Luke has a good baritone sound, but his acting is not yet too evident on the sing-off. I do love the character of Gaston because of his obvious pomposity -- I think Hugh acts that out in his obviously unrehearsed participation ( he was in the Australian production 20 years ago). The way the song was "scripted" to be sung in this show, it was obviously slanted to promote the new live-action musical ( which I am looking forward to).
Taron admitted to Jonathan Ross that he had actually portrayed the role of LeFou in a 2006 staging of the show somewhere. Also, Taron had won an award given by the Stephen Sondheim Society as Best Performer when he was at RADA. He does have musical theatre pipes plus acting chops. He and Hugh share acting honors in the sports movie EDDIE THE EAGLE.
We all have preferences ( which people here generally respect), but when one rants and rants about one particular performer again and again and again -- that seems more like a personal and active dislike of the actor. It colors the objectivity of the perception.
Had Hugh Jackman been offered the role of The Beast and not that of Gaston, would he have become an international star of stage and movies? I think Beauty and the Beast showed the way for him to be cast by Trevor Nunn in SUNSET BOULEVARD...which eventually led for Trevor (together with the Board of the Royal National Theatre) to cast him in OKLAHOMA!... And that paved the way for his Hollywood career, strange as it may sound. Three people saw him in OKLAHOMA! : XMen producer Lauren Shuler Donner, producer Harvey Weinstein who cast him in KATE AND LEOPOLD, and his longtime agent Patrick Whitesell who is now Co-Chairman/Co CEO of one of the largest talent agencies in Hollywood called WME.
If he had no talent, the opportunities which followed would not have come thereafter.
Updated On: 3/22/16 at 03:03 AM
