"King's Speech" director to take on "Les Miserables"

[DigificWriter]

Vanyel wrote:

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^Like I said, I hope I'm wrong.

If you're going to be worried about anything in terms of Swift's casting, you should have questions about whether or not she can handle the acting part of the role, although I think it is even too early to have even those kinds of concerns.

Anyone who actually knows anything about music knows that you can teach somebody how to act, but you can't teach them how to sing. You can teach them how to unlock a talent for singing, but that talent has to be there in the first place.

We already know Swift can sing; we don't know if she can adapt the way she typically sings in order to accomodate a song the style of On My Own, but, knowing what I know about musical talent (coming as I do from a family that is very vocally musically gifted), I think it is far more likely that she'll succeed in adapting her singing style to accomodate On My Own than it is that she'll fail in doing so.

I'd also like to point out that the likelihood that the PTB behind the Les Mis musical movie cast Swift in the role of Eponine 'sight unseen' is rather slim; she had to have impressed them with both her acting and singing ability moreso than the other actresses who were up for the role, or else they wouldn't have picked her.

[Vanyel]

The same can be said about acting. A person either can act, because they have the innate ability to, or their ability to act was unlocked. Some people can't act, no matter the training they get.

The original production of West Side Story is a good example. They needed people who could sing, dance and act. They could find very few who could do all three and not enough to fill the rolls of Tony, Maria, Anita, Riff and Bernardo. So they took what they could, those who could sing and act. In the original production and revivals, some characters, those who can't dance stayed back and sang. The movie did the same, except they took those who could dance and act. In a movie singing can be dubbed in.

So I do hope Swift can act. I do think On My Own is a make it or break it song, as is One Day More, A Little Fall of Rain, Red and Black, Stars, I Dreamed a Dream, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables and Do You Hear the People Sing? A lot of songs need to be sung well and any one of those, or more than one, will ruin the musical.

The movie version of The Phantom of the Opera, fell when it's lead could not, in my opinion, sing The Music of the Night or Past the Point of No Return. It brought down the whole musical.

Éponine is important in four songs: On My Own, One Day More, A Heart Full of Love (Which I wouldn't be surprised if it were cut from the movie.), and A Little Fall of Rain. If she can't adapt her singing style or act, the musical is in big trouble.

A lot rides on Éponine's shoulders.

[The Borgified Corpse]

Really, isn't Swift's "You Belong with Me" the country-pop equivalent of "On My Own"?

Kestrel wrote:

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Russell Crowe? Can he sing? Also, Australian Valjean and Javert, eh?

"Makin' movies! Makin' songs! And fightin' 'round the world!"

Kestrel wrote:

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Radcliffe as Marius? My first reaction is he's too young, but he's 21 now and only 3 years younger than Michele, soo... that could work, assuming he can sing. I doubt he could pull off Enjolras, but maybe.

Daniel Radcliffe should play Grantaire, just for the hell of it.

Kestrel wrote:

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Between "Beggars at the Feast" and "Dog Eat Dog," keep "Dog Eat Dog" - it's so sinister and drives home the "Miserables" part of the show.

Agreed that "Dog Eat Dog" is the more sinister piece. It's also a different tune, whereas "Beggars at the Feast" is basically a reprise of "Master of the House."

But from a pacing point of view, "Dog Eat Dog" is more vulnerable. By that point, you don't care about the Thenardiers. You want to keep the focus on the core 4-- Valjean, Javert, Cosette, & Marius. On the other hand, by the time you get to "Beggars at the Feast," it's a welcome return by a pair of beloved characters.

[Vanyel]

I wonder something, not about Swift as Éponine - big surprise - but how do you think they'll do the end? The Epilogue, like Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, brings back some who died. Part of the Epilogue is Valjean singing with Fantine and Éponine. And should the movie stay true to the stage musical, everyone joining in on the reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing? as the grand finale.

Any speculations on that, anyone?

ETA:
A side note, too bad they movie wont have this in it:

[Kestrel]

^ I don't see any reason why they'd change the Epilogue. Fantine and then Eponine coming to sing Valjean into heaven and join the chorus of the rest of the cast that have all died is pretty much the climax of the show, and could easily translate to film.

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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Really, isn't Swift's "You Belong with Me" the country-pop equivalent of "On My Own"?

Well, except that it's light, poppy and optimistic, not show-stoppingly dramatic, desperate, and ultimately accepting of fate.

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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Daniel Radcliffe should play Grantaire, just for the hell of it.

"Give me butterbeer on my breath, and I'll breathe them all to death!"

The Borgified Corpse wrote:

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Agreed that "Dog Eat Dog" is the more sinister piece. It's also a different tune, whereas "Beggars at the Feast" is basically a reprise of "Master of the House."

