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Les Miserables

22 December 2012

Writing Break

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Books in General, Video

20 Comments to “Les Miserables”

  1. brendan stallardDecember 22, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    P.G.

    ALW?

    A man of your calibre and grace?

    brendan :)

    • Camille LaGuireDecember 22, 2012 at 3:33 pm

      I beg your pardon! Just because ALW p*ssed on this doesn’t make it his.

      • brendan stallardDecember 22, 2012 at 7:57 pm

        “I beg your pardon!”

        Camille,

        You’re excused:)

        brendan

      • Catherine CzerkawskaDecember 24, 2012 at 6:03 pm

        Er, was wondering who on earth ALW was in this context. That’s because he had nothing whatsoever to do with Les Mis, which was written by Frenchmen (yes, even the musical) And I still think it’s wonderful. Happy Christmas from Scotland.

        • Camille LaGuireDecember 24, 2012 at 9:04 pm

          You’re right, when he said ALW, I was thinking Cameron Mackintosh — who produced a lot of ALW.

          I don’t like much of what happened to it when they Anglicized it from the original French. (And since I happen to agree with Brendan about ALW, I found it offensive that Les Miz would be attributed to him.)

          I personally think the very best way to present this musical is actually in concert with a kind of tableaux vivant presentation — the way it was here, and the way I understand it was originally done in French — more than the full blown musical. (The story was often presented as tableaux vivants in back in the 19th century.)

          However, I am very excited about this movie, as I think it will be an interesting presentation, particularly with the use of live (rather than lip-synced) performances.

      • Ellen M. GreggDecember 27, 2012 at 10:35 am

        Exactly right. I love a lot of ALW’s work, but Les Mis is not his. :-)

    • ABethDecember 23, 2012 at 11:15 pm

      Eh, which, what? What’s the matter with Andrew Lloyd Webber? Not like I haven’t worn out tapes of Cats and Phantom… (If you record all your favorite songs on one side of a cassette tape — from the legit cassette tape, in a 2-tape player — and then flip the tape and record them all again, you never have to stop to rewind! Phantom favorites OVER AND OVER AND OVER AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!)

      • brendan stallardDecember 24, 2012 at 6:00 am

        “What’s the matter with Andrew Lloyd Webber?”

        Abeth,

        Nothing that defenestration would not fix. His crimes against the ear are legion, and deserve the appropriate fate.

        A girlfiend, with whom I was deeply smitten, dragged me along to see most of his stuff when in it’s pomp in London.

        I am an unforgivable snob. I try not to give the lemon-sucking face, but somehow people always know if I think something is drivel.

        We always took her daughters and their boyfriends. The whole gang were transported to paradise, while I was left, bored out of my skull at Luton Airport.

        ALW is nobbut derivative dirge trash, and the punters eat it up like ambrosian waybread. Salus populi suprema lex? God help us, we are doomed.

        brendan

  2. Sarah McCabeDecember 22, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    As much as I love the 25th anniversary concert, you should post a clip from the upcoming movie. I’m tremendously excited for it!

  3. MiraDecember 23, 2012 at 3:15 am

    That’s wonderful. I’m exciting about the movie, too. I never saw Les Mis in the theatres, so I can hardly wait for Tuesday! :)

  4. BarbaraDecember 23, 2012 at 10:38 am

    I saw ‘Les Mis” on stage and absolutely hated it. I was so bored, I fell asleep twice during the first act and left at intermission.

    I loved the book…

  5. Catherine CzerkawskaDecember 23, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Love this! Thank-you. There is nobody, absolutely nobody, who sings quite like the incomparable (and incomparably nice) Alfie Boe. We LOVE him.

  6. Ron GillDecember 24, 2012 at 7:54 am

    Thank You.

    Ron

  7. brendan stallardDecember 24, 2012 at 8:14 am

    “I guess musical theatre isn’t your cup of tea.”

    Mira,

    Er…I’ve got about 600 full opera CD’s and DVD’s in my collection. When I’m in London, I’ll visit every Opera I can get tix for. More difficult here in Atlanta, but the occasional opportunity arises, plus we get the MET at the Cinema and NPR on Saturday afternoons.

    So, I do like, “sung theatre.” I’m not that fond of what might more readily be referred to as, “musicals.”

    ALW….well, I should be quiet, for we all have our own tastes, and I bless you and yours:)

    For an idea as to what my tastes might be, I offer you this little snippet of perfection. It is the terzettino from, Cosi Fan Tutte (La Belle). “Soave Sia Il Vento.”

    Forget the gowns, focus on the acting and the singing, which is the most perfect I’ve ever heard.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enDLyRWsdDk

    If you don’t know the piece, one reason why, apart from the peerless music is that it is a huge, “reveal.” We the audience are aware the girls are being deceived. Yet, the music of farewell and sadness is so wonderfully sincere.

    It’s both beautiful and very, very dark. Cosi is not a comedy.

    The libretto by a defrocked priest who married his 14 year old lover.

    brendan

    • MiraDecember 24, 2012 at 1:21 pm

      Brendan –

      Ah, now I understand. You like Opera. Musical theatre must feel like a watered down, commercialized version of a soaring, breathtaking art form.

      But then, I don’t like Opera. I’m abit embarrassed to admit it. I’m such a pleb. But I adore musical theatre (which I’m also abit embarrassed to admit!) :)

      But there are things in musical theatre that could not be captured in any other art form. The moment in Wicked, where she first tries to fly – is there anything quite as empowering and exhilariting – could that moment be captured in any other way than song?

      I’m at work, so I can’t link it (or read your link, although I will) but maybe we can agree that we just like our theatrical music served up alittle differently? You may read literary fiction, and I read genre, but we still both like books. :)

  8. brendan stallardDecember 24, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    “I’m abit embarrassed to admit it.”

    Mira,

    Don’t be. In the cops, they all told me Opera and the ballet was for shirt-lifters. Usually-not to my face:)

    I’m the last person in the world to rubbish someone’s tastes, even if they are not to mine. Unless it’s Karaoke, or frightens the horses. I do draw the line there.

    I’m not a fan of musicals/musical theatre. That’s just a matter of taste.

    I detest ALW’s work, because it seems like a dirge, constantly reworking the same old tunes, of which there are few.

    I’m afraid I do despise American Idol. Cruelty karaoke. As if singing could be reduced to cranking out a couple of good songs one night with a decent band backing you. Pah!

    Proper musical theatre takes real work to perform and there are some fabulous, hard working artists out there kicking the heck out of the stage.

    Just as there are lazy, feckless Opera stars. Ole Pav was an idle git when he was alive, for instance.

    Each to his/her own.

    I used to think Ballet was a load of auld rowlocks. Ponces in tights…then I went to see one. Talk about bring on the hankies:)

    brendan

    • MiraDecember 24, 2012 at 11:38 pm

      Brendan – I also can’t watch American Idol, way too cruel for me.

      But I love karaoke. And I don’t like ballet. Like I said, I’m a pleb.

      ALW is not my favorite. But he has some gems. I’ve only seen a handful of his shows, but I like his pretty songs the best. “As if we never said good-bye” from Sunset Boulevard; “You must love me” from Evita; “Close every door to me” from Joseph. Some beautiful melodies.

      If you’ve never seen his work, you might check out Sondheim, he’s fairly close to writing Opera.

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