Dear Sir Cameron Mackintosh (obviously this is not meant to be sent to him),
I have it under good authority that you will be making a film adaptation of the musical Les Miserables. After reading the novel and listening to the musical repeatedly on my iPod, I have some casting notes I would like to pass on to you.
First of all, I think that Enjolras should be played either by Ramin Karimloo or David Thaxton. They both have the voice to portray this character (click on the links to hear them singing as Enjolras), and they both look the part. In fact, if Ramin Karimloo was blonde, the novel would have actually been describing him, or perhaps that's just my personal opinion.
Secondly, Grantaire. You have to cast Hadley Fraser, I cannot actually think of another person who could play Grantaire as well. The other students should also include Killian Donnelly, Owain Williams, Jamie Muscato and Jon Robyns.
I think that the person who is the most difficult to cast is Marius. You should definitely look at Ben Barnes as a possibility - he can sing and he could no doubt pull off the hair. I also suggest looking at Gareth Gates, David Thaxton and Killian Donnelly.
Finally Jean Valjean should either be portrayed by Alfie Boe, or John Owen-Jones, who are probably the best Valjeans going at the moment. As a little side note, if Philip Quast is not yet too old, you could do no better than to cast him as Inspector Javert.
Obviously, none of these notes need to be taken seriously and they are merely suggestions, but I think that regardless who is cast they need to be good singers, good actors and good portrayals of the characters.
Yours Sincerely, Holly Black.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Enjolras
SPOILERS! (that is if you're interested in reading the book, but let's face it: it's heavy, both literally and emotionally; it's very, very, very long; it talks a LOT about French history; and it can get a little, nay, a lot, confusing if you don't know the story. I DON'T recommend reading it)
There are some notable differences between Enjolras in the musical and the book, but despite the differences I think Enjolras is the best character in both book and musical.
In the musical when they discover Javert to be a spy (at the barricade), Enjolras says:
"Tie this man and take him
To the tavern in there
The people will decide your fate
Inspector Javert!"
...but in the book Enjolras tells the students to tie him up and shoot him 2 minutes before the barricade falls, all to save ammunition. He was never going to let the people decide, he had already made up his mind. And this was after he executed (yes, EXECUTED) somone at the barricade for shooting a civilian. He wasn't as nice in the book as he was in the musical - he smiles in the musical.
As well as this, there are some really awesome Enjolras moments in the book.
One of which is when Grantaire offers to go to a cafe to turn the people there to their cause. Enjolras, on his way home, takes a little detour to see how he is getting on and looks very disapprovingly at Grantaire. He had good reason to as Grantaire was sitting playing poker with the people in the cafe.
After Monsieur Mabeuf sacrifices himself to raise the flag at the top of the barricade after it had been shot down, Enjolras shows a very touching side to his character. He takes M. Mabeuf inside the tavern, puts him on a table as a sign of respect and then does something really surprising. He takes M. Mabeuf's bloodstained jacket, climbs to the top of the barricade, and replaces the red flag with the jacket. I thought that was so touching.
But overall, aside from his death scene, which I think is the saddest bit of the book, the most enlightening moment about his character takes place the night of the 5th of June. Courfeyrac and Bossuet are standing (or maybe sitting) at the barricade talking about Enjolras, who is in his perch at the top keeping an eye on the oncoming army, supposedly not hearing anything they say. Well, I think it is best shown by the exact bit from the book:
'"I admire Enjolras," said Bossuet. "His impassive temerity astounds me. He lives alone, which renders him a little sad, perhaps; Enjolras complains of his greatness, which binds him to widowhood. The rest of us have mistresses, more or less, who make us crazy, that is to say, brave. When a man is as much in love as a tiger, the least that he can do is to fight like a lion. That is one way of taking our revenge for the capers that mesdames our grisettes play on us. Roland gets himself killed for Angelique; all our heroism comes from our women. A man without a woman is a pistol without a trigger; it is the woman that sets the man off. Well, Enjolras has no woman. He is not in love, and yet he manages to be intrepid. It is a thing unheard of that a man should be as cold as ice and as bold as fire."
Enjolras did not appear to be listening, but had anyone been near him, that person would have heard him mutter in a low voice: "Patria."'
Awwwww! After him supposedly being unaware of the existence of women, it turns out that he does in fact have a mistress! This makes him seem more human and makes it even sadder when there are only two people left alive at the barricade...
Those two people were Enjolras and Grantaire. Now, this bit is quite long, so instead of typing it all out, I'm going to summarise his last scene - the saddest in the book. Straight after the last scene in the book and the one that translates as A Little Fall Of Rain in the musical.
Well, the barricade has fallen and the remaining people fighting at the barricade are trying to hold off the soldiers. They retreat into the tavern and up the hole where the stairs used to be (they removed them for wood for the barricade). Everyone is killed and there is only one person left fighting against the soldiers - Enjolras, but it turns out that there are two people still alive. Grantaire, who has been unconscious throughout the whole battle, wakes up just as Enjolras has been cornered by the soldiers and tells them to shoot him (himself, not Grantaire). The soldiers prepare to shoot him and Grantaire walks over to him and stands by his side, telling the soldiers that they might as well kill two birds with one stone. He turns to Enjolras to ask if he minds, he doesn't, so Grantaire grabs his hand, Enjolras smiles and turns to the soldiers, who shoot them where they stand. Enjolras gets hit by eight shots, pinning him to the wall and Grantaire is killed and slumps to the floor at Enjolras' feet.
