December 31, 201213 yr If you like stage musicals see this. That is all. Sent from my Samsung Stratosphere using Forum Runner
December 31, 201213 yr Author Anne Hathaway was awesome. I challanage anyone to watch her absolutely own "I Dreamed a Dream" with dry eyes. Amanda Syfried was surprisingly good. Samantha Banks was very good. The way they recorded the songs live really gave you the impression you were watching a live show. Very likely to see it again. Sent from my Samsung Stratosphere using Forum Runner
January 1, 201313 yr Anne Hathaway was awesome. I challanage anyone to watch her absolutely own "I Dreamed a Dream" with dry eyes. Amanda Syfried was surprisingly good. Samantha Banks was very good. The way they recorded the songs live really gave you the impression you were watching a live show. Very likely to see it again. Sent from my Samsung Stratosphere using Forum Runner Thanks for sharing looking forward to this!!!
January 2, 201313 yr I must say that I really did not anticipate the love for this musical on here. Maybe BGP is more cultured than I originally thought.
January 2, 201313 yr I must say that I really did not anticipate the love for this musical on here. Maybe BGP is more cultured than I originally thought. My wife has definitely made me more cultured. Love going to a good musical now.
January 2, 201313 yr Author I must say that I really did not anticipate the love for this musical on here. Maybe BGP is more cultured than I originally thought. I've seen the stage production 3 times. I may like musicals almost as much as I like football. I've seen Wicked 9 times in 5 different cities, Phantom of the Opera 5 times and I see almost every show that plays at the Kentucky Center. Sent from my Samsung Stratosphere using Forum Runner
January 2, 201313 yr Just back from seeing the movie. My review? One word: Wow! That was just soooo great! Although, like many, I didn't care for Russell Crowe as Javair, the rest of the cast was spectacular in both their acting and singing roles. And to be fair, Crowe did do a pretty good acting job -- he just can't sing worth a darn. Hugh Jackman has an amazingly good voice and made for a great Valjean. Anne Hathaway's Fantine was powerful, gritty and heart-breaking. The Thenardiers were played by Sasha Baron Cohen (Borat) and Helena Bonham Carter. They both played their roles with perfectly goofy ghoulishness. The star of the show, for me, was Samantha Barks as Eponine. She had been selected to play the role on the British stage after coming in second on a British singing competition show. Later, the producer chose her for the film. She brought the same tragic emotional energy to her film effort. Although, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I think she's...um, sort of awesome . Anyway, this version did a great job as a hybrid between a musical and a cinematic drama. It was as if you had climbed up on the stage of the Broadway production and suddenly had everything around you become real. Yes, they did have to make some compromises with the songs, because of the way the action moved from place to place. But I think they did a goood job of handling the scene transitions that happened in the middle of various songs. For some reason, the storyline seemed to advance faster than I remember it in the theater. Then again, that could be a matter of my being so familiar with it now, or the fact that we were being "physically moved" from place to place during individual scenes, instead of it happening before a static background on the stage. Oh, and the scenery was as spectacular as you might expect. All in all, I loved this versoin of Les Mis, but I still wouldn't trade it for the theater experience. Actually, I would take both, because I think they stand on equal footing in their individual realms. They both have great advantages, and both make some necessary sacrifices. The stage musical gives us the beauty of the original music and lyrics, as well as the immediacy of enjoying it in person. The movie, on the other hand, gives up a bit on the musical beauty, but in exchange, sets the music and characters against a three-dimensional world that could never exist on a stage. In summary: Awesome! :thumb: Edited January 2, 201313 yr by Birdsfan
January 2, 201313 yr I was planning on seeing this, but definitely will after reading what everyone thought.
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