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I'm actually quite shocked - I'm a big Tim Minchin fan, but his Judas just lacked any nuance. Mel C was, well, Mel C, the staging annoyed me, and even the subtlety of the score was lost.
Gethsemane was more like a teenager throwing a strop than a man having a spiritual crisis.
#250651 Jesus Christ Superstar
Posted
on 01 January 2013 - 11:49 PM
#250519 Favourite Lyrics In Les Mis
Posted
on 31 December 2012 - 12:09 PM
My heart is stone and still it trembles.
#249453 The Phantom Of The Opera
Posted
on 19 December 2012 - 02:45 AM
zcfthf8, on 18 December 2012 - 03:43 PM, said:
Sadly I, and many others it would seem, agree with you about Marcus.
He does seem like a very nice chap who is loving playing the role, but vocally he's not up to it.
In terms of his acting, I enjoyed him thoroughly and appreciated having an older phantom who also acted older, moving away from the sexed up phantom we have been subjected to on occasion.
But his vocals leave a lot to be desired. Listening to recordings of his phantom in the early 90's, it seems his voice has deteriorated quite badly and there seems to be no support to his voice.
The most obvious example of this is after the unmasking after PONR and on the line "Anywhere you go, let me go too...." the warble is terrible and sounds very amateurish.
This does beg the question as to how he got the role - the fact is there are ensemble members with more powerful voices and whilst I know it isn't all about the voice (look at Earl Carpenter for instance, who isn't the strongest vocally but is a mesmeric Phantom) you would expect to see the creme de la creme as the Phantom - it's arguably the biggest West End male role (Valjean aside) and I can't understand how someone who isn't a fantastic vocalist can get the role.
I don't mean to slate Marcus, because as I say, his acting is fantastic.
Funnily enough, Peter Joback has really grown on me - no idea why as I wasn't thrilled when I watched him live, but his voice has grown on me.
He does seem like a very nice chap who is loving playing the role, but vocally he's not up to it.
In terms of his acting, I enjoyed him thoroughly and appreciated having an older phantom who also acted older, moving away from the sexed up phantom we have been subjected to on occasion.
But his vocals leave a lot to be desired. Listening to recordings of his phantom in the early 90's, it seems his voice has deteriorated quite badly and there seems to be no support to his voice.
The most obvious example of this is after the unmasking after PONR and on the line "Anywhere you go, let me go too...." the warble is terrible and sounds very amateurish.
This does beg the question as to how he got the role - the fact is there are ensemble members with more powerful voices and whilst I know it isn't all about the voice (look at Earl Carpenter for instance, who isn't the strongest vocally but is a mesmeric Phantom) you would expect to see the creme de la creme as the Phantom - it's arguably the biggest West End male role (Valjean aside) and I can't understand how someone who isn't a fantastic vocalist can get the role.
I don't mean to slate Marcus, because as I say, his acting is fantastic.
Funnily enough, Peter Joback has really grown on me - no idea why as I wasn't thrilled when I watched him live, but his voice has grown on me.
Its all a bit odd. We had ALW dissing the entire UK male acting community on Superstar. Then we had had the comments about Phantom being played by someone too young in LND. Then we get overseas imported Phantoms. Now we have a London Phantom cast that contains a cast that seems to meet ALW's criteria for LND with the older Phantom and an older alternate Christine who actually played Christine in LND. Meanwhile, the tour has gone out with two of the very best UK Phantom's available, and a young Christine who can sing and act the role brilliantly while she is actually the same age as the character. Does the London cast have the next LND leads in waiting? When are they going to let one of the excellent UK young males who have understudied the Phantom and similar roles loose on the lead role?
#250345 Favourite Lyrics In Les Mis
Posted
on 29 December 2012 - 02:09 PM
I frogot about this when I first posted, but I love the imagery of this bit of On My Own:
"In the rain, the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river..."
And from the Finale:
"Do you hear the people sing, lost in the valley of the night. It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light. For the wretched of the earth, there is a flame that never dies. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. They will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord. They will walk behind the plough-share, they will put away the sword. The chains will be broken and all men will have their reward..."
"In the rain, the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river..."
And from the Finale:
"Do you hear the people sing, lost in the valley of the night. It is the music of a people who are climbing to the light. For the wretched of the earth, there is a flame that never dies. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. They will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord. They will walk behind the plough-share, they will put away the sword. The chains will be broken and all men will have their reward..."
#250262 Viva Forever!
Posted
on 28 December 2012 - 06:33 PM
QuincyMD, on 27 December 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:
This show may end up costing the producers an arm and a leg 
Nothing I saw in the doc made me want to actually go and see the show, which is a massive failure for what was essentially 90 minutes of free advertising for it.
