Valjean understudy - Holy WOW!
Mar 17
2014, 03:24:38 PM
Aaron placed 3rd on a season of 'Canadian Idol' back in the day. I was always impressed by his ability to act pop songs (however subtly), and his voice is tremendous. Only after seeing him on TV did I realize I'd already seen him as a gangster in Guys and Dolls at the Stratford Festival, where he understudied Bruce Dow as Nicely Nicely. Glad to hear that he's going on as Valjean and winning folks over.
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'Something's Coming' Sung by Paul Nolan, Danced by Guillaume Cote
May 18
2013, 03:10:15 PM
Thanks for sharing this. Paul Nolan was Tony in Gary Griffin's WSS at the Stratford Festival in 2009. A very balletic performance for a character that barely dances. He sang the b flat in 'Maria' lying with his back to the stage, arms outstretched. It sounds odd, but it was thrilling.
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CAROUSEL on Live At Lincoln Center Tonight at 9PM!!
May 3
2013, 12:50:54 PM
"Singing aside, I could see someone like Ryan Gosling in the role. He has the edge to make him a little dangerous, but the vulnerability to make him completely fall apart when Julie tells him she's pregnant or during the robbery."
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Johnny Depp In Talks for INTO THE WOODS Movie
Apr 28
2013, 11:06:52 AM
Depp has the right range for the Baker. In fact, the part is probably a better fit for him (vocally) than Sweeney. IIRC, the only key they changed of his songs in Sweeney was Pretty Women, presumably to accomodate Alan Rickman.
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How About a Secret Garden Revival??
May 14
2012, 01:46:18 PM
I saw the production that Mirvish brought in last year to Toronto. It was a pretty good Scottish production. Can't say if it was based on the London revival or not, but 'If I Had a Fine White Horse' was gone, and Neville had a very breif 2nd act solo that was new to me called 'Disappear'.
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First Photo of Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean
Mar 22
2012, 04:59:11 PM
On paper, Hugh can sing 'Bring Him Home' in the show key. The top note is an A (how SOON they fly), which he's got.
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First Photo of Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean
Mar 22
2012, 01:01:23 PM
I refer to the show key that Colm Wilkinson, Gary Morris, and Alfie Boe sang it in. I don't know how many times the key has been changed for official productions, but Hugh is singing it a half step lower than it's been most famously sung.
I know the key has been changed for non-professional productions. The high sections of the song were dramatically lowered for the student edition, for example.
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First Photo of Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean
Mar 22
2012, 12:15:02 PM
That last note on 'begiiiiiiin' is a G#. This means Hugh is singing Valjean's Soliloquy a half step lower than in the show.
I wonder if it's been lowered to match Russell Crowe's suicide song.
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Who would make a good Tevye?
Aug 2
2011, 04:06:29 AM
Mandy Patinkin. Really.
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Could Stratford JCS Transfer to Broadway?
Jul 12
2011, 03:14:08 PM
Des McAnuff and Josh Young (Judas), Chilina Kennedy (Mary) and Paul Nolan (Jesus) were interviewed on CBC Radio this morning for the program 'Q'. They performed Heaven on their Minds, I Don't Know How to Love Him and Gethsemane with the core members of the band.
McAnuff tiptoes around the idea of the show transferring to Broadway, but he does say 'I'm pretty confident we'll find a way to take it somewhere'.
The performances are all good, especially the (unfortunately) truncat
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Jackman signs for Les Miserables.
Jun 29
2011, 05:18:06 PM
I reckon he can sing Bring Him Home in the current key. Hugh is good up to the high A. It's the songs that go higher that are worrisome.... I can imagine Valjean's Soliloquy being problematic, or the high B in Who Am I.
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Could Stratford JCS Transfer to Broadway?
Jun 28
2011, 02:52:03 AM
"It happens that we don't see Christ as God. but as simply the right man at the right time in the right place. It is a great and inspiring story, though."
- Tim Rice in a 1970 Time Magazine article written a week after the release of the original JCS album. The article also says that both Rice and Webber were 'brought up in the Anglican Church but eventually rejected it'. I think it was this statement that began all the controversy surrounding the recording and subsequent productions.
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Could Stratford JCS Transfer to Broadway?
Jun 25
2011, 10:16:40 PM
... double post, my apologies.
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Could Stratford JCS Transfer to Broadway?
Jun 25
2011, 10:15:53 PM
I agree about Judas sounding shaky in the clip. I saw the third preview back in May and he was very good in the show. Only in the Superstar number did he seem rather lost. He sang and acted effectively as Judas up until his death, but when that song rolled around it became clear that he's not the rock and roll showman it demands. I hope he's gotten more comfortable since the piece was taped (sometime back in May, most likely). The part clearly sits very high in his range, but he never sound
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Transcript of Sondheim in Conversation
Dec 10
2010, 03:50:26 AM
This is a pretty darn good transcription. The only thing I can recall that I don't see here is Sondheim's comments on Stephen Schwartz's opera.
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Dropping the word 'gay' from lyrics - which showtunes would change
Sep 21
2010, 02:22:44 PM
Younger than springtime are you. Funner than laughter are you.
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Live from the Lincoln Center Discussion Thread
Aug 18
2010, 10:15:48 PM
Samonsky reminds me of Andy Samberg somehow. Odd.
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'Sweeney Todd' tour DVD question
Aug 11
2010, 10:34:13 AM
I haven't watched the DVD in ages, but I probably noticed it at the time, cringed, and then reasoned that Sondheim must have meant for it to sound bad. I can only assume the folks putting the program together wrongly believed the same thing, in their massive 80's editing suite.
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RENT at Hollywood Bowl (REVIEWS)
Aug 10
2010, 12:03:18 AM
Maybe why I like her better here than on the HSM songs I've heard is because she hasn't been autotuned here (well, that and I kind of favour this source material). It drives me crazy on Glee and anywhere else. I admit there were a few definite off-pitch moments in Light My Candle, but I do think the pitchiness (sorry) was largely due to her attempt at conversational talk-singing. More than a week of rehearsal may have sorted that out, but we'll never know for sure.
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RENT at Hollywood Bowl (REVIEWS)
Aug 9
2010, 10:18:11 PM
I've been watcing some (poor quality) YouTube clips, and I gotta say I'm suprised by how good Hudgens sounds. Based on what little of the HSM stuff I've heard, I imagined a really breathy soprano voice. She actually sounds better here than in HSM, for the most part.
Granted, she's a little nasal and oft-'pitchy' in Light My Candle (to say nothing of the cutesy yalping in Out Tonight), but her Another Day and Without You are pretty damn good. I can't really disern from these clips wha
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