out fantine (anne hathaway) and taking responsibility for her daughter cosette. but it all really picks up after the death of fantine when the story moves to paris and we meet the young revolutionaries led by enjoiras, (arron tveit) and his band of student rebels and his best friend marius (eddie redmayne), his friend eponine (samantha barks)  and the now grown cosette (amanda seyfried).

what we now have is an action filled revolt and true romance and the remnants of unrequited love and friends forever gone. and death. not your typical musical but still a bit above most all the others filmed.

the musical highlights are 'the red and black', 'in my life/a heart full of love, 'one day more', 'on my own', 'bring him home' and 'empty chairs at empty tables'. anne hathaways 'i dreamed a dream' is certainly her jennifer hudson moment. it and ms hathaway are wonderful but it is sung for the academy. it is her supporting actress oscar nomination and probable win. if there were justice that nom would go to samantha barks as eponine. i have never been kind to ms hathaway but will give her due credit here. she would just not get an oscar vote from me.

hugh jackman is terrific as jean valjean. eddie redmayne as marius is extraordinary. his 'empty chairs at empty tables is brilliant and a highlight. aaron tveit is a fitting and worthy enjoiras. samantha barks is the quitessential eponine and her 'on my own' is brilliant. amanda seyfried with an almost angelic voice is adorably convincing as the lovely cosset. sasha baron cohen and helena bonham carter add the necessary comic relief as the innkeeper thenardier's. and now we get to the weak link: russell crowe who's right for the part but not the singing. his voice is ear piercing. when he starts singing it just pulls you right out of the film. sadly. and admittedly it lost 1/2 a star because of him. 

all in all see it. it is a grand endeavor that succeeds. and samantha, eddie, aaron and amanda along with hugh amaze.

TODAY

Josh's Juke Box: 'On My Own'

from the soundtrack of my life.
since i showd the poster art for 'les miz' yesterday this beauty of a song needs a revisit.

and i was dared by another blogger to name my top 100 songs from musicals. i'm up to 136 as of today. HA!
yet with a lot of thought i have come up with one that i must say is my favorite. 'on my own' from 'les miserables'

and here to sing it is the once and future eponine, samantha barks, brilliant rendering it. this is from the 25th anniversary concert of lez miz. miss barks will thankfully reprise the role in the film version coming in december.

Les Miz' Art Work

'les misersbles' the film poster goes back to it's origins by using the young cosette rather than the name stars in it's artwork. it's a nice tribute to the original concept. and let's not forget the original is still running somewhere in the world these 25 years later.

the film has been moved to christmas day in the states

the film

 theatre

the new featurette

One Man 'Les Miserables' Nick Pitera Medley

i have no idea who this guy, nick pitera, is but i think we all will hear more from him. his one man medley of 'les miserables' songs is brilliant. i've been doing this in my mind and in my shower for years. bravo!

'Les Miserables' Send Up Features Broadway Stars Urging Voters to Back Obama

as you may already know i am a crazed 'les miserable' fan. so to see one of it's best songs used to bolster the reelection of barack obama is pure joy as well as magical. i need say no more as the new lyrics say it all.

'Les Miserables' Official Trailer

i love this musical. i love the score. this trailer looks promising. i so want it to be good. i want you to enjoy this preview. therefore i will say nothing (yet) about anne hathaways's rendition of 'i dreamed a dream'. trust me more to come.

Amanda Seyfried First Sighting As Cosette in 'Lez Miz'

Amanda joins hugh jackman, russell crowe, eddie redmayne and the abysmal and always terrifyingly awful anne hathaway in this years 'les miserables'. as far as hathaway goes her character fanzine dies early soon after hathaway will destroy 'i dreamed a dream' so we will need to be patient for 40 or 50 minutes. why her? why does anyone hire this woman? well at least with ms seyfried the better and larger part of cosette is in good hands. and samantha barks as eponine is brilliant. so again why hathaway???

Tom Hooper Please Say It Ain't So!

anne hathaway as fontine in 'lez miz'? you gotta be kidding us. first of all she is too old. and second, though more important there is no way she can play 'the innocent fontine'. anne hathaway play innocent? maybe they should have cast mariln monroe in 'the nun's story'. please do not ruin a great musical with this miscast. you got high praise for your work with colin firth and the entire ensemble in 'the king's speech'. keep your record and casting clean. hathaway is awful. have you seen her last few films. she is becoming box office poison and rightfully so. i hope this is a nightmare i'm having. please please say it ain't so!

