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#226

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/13/14 at 9:33pm

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Nikki here. I mean she’s ok, but she’s way too shouty IMO. And she’s too old, why couldn’t they do someone like Danielle Hope? She has the experience, voice, and youth.

#227

I have not seen the show yet, but based on the Good Morning America performance, I was disappointed in how Nikki sounded. Definitely the weak-link of the batch of soloists this morning, but I'll reserve any further judgment until I actually see the show. However, I have to disagree with anyone saying she looks too old. I was actually surprised by how young I thought she looked on GMA. I saw her in All Shook Up, pre-Broadway, almost 10 years ago and she doesn't look a day older than she did back then.

#228

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/13/14 at 10:45pm

Nikki's performance in One Day More was not the strongest when I saw her in person, either, but the rest of the show was fine-to-great. And I don't think she looks too old either.

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#229

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/13/14 at 11:16pm

Re: the NYT article... Ramin Karimloo can't read music? Is that an acceptable thing...?

#230

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/13/14 at 11:21pm

Neither can Michael Ball.

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#231

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/13/14 at 11:22pm

^It's unfortunately very common.

#232

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/13/14 at 11:23pm

"Acceptable" to who? Some of the people on this board? Probably not. But obviously it's acceptable to the people who continue to cast him in things and the directors who work with him. If you mean is that a "common" thing, I think you'd be surprised by how many working Broadway actors can't actually read music.

#233

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 12:53am

Saw this tonight and was pretty bored.

Nothing seemed to be overly impressive to me. It was just kind of a dull production. I've never been a fan of the show, to be honest. So that may be that main reason I disliked this.

Ramin is good and Andy Mientus was good as well. Little Fall of Rain was my favorite number in the show.

#234

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:45am

theminutepast--Eponine isn't shot returning to the barricade in this production. Instead, she's already returned (just after On My Own the barricade comes together behind her) and after Gavroche outs Javert there's a brief attack on the barricade. Marius is standing front and center and Eponine shoves him out of the way of a bullet.

Updated On: 3/14/14 at 10:45 AM

#235

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:51am

Paul Williams, legendary songwriter, actor and ASCAP-BMI president, can't read music (or couldn't during the peak of his career).

Danny Elfman still only reads music at a rudimentary level.

It can be done.

#236

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:20pm

Things don't sound like they are going swimmingly...
The Toronto Production was strong, they should have transferred it directly(Don't think they could get Earl Carpenter with the Union issues of him being a Brit)Also Melissa O'neil was fine but they wanted the name recognition of NMJ.
It will be interesting to see if this show can make a run and have Alfie Boe come in 6-9 months.
The only thing that really throws off the show for me is not having the Turntable for the Opening up to Paris(it is hard to show motion and Time without it).
Hopefully things get better but I think this is as good as it gets.

#237

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:24pm

Benny & Bjorn from ABBA can't read music. Jerry Herman can't read music. Irving Berlin only had very basic skills. Noel Coward couldn't read music.

"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg." -- Thomas Jefferson

#238

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:14pm

I hate for anyone to be cut from a show, but I truly feel they need to let Nikki M. James go before opening night. Her voice just doesn't suit the role. It still blows my mind to think they hired her over Melissa O'Neil, who played the role in Toronto, and was one of the best Eponine's.

Just shows what a Tony will get you...

#239

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:20pm

I don't see them letting her go at this point. They cut Charlotte before they began performances.

Those of us, myself included, who don't want to see Nikki's uh, take, will just have to wait until she's on vacation.

#240

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:27pm

I thought she was absolutely wonderful in Book of Mormon, her voice was perfect for it. But, she is incredibly distracting in this and I believe too old for the role. I wish they could have gotten Samantha Barks, she was amazing in the 25th anniversary concert.

#241

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:33pm

Luciano Pavarotti couldn't read music.

#242

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:35pm

Those of us, myself included, who don't want to see Nikki's uh, take, will just have to wait until she's on vacation.

Seriously? Just from GMA? Or from what you've heard elsewhere?

"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#243

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:47pm

I actually liked James. She reminded me of Frances Ruffelle, who I know isn't everyone's cup of tea.

#244

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 7:27pm

While Nikki M. James is pretty bad in the part, it's not like she's the lead. She's not very good, but her performance is tolerable.

"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "

#245

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 8:55pm

I think even if it gets mixed to negative reviews, it'll probably have a respectable run. Its selling well on the fact its Les Mis but whether it can sustain it remains to be seen.

#246

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 9:22pm

I don't see this being well received by the critics. The tour was well received, but the tour was surprisingly much stronger than what is at the Imperial Theatre now. The cast on tour carried the (IMO) weak production - especially Betsy Morgan and Andrew Varela.

However, this is probably going to be a hit and recoup. The audiences are eating it up, and tickets are pretty hard to come by. The movie and the new staging will draw a lot of audience members. I would pretty much consider this critic proof.

"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "

#247

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:55pm

I actually quite liked ms. James. Although she's very much in the same vein as Ms. Ruffele. Honestly I had more problems with the Marius than anyone else. I'm also not loving the Enjorlas but it was also in the morning to that may have had something to do with it.

#248

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:57pm

Les Mis has always been critic proof, I think it'll run longer than the last revival which did a year and a bit at the Broadhurst.

#249

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/15/14 at 1:37am

Saw the show Wednesday night, and I appreciated what they were trying to do with Nikki's casting. It's refreshing, in theory, to have a different sound quality, an aural counterpoint to Cosette. But they just cast the wrong person, unfortunately. Talented yes, but comes off looking and sounding older than anyone else in the cast, but it's too distracting.

But really quickly on the show? I'm not a Les Mis fanatic by any stretch of the imagination, so I wasn't beholden to the previous productions. (Personally, that turntable just drove me nuts after a point.) But I loved what they tried to do with this production. Did it always work? No. But it looked and sounded great, most of the casting was spot on, and even though it's still a long show, I was never bored like I used to be the other times I saw the show. We had Aaron Walpole as Valjean, and he blew me away once I got over missing Ramin. I'm still undecided about Caissie Levy, I feel like she came off too strong a presence and her steel lungs, which made me a huge fan of hers, needed a little softer for this role.

"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008

#250

Les Miserables

Posted: 3/15/14 at 3:39pm

I've spent the last five days in NYC and, since Ramin Karimloo was out for the performance of les Mis that I had purchased in advance, I ended up going both Wednesday and Friday nights. (Don't judge! This show is the reason I love theatre, for better or for worse).

I thought that Nikki James had flubbed a lyric in "on my own" on Wednesday, but she did the exact same thing Friday. Double lyric flub? Or have they actually changed a line of this song after nearly 30 years?!

The change is in the bridge: she sings "I love him, but when the night is over; he is gone, the river's just a river. IN THE DARKNESS, the world around me changes...."

Thr original lyric, of course, is "WITHOUT HIM, the world around me changes..."

Like I said, she did this both nights. Could it be a mental block, and simply an error she repeated? (This on a night when karimloo transposed two lines in the prologue and Swenson flubbed a line too). Or have they changed this lyric for good?

(there is actually also a third example - there is audio floating around of the first preview and AGAIN, she sings "in the darkness").

Sounds like a lyric change. Has anyone heard anything about this?

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