Nothing I saw in the doc made me want to actually go and see the show, which is a massive failure for what was essentially 90 minutes of free advertising for it.
i don't care what the producers look like. I thought the TV show was interesting because the producer and director confirmed the early decisions were what they seemed to be. They decided to use the lyrics without recreating the distinctive sound or the characters that made the songs so successful. And they then decided to go for a raw fresh cast that didn't sound too MT trained. They followed the Mamma Mia example - without ensuring the essentials that the actual singing was clearly recognisable, as good or better than the original - with enough singers to match, and without providing an exciting routine to watch or get involved in for most of the songs. The question is how so many people decided this was a fabulous novel idea that would work?
The singing on theTV documentary wasn't totally representative of the show. The duets and solos sounded a bit better on TV. The casual impression was that the show is more like the final singalong moments than it is. The show that might have been managed to escape a bit more in the TV documentary. Tamara almost stole the scenes in the TV show too though - she's a comic treat in an underspiced meal.
#250236 Favourite Lyrics In Les Mis
Posted
on 28 December 2012 - 01:16 PM
Enough of that, or I'll forget to be nice! - for the comedy element.
To love another person is to see the face of God - by far the best.
To love another person is to see the face of God - by far the best.
#250219 Favourite Lyrics In Les Mis
Posted
on 28 December 2012 - 09:40 AM
poster J, on 28 December 2012 - 12:03 AM, said:
Fantine/Eponine/Valjean in the Finale: "to love another person is to see the face of God".
#250205 Favourite Lyrics In Les Mis
Posted
on 28 December 2012 - 12:03 AM
Fantine/Eponine/Valjean in the Finale: "to love another person is to see the face of God".
#250195 Viva Forever!
Posted
on 27 December 2012 - 08:13 PM
jaqs, on 27 December 2012 - 08:58 AM, said:
Do people have legs removed for cosmetic reasons?
This show may end up costing the producers an arm and a leg
Nothing I saw in the doc made me want to actually go and see the show, which is a massive failure for what was essentially 90 minutes of free advertising for it.
#250157 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Ticket Prices?
Posted
on 27 December 2012 - 12:40 PM
jamescrispy94, on 13 November 2012 - 03:54 PM, said:
Daniel Roache (from Outnumbered) will play Charlie Bucket and Kimberley Walsh will play Mrs Bucket
according to http://en.m.wikipedi...sical#section_2
according to http://en.m.wikipedi...sical#section_2
Daniel Roache looked about 35 in the Outnumbered Xmas special so I can't see this happening
#250070 Rent In Concert - Kerry Ellis/Rory Taylor
Posted
on 26 December 2012 - 12:09 PM
Titan - are you serious? Rent has a huge regional following most regional AM Dram productions sold out...the tour I suspect will do relatively well!
#250073 Les Mis Movie
Posted
on 26 December 2012 - 01:15 PM
Just cannot wait to see this in the cinema soon. Let's hope the cinema audience for Les Mis is not the usual chatting, phoning, texting, slurping, eating, talking folk that usually go to the cinema these days. I usually avoid the "cinema experience" because of this but really do want to see Les Mis on the big screen with the Dolby sound. I have mixed feelings about the clips I have seen so far and want to wait until I experience the full film before passing comment.
#250050 Les Mis Movie
Posted
on 26 December 2012 - 12:09 AM
Bricabrac, on 25 December 2012 - 10:50 AM, said:
I think he's a lot better qualified for Les Mis than Gerard Butler was for the Phantom movie---but I guess that isn't saying a lot.
Yeeeah ...To be fair, it's not a lot to say that any movie is better than the Phantom movie.
I haven't yet seen the Les Mis film, but if it's good as the reviews say and does well at the Oscars, I hope ALW seethes with rage as he watches the film of the show he detested back in 1985 and called Cameron Mackintosh a "catastrophic idiot" for pursuing trounce the p*ss-poor effort of his and Joel Schumacher's 8 years ago. In terms of posterity, ALW has not laid a very good path for himself. People will wonder in years to come what on earth the fuss was about with regard to Phantom if all they had to go on was that film.
#249969 Les Mis Movie
Posted
on 24 December 2012 - 02:24 PM
Doogie Hoser, on 24 December 2012 - 02:17 PM, said:
I am relieved - and pardon my ignorant phrasing - but I am relieved to hear that marvellous swell of 'Bring Him Home' is preserved after the students are all killed. In the musical, to me, the revolve of the barricade that occurs during that bridge, with Enjolras suspended there and Gavroche on the ground below him, is so moving. I hope they treat it well on screen. At least it suggests the moment is still there.
Just you wait till you see that moment in the film. You'll have tears rolling down your cheeks and then a massive smile will burst across your face.....
#249661 Les Mis Movie
Posted
on 21 December 2012 - 03:05 AM
I think we are all used to real singers in these parts and part time singers or the Boy From Oz have a very uphill battle methinks.
Here is the review from Entertainment Weekly, brutal.
http://www.ew.com/ew...0620444,00.html
Here is the review from Entertainment Weekly, brutal.
http://www.ew.com/ew...0620444,00.html