'Les Miserables': The 25th Anniversary Concert Part 3

i have always loved the combination duet and triplets ''in my life' and 'a heart full of love'. with memories of judy kuhn and michael ball forever playing in my head i was nonetheless blown away by this concert version. nick jonas, katie hall and samantha barks are so well cast. amazing. brilliant. and so much more. mr. jonas, formerly of the jonas brothers, of whom i know nothing, has a brand new career as a musical star. katie hall lucked out here. the actress who was to play cosette in this concert fell ill and ms. hall was pulled from the touring company to fill in. she stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. a star was born. actually ms. hall and mr. jonas bring a more youthful 'look' and feel to the roles which although i never missed in the past makes this production that much fresher.

  and then there is ms. barks as eponine. what can i say? well those two words amazing and brilliant fit along with every other superlative in every dictionary ever compiled. this is but a taste of the triumphant samantha banks. part 5 of this entry will show her true vocal power, beauty and star quality. 

three amazing talents with 'in my life' and 'a heart full of love'. i am blown away.

(to be continued sunday)

'Les Miserables': The 25th Anniversary Concert Part 2

les solonga plays fantine. i have to admit she fared better giving voice to eponine in the 10th anniversary concert. but i quibble. she is fine as fantine but just not as good as the rest of a truly amazing and mostly unknown cast. and who the hell can follow patti lupone and ruthie henshall anyway? audra mcdonald that's who! however, ms. solonga does fare much better in act 2 (finale) to be fair.

in order to be fair to ms. solonga i am posting her eponine from the 10th anniversary dream cast concert singing 'on my own'

(to be continued)

'Les Miserables': The 25th Anniversary Concert

it's time for you to buy a blu ray. the 25th anniversary concert of 'les miserables' is your excuse as if you needed one. if you love or even just like les miz you owe it to yourself to see it on blu ray. it is truly an amazing video. the cast, the staging, the cinematography,the orchestrations and the lighting are amazing. i love this musical. i loved it in 1985 and i continue to love it with each new version recorded and filmed. this version even surpasses the wonderful 10th anniversary (the dream cast) dvd with it's scope and breath. over the next few days i will share 'highlights' from the concert here. they are good but in no way compare to the sight and sound of the blu ray. i am sure the dvd version is wonderful also but i have not seen it. don't think i will owning the blu ray disc.

the opening

(please note the subtitles are not on the disc unless you wish them to be)

the remarkable alfie boe as jean valjean delivers, really delivers, 'bring him home'

(to be continued)

'Les Miserables' Film Finally?

'les miserables' stands atop my favorite broadway musicals. will the film really, finally, happen? we'll see.

Last Wednesday Cameron Mackintosh was in Madrid to present the cast of the new production of Les Miserables that will open in November. In the press conference he was asked by a journalist about why there wasn't yet a movie adaptation of the musical.
Broadway World Spain was there to capture Mackintosh's reply, which was "I signed a contract yesterday. And, in fact, the concert at the O2 next week, I'm presenting with Universal Pictures and it's huge -- with over 500 in the cast and it is being simultaneously screened to over a 1000 cinemas around the world - including Spain. It's been a long time coming, I originally was going to do it after the Broadway opening but mercifully it didn't happen. No film could have been as successful as Les Miserables has been on stage. And now, after 25 years, it seems a very good time to do it. We'll be working with a screenplay writer over the next few months and hopefully if all that comes together, we will find a great director and start."
In October this year, the legendary musical "LES MISÉRABLES" will celebrate its 25th birthday by making theatrical history with an international first - three different productions in London at the same time. The Original Production at the Queen's Theatre, the New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican, London and now, stars in their multitudes will gather for a celebratory concert at The O2 on Sunday 3rd October at 7.00pm, when all three productions and many of the shows original cast will come together to celebrate this momentous occasion.
LES MISÉRABLES originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at theQueen's Theatre on 3 April 2004. When "LES MISÉRABLES" celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World's Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by "Cats" in London's West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating its historic 10,000th performances.
Seen by nearly 60 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, "LES MISÉRABLES" is undisputedly one of the world's most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of "LES MISÉRABLES", including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the soon to be released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary Production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School's Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools. Cameron Mackintosh is currently developing a film of "LES MISÉRABLES" with Working Title and Universal.


*reprinted from 'broadway world' without permission