"I'm getting more and more curious about whether they are doing the musical completely sung-through with recitatives, or they've converted it to a more traditional speak-then-sing format that incorporates more of the novel..."
I'm hoping the latter. Wall-to-wall singing on film can be tiresome. That would be akin to a film having too much CGI effects. Eventually, the senses become fatigued. I've always said they should take out the recitative but retain the important songs (arias). For example, the attempted robbery (where Thenardier recognizes Valjean and pounces on him but is rescued by Valjean's intervention) and the attack on the Rue Plumet (where Eponine interferes with Thenardier and his gang) might as well be spoken dialog. Furthermore, I hope they incorporate more scenes from the novel and flesh out the characters even more, and with the recent photos of what appears to be General Lamarques funeral (which is only mentioned on stage) it appears they are doing that. So yay!
My only quibble so far is, Eponine appears to look attractive. According to the book, she's a "pale, puny, meagre creature," with a hoarse voice like "a drunken galley slave’s" due to it being "roughened by brandy and by liquors." She also has missing teeth, mangled hair, bony shoulders, heavy brooding drooping eyes, and a premature-aging face with only a trace of beauty lingering. One of the faults with the musical is making her attractive (and thus desirable and too sympathetic toward the audience) and giving her too much storytime, while Cosette got shafted. We are supposed to pity her, not sympathize with her. Otherwise, Marius (who doesn't really give her much notice in the book) comes off like an A-hole and Cosette like a Mary Sue.
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
