Nicole Scherzinger set to be Elphaba in Wicked movie? — Page 2

jimmycurry01 said: "No, what audiences really want is a likeable star in a pretty looking expensive movie. If you don't get this, you are delusional.

While it is true that Luke Evans and Audra McDonald added quality to Beauty and the Beast, audiences didn't give a rat's ass who was cast in either of those roles.


If you want Broadway talent, with trained voices that don't need help, go to New York and see a Broadway show. Stay away from the Hollywood adaptations. The current industry standard isn't for you.

They are products if their time."


I think Julie Andrews in the time of Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady is a good example. She was replaced in the latter for not being a big enough star (having done only stage work) and then she was cast on talent for Mary Poppins and we all know how that went. In my opinion the My Fair Lady producers were delusional. The Mary Poppins producers were realistic and smart.

"Names" are a product of their time. Unless the talent is so great that it will stand the test of time.

Luke Evans and Audra Mc Donald are saving the BATB movie, and are the reason people will still watch it next year. Next 50 years. In the end, people DO give a rat's ass about talent.

I don't want Broadway talent, I want natural talent. Julie Andrews, Luke Evans and Audra Mc Donald. And I want this standard on both screen and stage.

Hugh Jackman in the les Mis film is way too Broadway parody over the top. Not natural. Many stage Valjeans I have seen, including John Owen Jones gave a much more filmic and intimate performance.

The handful of people who came to Les Mis to think it was funny to hear Russel Crowe sing can not be compared to the number of people that were disappointed in this and many generations to come.

Updated On: 4/24/17 at 07:31 AM

I was hoping elphaba to be a little youger.

Cynthia Erivo for the voice

or Demi Lovato for the name (and voice)

That will never happen, that show is so big they don't need a 'star' they will cast 'nobodies' thereby getting talented singers over star power.

Oh wait, they did that with Phantom, and that went really well............................not

well no, what I meant was, if they were not going for big names, then the obvious choice would go for talent, in phantom they did neither.

Dave28282 said: "Talented singers in the Phantom film?



"

HA! There is no excuse for the Phantom film. Patrick Wilson was the only good singer in it. For Phantom I have to agree with Dave's over all point, and that is because if the plot if the movie. A non-singing actor as The Phantom of the Opera was ridiculous. He was supposed to be able to sing, and captivate with his voice. Butler could do neither.

Christine was supposed to have a beautiful star-making voice. Rossi sounded like an average high school chorus girl, and it doesn't work in the story.

While the point about Julie Andrews is nice, it is no longer timely. Movie audience's taste and expectations have changed. The 50s and early 60s were still in the time frame if the golden age of the Hollywood musical. At this time a Broadway star could still be a popular recording artist, and popular recording artists could be Broadway stars.

My point is that popular music has changed, and movies have gotten bigger. For some resson this auto-tuned sound is popular. This is what singing is now, at least as far as a general audience is concerened. I just don't think that a quality singer could be the surprise Oscar winner these days, and that is because the audience would rather see an actor from a big blockbuster movie in the role. Jack Warner was wrong then, but I don't think he'd be wrong today.

While I say I will take what I can get, I'm not saying that the way of doing things is ideal. I think the audience is more to blame than the studios. The studios put it out, but the audience eats it up. The audience tells the studios that this is what they like, and they want more.

People only said "no, thanks" when the auto-tuning got as bad as Annie. At least I hope that the bad turn out for that was due to the mess of quality and not due to a race thing.

Interesting post Jimmycurry01,

It could also be that in the case of Phantom (and also Les Mis), the producers were just clueless about filmmaking, or even intimidated by the film world, and therefore giving things away too easily. Like "we have no idea about the film world so do what you want with it". Because they really seemed clueless about many of the choices made. And vice versa, the filmmakers of both films were completely clueless about the source material, what is needed for it to work and made some bizarre and disrespectful choices. They seemed to have absolutely no clue about the importance of truthfulness in singing in this material/language.

In my opinion that truthfulness is harmed by 2 things, namely speak-singing (and then use vibrato on the last syllable), this horrific constant switching makes it cringe-worthy. (Les Mis). Especially when they do way too little on the first word and way too much on the last word. A disjointed mess. These constant switches are too big for film. You need something more natural, like truthful singing. For example, many stage Valjeans I have seen have a much more filmic, intimate, beautifully sung, at times almost whispered and soaring version of bring him home, compared to the speak-bleating, loud and uncontrolled Hugh Jackman. Too loud, too fake. Not engaging, not raw, not emotional, not real.

The other thing that takes away from this truthfulness is the auto tune. I would disagree with what you say that that's the standard, although we do hear it in pop music often, I almost don't hear it in BATB Ewan McGregor, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Audra McDonald. Because their performances are naturally convincing and solid and their notes often soar. That is what makes moments in musical films really convincing. That is what this artform is about.

Sometimes it is like they are afraid of talent in musicalfilms. Is it really that hard to understand that great singing works very well on film? Look at Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music, listen to Lea Salonga in Aladdin, watch older films such as Carousel or Yentl, watch all the characters in BATB I mentioned, watch every other greatly sung performance on screen (for example the Miss Saigon 25th shoot, which was actually shot like a film), what exactly is people's problem with quality on film? Neither of these examples is as loud or uncontrolled as the Les Mis film.

Updated On: 4/25/17 at 03:41 PM