Ragtime or Les Miserables

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Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:26am

Which cast recording should I buy on iTunes?

The OLC Les Miserables

or th OBC Ragtime?

"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:31am

Ragtime all the way.

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:35am

Les Miserables

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

Do you have a copy of Les Mis already?
I absolutely adore both musicals, but Les Mis is necessary for life. If you have the complete symphonic recording and/or tenth anniversary concert, you could perhaps hold off and buy Ragtime now, but if not, has to be Les Mis.
That said, I'd get both if you could possibly manage it.

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:39am

Les Miserables. Do it now, and never regret it.

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:40am

If you don't have a Les Mis recording, get that. Otherwise Ragtime all the way.

"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:42am

I do not have a Les Miz recording.

"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:45am

If you don't have Les Miz, I much prefer the anniversary concert to the OCR.

"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

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:46am

Ragtime. Les Miz may be a more important historically (sorry), but Ragtime has a much more magnificent score.

#10

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:53am

Definitely get Les Mis then.

The best recording to get though is the Complete Symphonic Recording, overall strong cast and has so much that is missed from other versions. Still, OLC or the concert are both good (OLC was my first CD version of it, though not for long as I quickly bought every version I could get my hands on)

I absolutely adore Ragtime and it's an album I listen to a lot and would recommend to anyone, but Les Mis is the best show ever created and buying it is an investment for the soul.

#11

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 10:53am

Les Miserables

"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611

#12

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 11:27am

Ragtime is better, Les Mis is iconic. Take your pic.

"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife

#13

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 11:34am

Although I like Les Miserables more than Ragtime, I'd say go for Ragtime. Why? Because the London cast of Les Miserables is not the best in terms of cast or content. I'd say save up until you can afford the Tenth Anniversary Cast.

If you don't have another Les Mis album, the TAC is probably the best place to start, and you can buy more Les Miserables recordings later if you love it. The Complete Symphonic Recording has all of the music, but if you're a new Les Miserables fan, it might be overwhelming... and several cast members are really not good at all.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#14

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:14pm

Would it be a better idea if I just got the 2 highlights recordings and get a little taste of both?

"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.

#15

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:25pm

Ragtime.

A work of art is an invitation to love.

#16

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 1:32pm

I have enough funds to buy them both, I just didn't WANT to. I ultimately decided to buy the 2 highlights recordings and later on I'll update my favorite one. Thanks for your help guys! :)

"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.

#17

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 2:03pm

Ragtime...Les Miz is one of the most overhyped, overblown piece of musical grabage I've seen. Just download Susan Boyle's version of I Dreamed a Dream and thats all you need from Les Miz.

#18

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 2:28pm

Les Miserables

#19

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:03pm

Ragtime.

#20

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:05pm

They're both wonderful!

Tell us what you think of the highlights CDs, man... is it the OLC or OBC highlights for Les Mis?

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#21

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:05pm

Would be interesting to hear which one youend up preferring

#22

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:21pm

They both have brilliant, memorable scores.

However, I skip a lot of songs on Les Mis. There are quite a lot of slow moments in the show and I don't think I can stand just listening to Les Mis. I'd have to see in a theater.

As for Ragtime, I can just listen to the entire CD. With Audra McDonald/Brian Stokes Mitchell/Marin Mazzie, I'd definitely go for Ragtime.

"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!" -Family Guy

#23

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:35pm

The Ragtime highlights is a concept recording, so there are a couple of different number and some lyric changes to the Broadway cast recording. Ragtime is a great score and to me, listening to the CD was a far better experience than seeing the show.

Highlights of Les Miserables is just missing so much great material. The complete symphonic recording is great if you're already familiar with the show and want every note. Broadway recording is ok, but lacks a bit in spark and personality. Great to have Judy Kuhn and Randy Graff, if you're a fan of either. London cast is my favorite and I love LuPone's I Dreamed a Dream (ignore Fosse76's comment as Susan Boyle is hardly a reflection of the score or the show) which is considered the definitive version of the song. But it was recorded before changes had been made to the established West End and Broadway productions. The concert recording is wonderful for its lush full orchestra and chorus, though I'm not as keen on live recordings, and the cast is outstanding.

To each his own, but if Les Miserables is garbage, I'll choose to live in the dumpster. Lucky for me, it's not.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#24

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 4:45pm

To each his own, but if Les Miserables is garbage, I'll choose to live in the dumpster.

Wonderfully put!

As you can tell, my favorite part of the Les Miserables OBC, is Javerrence Mann. I'm not even sure why, except that I love that weird, weird voice. When he and Colm Wilkinson are doing Confrontation, it sounds like they're having a contest to see who can pronounce things more bizarrely, and I love it. Mann is one of the few Javerts who doesn't have a gravelly voice, which can be a great thing or a horrible thing, depending on your preference.

My least favorite part of the OBC is David Bryant's completely uninspired Marius. Now, I'm obsessed with Michael Ball, true, but I heard David Bryant first, and he just sounds bored, breathy, and old. Watching him on the Tony awards, he looked a bit like a lizard that looks dead but flicks out its tongue every now and then to snag a fly.

In my pants, she has burst like the music of angels, the light of the sun! --Marius Pantsmercy

#25

re: Ragtime or Les Miserables

Posted: 6/16/09 at 5:08pm

Make some room among the rotting vegetables for me then!

I was never massively keen on the OBC, Colm Wilkinson is the only one I like on it and it's not like he's difficult to get ahold of in the role.

[i]it sounds like they're having a contest to see who can pronounce things more bizarrely[/i]

Rofl Schmerg, that's so dead on!

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