#51
Posted: 3/22/12 at 4:44pm
Crowe starts tomorrow with his horse, so who knows what that is. And the chain gang/beginning is sometime next week, according to a tweet from one of the "convicts."
First Photo of Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean — Page 3
#52
Posted: 3/22/12 at 4:59pm
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.
#53
Posted: 3/22/12 at 5:01pm
This is honestly one of my favorite musicals, but it's going to be so odd to keep thinking 'Daddy!' while listening to Jean Valjean sing.
#54
Posted: 3/22/12 at 5:48pm
I am hoping we are not seeing a clone of the stage musical in the movie musical, including a note-for-note comparison. I want to see a fresh perspective and a different cinematic vision.
Hugh is already bringing a different vibe to the movie version - he looked manly and noble, despite the dirt and grime and scars from years of imprisonment. If they adjust the key he sings in, maybe it is to make the musical score more accessible to the ears of the general movie-going public. Many people do not like movie musicals because the music ( especially if they think it is of operatic sounds) alienates them. But if the focus becomes the drama and less of how each note is sung, then maybe we can have the movie that will please a universal audience.
Also, someone I know who is a true fan of the theatre ( she is a regular on practically every show seen on Broadway) has made a comment re how a baritonal voice seems more in keeping with the persona of a gruff, strong-looking convict...and I thought that was probably the reason why Valjean in the original French concept album was written for and sung as a baritone.
But it is early days to argue about how the actors are singing the songs
We don't even know how this stolen scene from filming will wind up in the movie. I want to be surprised to some extent - so, hopefully, there won't be too much temptation by way of stolen scenes from the telephoto brigade.
Hugh is already bringing a different vibe to the movie version - he looked manly and noble, despite the dirt and grime and scars from years of imprisonment. If they adjust the key he sings in, maybe it is to make the musical score more accessible to the ears of the general movie-going public. Many people do not like movie musicals because the music ( especially if they think it is of operatic sounds) alienates them. But if the focus becomes the drama and less of how each note is sung, then maybe we can have the movie that will please a universal audience.
Also, someone I know who is a true fan of the theatre ( she is a regular on practically every show seen on Broadway) has made a comment re how a baritonal voice seems more in keeping with the persona of a gruff, strong-looking convict...and I thought that was probably the reason why Valjean in the original French concept album was written for and sung as a baritone.
But it is early days to argue about how the actors are singing the songs
We don't even know how this stolen scene from filming will wind up in the movie. I want to be surprised to some extent - so, hopefully, there won't be too much temptation by way of stolen scenes from the telephoto brigade.
#55
Posted: 3/26/12 at 2:09am
Billy in Carousel is a baritone role. I don't think it goes above a G.
Valjean is very much a tenor role with some very high notes. People forget that the Soliloquy and Who Am I are actually higher than Bring Him Home, and the notes in the former two songs are sung full voice. For example, in the Soliloquy, there are a string of high B-flats in the bridge. No wonder they lowered it for Hugh, as it would appear in the video.
Valjean is very much a tenor role with some very high notes. People forget that the Soliloquy and Who Am I are actually higher than Bring Him Home, and the notes in the former two songs are sung full voice. For example, in the Soliloquy, there are a string of high B-flats in the bridge. No wonder they lowered it for Hugh, as it would appear in the video.
#56
Posted: 3/26/12 at 6:35am
Wasn't Valjean originally written as a baritone but they changed it to tenor when Colm Wilkinson was cast?
#57
Posted: 3/26/12 at 8:21am
Yes. Hence the octave jumps in "What Have I Done?" Colm Wilkinson chose to do that and it stuck.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#58
Posted: 3/26/12 at 5:04pm
In the book of Edward Behr “History in the Making: Les Miserables” which chronicles the journey of this musical from its origins in Paris to its status as well-loved musical worldwide, this is the part which talks about how the original role of Valjean was composed...and then transposed.
>>>One of the basic rules of casting is that it’s fatal to make up one’s mind hastily, on the spur of the moment, or on the basis of a vague hunch; endless patience, a gambler’s luck, and a fatalistic streak is required. Shortly before rehearsals started, Trevor Nunn asked Tim Rice for advice. As Rice remembers it, Nunn gave him a thumbnail description of the character of Jean Valjean as follows : ‘What’s needed is someone who looks like a convict, is very strong, can carry a guy weighing thirteen stone on his back around the stage and still sing beautifully’. Rice immediately said ‘That’s Colm Wilkinson.’
At this time, Wilkinson was best known as a kind of an Irish troubadour…
‘The minute you started to sing at the audition, Trevor told Wilkinson later, ‘we all know we’d found Jean Valjean.’ He sang the ‘ Anthem’ song from Chess, then Schonberg took him through some of the Les Mis songs in Act One. Wilkinson’s natural golden tenor voice excited all those present, though Schonberg was aware that there would be considerable musical rewriting to be done : originally Valjean had been cast as a deep baritone. Martin Koch, the musical director, and John Cameron, the orchestrator, rewrote large chunks of the music, putting it in a higher key.<<<
If you listen to the original French concept album, a baritone ( Maurice Barrier) sings the role of Valjean.
>>>One of the basic rules of casting is that it’s fatal to make up one’s mind hastily, on the spur of the moment, or on the basis of a vague hunch; endless patience, a gambler’s luck, and a fatalistic streak is required. Shortly before rehearsals started, Trevor Nunn asked Tim Rice for advice. As Rice remembers it, Nunn gave him a thumbnail description of the character of Jean Valjean as follows : ‘What’s needed is someone who looks like a convict, is very strong, can carry a guy weighing thirteen stone on his back around the stage and still sing beautifully’. Rice immediately said ‘That’s Colm Wilkinson.’
At this time, Wilkinson was best known as a kind of an Irish troubadour…
‘The minute you started to sing at the audition, Trevor told Wilkinson later, ‘we all know we’d found Jean Valjean.’ He sang the ‘ Anthem’ song from Chess, then Schonberg took him through some of the Les Mis songs in Act One. Wilkinson’s natural golden tenor voice excited all those present, though Schonberg was aware that there would be considerable musical rewriting to be done : originally Valjean had been cast as a deep baritone. Martin Koch, the musical director, and John Cameron, the orchestrator, rewrote large chunks of the music, putting it in a higher key.<<<
If you listen to the original French concept album, a baritone ( Maurice Barrier) sings the role of Valjean.
#59
Posted: 3/26/12 at 5:42pm
What looks to be the first official still of Hugh.
https://twitter.com/#!/RealHughJackman/status/184391392028667904/photo/1
https://twitter.com/#!/RealHughJackman/status/184391392028667904/photo/1
Updated On: 3/26/12 at 05:42 PM
#60
Posted: 3/26/12 at 5:43pm
Looks like you forgot to link.
https://twitter.com/#!/RealHughJackman/status/184391392028667904/photo/1/large
Sorry, you fixed it. :)
https://twitter.com/#!/RealHughJackman/status/184391392028667904/photo/1/large
Sorry, you fixed it. :)
Updated On: 3/26/12 at 05:43 PM
#61
And he says the look will not be staying for long -- can't wait to see how Monsieur Le Maier looks like!
Posted: 3/26/12 at 6:06pm
And he says the look will not be staying for long -- can't wait to see how Monsieur Le Maier looks like!
#62
Posted: 3/26/12 at 6:23pm
I wonder if he'll keep a beard throughout...
#63
Posted: 3/26/12 at 7:14pm
Probably not, since Russell's Javert has a (completely inaccurate for the time period) beard. Hugh will probably be clean shaven or have long sideburns.
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