Nick Jonas in Les Miserables

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:23am

Didn't see a thread on the broadway board yet, just the West End.

Nick Jonas is set to join the West End company of Les Miserables, per his twitter.
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/1hakvq

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:46am

Well, they can have him.

~Steven

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 3:06am

Amen.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 4:00am

I liked him as Gavroche back in the day...and he can't possibly be worse than Ricky Martin was. Ugh. It took me years to get over his butchering of Marius.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 6:41am

I actually saw him play Gavroche way back in the day. Believe it or not, I thought he was quite good. It was refreshing to see a Gavroche who could actually throw the bag of bullets and make it reach the barricade.
Updated On: 5/28/10 at 06:41 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:24am

Yes, but isn't he a bit young for Marius?

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:27am

Not really. In the novel, he's portrayed as a twenty-year-old university student. Just because he is often played by actors in their thirties doesn't make that accurate. I actually quite like the idea of an age-appropriate Marius.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:07am

I don't mean young in terms of the way he looks. I mean vocally young. Has he developed enough to be able to sing those songs?

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:19am

That's a good question. I'll be interested to hear how he sounds. It's probably a good thing that he's only doing it for three weeks.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:43am

My daughter was obsessed with him for a while so I got to hear more than my fair share of him over the past few years. He had a very pure voice as a child but it's gotten more gimmicky, for lack of a better word, as he's gotten older and his voice has deepened.

He needs to find a more mature variation of his old voice or it's not going to be pretty.

[Bwaynerd]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 10:43am

WHO WAS THE CASTING DIRECTOR FOR THIS???? MILEY CYRUS?? LOL

[rjm516]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:20pm

Even if he can handle the role, it's still ridiculous stunt casting. You see Nick Jonas as Marius, the whole time you'll be like "Nick Jonas just sang that ok. Nick Jonas did xyz" in a way that you don't do when watching the performances of other really famous but professional and strong actors. I just can't buy him in this serious a piece.

Also, Miley should be Cosette.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:27pm

Even if he can handle the role, it's still ridiculous stunt casting. You see Nick Jonas as Marius, the whole time you'll be like "Nick Jonas just sang that ok. Nick Jonas did xyz" in a way that you don't do when watching the performances of other really famous but professional and strong actors. I just can't buy him in this serious a piece.

That sounds like a personal problem to me.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:36pm

Even if he can handle the role, it's still ridiculous stunt casting. You see Nick Jonas as Marius, the whole time you'll be like "Nick Jonas just sang that ok. Nick Jonas did xyz" in a way that you don't do when watching the performances of other really famous but professional and strong actors. I just can't buy him in this serious a piece.

Thanks for speaking for everyone!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:40pm

That problem comes with all stuntcasting, not just Nick Jonas in Les Mis.

[Colle]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 1:36pm

I am not going to pass judgement yet. I don't like how there seems to be this prejudice that if someone is famous, they are automatically not going to be good.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 1:40pm

Lots of people thought putting Melanie C in Blood Brothers was "ridiculous stunt casting", and then she turned around and delivered the performance of a lifetime. Anything is possible.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:09pm

AC126748, you just totally blew my mind. Mel C was in Blood Brothers?! When was this? Why wasn't I told? Was there a recording of it released (an official recording, like when Brooke Shields joined Wonderful Town)? Please tell me more. I saw a production of Blood Brothers a long time ago and really loved it. And I have loved Mel C forever. Spice Girls, I Turn To You...she's kind of awesome.

As for this...
Even if he can handle the role, it's still ridiculous stunt casting. You see Nick Jonas as Marius, the whole time you'll be like "Nick Jonas just sang that ok. Nick Jonas did xyz" in a way that you don't do when watching the performances of other really famous but professional and strong actors. I just can't buy him in this serious a piece.

This was more or less the same logic used in the Newsweek article. Because someone can't get a past performance or personal life of a performer out of their mind, they can't take the performance seriously. How limiting must this be for an audience member? When you see Catherine Zeta-Jones as Desiree Armfeldt do you think "well she can't be in love with those men; she's married to Michael Douglas" or confuse her with Velma Kelly? Do you spend all of La Cage wondering when Niles Crane and Eddie The Dog are going to join Georges onstage?

While I am not jumping through hoops over Nick Jonas joining Les Miserbles, I am always willing to give performers a chance. And I really don't understand this inability to see past the past of an actor. Whether it's something in their own life (public breakups, sexual orientation, bad boy image, etc.) or a role they played, we as an audience should try our best to look past those and simply accept that this person is playing a part.

Updated On: 5/28/10 at 02:09 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:29pm

Mormon, go to the site that shall not be named and take a listen. She was in BB from October of 2009 until April of this year, received rave reviews, and was nominated for an Olivier.

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:43pm

With Joey Lawrence as Javert, d'ya suppose?

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:45pm

AC126748, you rock! I'm so happy to hear (or "read", I guess) that she got such great reviews. I had no idea it was so recent though. After reading your earlier post I assumed it was a long time ago; I'm surprised that her run only ended last month. Thanks again.
Updated On: 5/28/10 at 02:45 PM

[wickedpoppinsfan]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:45pm

I don't know if you guys agree with me, but that was just a really random like never expected that/

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 7:22pm

Didn't he play Chip in Beauty And The Beast when he wasa younger? I remember seeing that on Wikipedia.

[philly03]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 7:29pm

Saw him in Annie Get Your Gun...I think it's too hard to judge from a child actor's performance how they'll do this time around, especially since he took a pop route as opposed to staying within theatre. Can't say I'm expecting too much out of him for this though!

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/29/10 at 12:49am

Are the Jonas Brothers even a big deal in England? I don't know what is trendy for kids these days, but when I was 12 I couldn't say tell you who was popular on another continent, although i probably couldn't have told you what was popular here either.