But from a pacing point of view, "Dog Eat Dog" is more vulnerable. By that point, you don't care about the Thenardiers. You want to keep the focus on the core 4-- Valjean, Javert, Cosette, & Marius. On the other hand, by the time you get to "Beggars at the Feast," it's a welcome return by a pair of beloved characters.

Well, but then again Dog Eat Dog is plot critical - Thenardier taking the ring from Marius' "dead" body and recognizing Valjean before he runs off, whereas Beggars at the Feast really isn't (it's plot points are dealt with before Marius punches out Thenardier).

[Vanyel]

I think Master of the House and Beggars At the Feast need to be left in otherwise we have a story where nearly everybody dies (a very high body count for a musical which includes a young boy) and both add a much needed levity to the story. While Dog Eats Dog does really bring to light the very dark and cold heart of Thénardier.

It has been said before and if it must be cut, I think a cut of the musical should be made that is much like The 10th Anniversary Concert.

People are willing to watch movies of 3 hours with an intermission. Many movies are reaching the 2.5 hour mark an extra 0.5 hours shouldn't be a problem.

[nvek86]

I really hope the film will have an intermission. That way they can make it longer and "One Day More" is so perfectly designed to lead into a break.

[Vanyel]

nvek86 wrote:

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I really hope the film will have an intermission. That way they can make it longer and "One Day More" is so perfectly designed to lead into a break.

Yes, it certainty is.

[Greg Cox]

Sadly, I suspect they'll cut "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." It's a lovely song, but it doesn't really advance the plot. And it slows things down just as, in theory, the movie is heading for its conclusion.

[CaptainCanada]

nvek86 wrote:

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I really hope the film will have an intermission. That way they can make it longer and "One Day More" is so perfectly designed to lead into a break.

Intermissions are a thing of the past.

[DigificWriter]

Anybody who is doubtful of Taylor's ability to handle a song like On My Own really needs to go take a listen to "Safe and Sound", the song she wrote and recorded for the upcoming filmic adaptation of The Hunger Games. It's a very hauntingly beautiful track that reminds me a lot of On My Own and some of the other iconic songs from Les Mis, and is a very different song than her usual fare.

I have no real interest in seeing the HG film, but this song is fast becoming my new favorite TS song (I've already listened to it twice in the past 5 minutes, courtesy of YouTube).

[Kestrel]

^ That's a beautiful song, thanks for pointing it out. If she does more in that vein, that'll be fantastic.

That said... while it makes me feel better about her casting, it still leaves me very unsure for one reason. She does the haunting, quiet stuff really well, but "On My Own" turns from that into a BIG massive orchestral song - a chance for the singer to absolutely show off her pipes. You could change it of course, but that would be a real shame at least in my mind.

Greg Cox wrote:

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Sadly, I suspect they'll cut "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." It's a lovely song, but it doesn't really advance the plot. And it slows things down just as, in theory, the movie is heading for its conclusion.

That would make me sad. I got the chance to see the traveling Broadway production the other night and I was struck by just how much I like some of the quieter songs in Act II.

CaptainCanada wrote:

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Intermissions are a thing of the past.

Yeah, tis true. The most recent movie I saw with an intermission was the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven - and of course that wasn't released to theaters.

[Vanyel]

Kestrel wrote:

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That said... while it makes me feel better about her casting, it still leaves me very unsure for one reason. She does the haunting, quiet stuff really well, but "On My Own" turns from that into a BIG massive orchestral song - a chance for the singer to absolutely show off her pipes. You could change it of course, but that would be a real shame at least in my mind.

That would be a shame, indeed.

Kestrel wrote:

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That would make me sad. I got the chance to see the traveling Broadway production the other night and I was struck by just how much I like some of the quieter songs in Act II.

The Act II is amazing. I really never understood why people dislike Act II, and it's songs.

Kestrel wrote:

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Yeah, tis true. The most recent movie I saw with an intermission was the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven - and of course that wasn't released to theaters.

True, but I think an Intermission would be nice just to get up off my butt and use the bathroom. Titanic was 194 minute (3 hours 19 minutes) and I was really ready to go to the bathroom.

Dances with Wolves was the last movie I saw at the theater with an intermission, but I still think it would work. Just so long as there are no seat stealers.

[DigificWriter]

I just rewatched the Lea Salonga On My Own clip, and while I don't know if Taylor could hit the notes that the song reaches when sung live on stage, the song will likely be staged/arranged slightly differently because of the differences between film and live on-stage theater, so even if it turns out that Taylor can't hit precisely the same notes one would in a live theatrical production of Les Mis, I think she'll still be able to perform the song well and without any difficulties.

[nvek86]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Sadly, I suspect they'll cut "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables." It's a lovely song, but it doesn't really advance the plot. And it slows things down just as, in theory, the movie is heading for its conclusion.

I could see them leaving it in as a little breather after the battles and before the finale. Isn't it also one of the better known songs of the musical? That might help.