Mandy Bruno+Les Mis= Awful!- Page 2

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 11:34pm

Ashbash: Uh, no, they're not. Cosette is a fantastic, likable, sweet character in the book.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 11:36pm

What is the Dina's last name? I looked on ibdb.com and couldn't find her.

[HumATune]

Posted: 5/13/07 at 11:38pm

Ashbash1990, I can’t give a good opinion since I’ve never been able to read the book straight though. I’ve read parts, but Hugo doesn’t do it for me I guess. (I was only able to get through ten pages of Hunchback.) But people I know who have read the book several times would not describe Eponine as a martyr. You have to look at the connotation of the word, and there’s nothing noble about the book Eponine’s death, at least according to most people.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 2:02am

What is the Dina's last name? I looked on ibdb.com and couldn't find her.

She's not there because she hasn't been on Broadway.

[Brian4]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 8:59pm

I saw the show yesterday. Not sure what you're all talking about here. I liked her. She is different. That's not a bad thing. Brought her own style to the role. I saw Les Miz twice with Celia, once two weeks after it opened and once the week before she left. Big...big difference in the two performances. Ceilia went from the weakest character on stage to the strongest, six months later. Give Bruno some time. She stepped into the role pretty quickly. But still, I liked her a lot.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 10:36pm

HumATune: In the book, Eponine's a mentally deranged stalker. The only noble thing about her death is that she saved Marius's life, but it's taken away if you consider that she was on the barricade because she hoped that she would be killed there.

[theminutepast]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 10:47pm

I've wondered whether they could have staged Eponine's death as it was in the book.

[chino]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 11:22pm

I just saw Mandy. She's alright. But I am so thankful I saw Celia. :)

[theminutepast]

Posted: 5/14/07 at 11:34pm

Ugh. I just heard Mandy Bruno via a LJ group. She is incredibly teenybopper. Her voice cracked a couple times and you could barely hear her in the last verse because her voice was too weak. I really hate how the producers let Les Mis get stale.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/15/07 at 1:04am

Wow, you're discreet!

[Colle]

Posted: 5/16/07 at 3:31pm

I listened to Mandy's "On My Own" on the forbidden site. To be honest, I didn't really like it that much. Her voice sounded too immature and somewhat on the whiny side.

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/16/07 at 6:10pm

I've listened to an audio of her. It's the strangest thing. Her OMO sounds like she's happy. She has no grasp for the character whatsoever.

[massofmen]

Posted: 5/16/07 at 9:31pm

PUT IN MEGAN MCGINNIS!
this seems so apparent to me. I just dont' get it.

[Ponine2016]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 11:28am

I'm probably insane and unexperienced in such matters . . . but I actually liked her last night.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 11:51am

I just listened to her Own My Own via the forbidden site and she sounds like a five year old singing along with the cast recording.

I'll eventually see her in this role and then I can actually judge her, but it just seems like a strange casting choice.

[mikeyb16]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 12:54pm

First Ann Harada's Mme Thernadier is terrible (from what I hear) and now Mandy Bruno's Eponine is having problems.

My opinion, whoever casted these replacements for the show must have been "drunk as a skunk" at the time.
Updated On: 5/19/07 at 12:54 PM

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 12:59pm

My opinion, whoever casted these replacements for the show must have been "drunk as a skunk" at the time.

I just don't get the casting of 90% of the actors in the revival. A soprano as the Eponine understudy, a 28-year old as Valjean, DRV over Lea Salonga as Fantine... it blows my mind.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 1:02pm

Harada's not so much terrible as she is.. misguided. She'll improve with time.

Bruno, on the other hand, is just ill-equipped for this type of role. Her voice isn't strong enough to handle the score and her acting, while quite good in certain moments, just doesn't have any depth or nuance to it. I certainly didn't love Celia Keenan-Bolger in the role either, but at least she made it interesting.

istillbelieve24601, in regards to your comments- If the soprano understudy you're referring to is Megan McGinnis, amen! I really was starting to think I was the only dissenter of her performance on this board (though, in other things, she's been great.)

Updated On: 5/19/07 at 01:02 PM

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/19/07 at 1:07pm

Yep, I was talking about Megan McGinnis. The only thing I got from her performance vocally was that she would have been a brilliant Coseete. I also thought her acting was rather shallow. She was portraying Eponine as Cosette in a trenchcoat. It gave an interesting spin to the love triange, especially when you take it out of context and think about how Marius and Cosette were portrayed by Asian actors and Eponine was blond, but I wasn't sure I loved her performance.

I can't understand why so many people love her. She's talented, but terribly miscast. I'd love to see her in some other roles, definitely as Cosette and maybe as Florence in Chess, for starters.

[SondheimFan2]

Posted: 5/20/07 at 10:09pm

i never saw mandy bruno as eponine, but i saw the understudy with about 20 of my friends (school group...) and we all agreed that she was the best female actress in the show.

then i saw her walking outside of the theatre a few days later and i almost died. it was so awesome.

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/21/07 at 8:14am

SondheimFan2, did you see an understudy for Fantine as well?

Megan McGinnis is talented enough, but she's got nothing on Lea Salonga's acting skills and her portrayal of Fantine.

Maybe if you told your friends she was the singing voice of Mulan and Jasmine they would think differently.

[whoknew]

Posted: 5/21/07 at 10:45am

Have you guys seen this show CORAM BOY that's supposed to close Sun? I love Les Miz, and I LOVE THIS SHOW!! I just got an email saying I can get a $25 ticket to see the show at broadwayoffers.com for Tuesday, May 22nd. I didn't know if any of you had seen it, it is SO amazing. p.s. Mandy Bruno is struggling. Let Marissa McGowan have a shot at the part.

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/21/07 at 11:02am

I wouldn't really want to see Marrisa McGowan in the part. She's also a cover for Cosette. If one more soprano gets a brilliant belter part like Eponine I'm going to scream.

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/21/07 at 12:41pm

Not to threadjack, but saw the show yesterday---

Does Lea Salonga perform on Sunday's? (normally)

She was out yesterday, and co-workers of mine also went on Sunday a few weeks ago, and she was out then as well.

Just curious --- TIA !!

[istillbelieve24601]

Posted: 5/21/07 at 12:45pm

Lea's sick this weekend. That's why we had to listen to Alex Gemignani's horrible reindition of BHH instead of Lea's IDAD at the Drama Desk awards.

She mentions this on her blog. She has no scheduled outdates, but she's not performing while she's sick.