Needless to say, I cried. After Enjolras supposedly hating Grantaire throughout the rest of the novel because of his lack of passion for the cause, he dies happily at his side.
This is why I think Enjolras is the best character in the book, he is certainly the person with the most depth to his character.
There are some notable differences between Enjolras in the musical and the book, but despite the differences I think Enjolras is the best character in both book and musical.
In the musical when they discover Javert to be a spy (at the barricade), Enjolras says:
"Tie this man and take him
To the tavern in there
The people will decide your fate
Inspector Javert!"
...but in the book Enjolras tells the students to tie him up and shoot him 2 minutes before the barricade falls, all to save ammunition. He was never going to let the people decide, he had already made up his mind. And this was after he executed (yes, EXECUTED) somone at the barricade for shooting a civilian. He wasn't as nice in the book as he was in the musical - he smiles in the musical.
As well as this, there are some really awesome Enjolras moments in the book.
One of which is when Grantaire offers to go to a cafe to turn the people there to their cause. Enjolras, on his way home, takes a little detour to see how he is getting on and looks very disapprovingly at Grantaire. He had good reason to as Grantaire was sitting playing poker with the people in the cafe.
After Monsieur Mabeuf sacrifices himself to raise the flag at the top of the barricade after it had been shot down, Enjolras shows a very touching side to his character. He takes M. Mabeuf inside the tavern, puts him on a table as a sign of respect and then does something really surprising. He takes M. Mabeuf's bloodstained jacket, climbs to the top of the barricade, and replaces the red flag with the jacket. I thought that was so touching.
But overall, aside from his death scene, which I think is the saddest bit of the book, the most enlightening moment about his character takes place the night of the 5th of June. Courfeyrac and Bossuet are standing (or maybe sitting) at the barricade talking about Enjolras, who is in his perch at the top keeping an eye on the oncoming army, supposedly not hearing anything they say. Well, I think it is best shown by the exact bit from the book:
'"I admire Enjolras," said Bossuet. "His impassive temerity astounds me. He lives alone, which renders him a little sad, perhaps; Enjolras complains of his greatness, which binds him to widowhood. The rest of us have mistresses, more or less, who make us crazy, that is to say, brave. When a man is as much in love as a tiger, the least that he can do is to fight like a lion. That is one way of taking our revenge for the capers that mesdames our grisettes play on us. Roland gets himself killed for Angelique; all our heroism comes from our women. A man without a woman is a pistol without a trigger; it is the woman that sets the man off. Well, Enjolras has no woman. He is not in love, and yet he manages to be intrepid. It is a thing unheard of that a man should be as cold as ice and as bold as fire."
Enjolras did not appear to be listening, but had anyone been near him, that person would have heard him mutter in a low voice: "Patria."'
Awwwww! After him supposedly being unaware of the existence of women, it turns out that he does in fact have a mistress! This makes him seem more human and makes it even sadder when there are only two people left alive at the barricade...
Those two people were Enjolras and Grantaire. Now, this bit is quite long, so instead of typing it all out, I'm going to summarise his last scene - the saddest in the book. Straight after the last scene in the book and the one that translates as A Little Fall Of Rain in the musical.
Well, the barricade has fallen and the remaining people fighting at the barricade are trying to hold off the soldiers. They retreat into the tavern and up the hole where the stairs used to be (they removed them for wood for the barricade). Everyone is killed and there is only one person left fighting against the soldiers - Enjolras, but it turns out that there are two people still alive. Grantaire, who has been unconscious throughout the whole battle, wakes up just as Enjolras has been cornered by the soldiers and tells them to shoot him (himself, not Grantaire). The soldiers prepare to shoot him and Grantaire walks over to him and stands by his side, telling the soldiers that they might as well kill two birds with one stone. He turns to Enjolras to ask if he minds, he doesn't, so Grantaire grabs his hand, Enjolras smiles and turns to the soldiers, who shoot them where they stand. Enjolras gets hit by eight shots, pinning him to the wall and Grantaire is killed and slumps to the floor at Enjolras' feet.
Needless to say, I cried. After Enjolras supposedly hating Grantaire throughout the rest of the novel because of his lack of passion for the cause, he dies happily at his side.
This is why I think Enjolras is the best character in the book, he is certainly the person with the most depth to his character.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Le monde redevenu le même...
A quick little negative thought: I've started to feel invisible again. I haven't felt invisible for a long time but I've started thinking that I'm fading into the background, it might be because I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall a lot of the time because I'm more interested in things that other people simply are not. It serves me right, I brought it on myself, I'm just not up to date with anything popular anymore. I have become an old woman, but I don't like to think about things like that. I'm getting better though, I've started being able to push negative thoughts away when I feel them coming out and I have become more positive than I used to be. Anyway, negative thoughts out of the way...
The other day, I saw somebody I used to fancy and I reacted rather blankly, almost not noticing him. I was really happy about that, because I always tend to struggle getting over crushes, I certainly don't see me getting over my current crush any time soon.
I think musicals have become a really major part of my life. Like love which "slips into your thoughts and infiltrates your soul", musicals succeed in taking over your life. I find a lot of them to be very meaningful, I can relate to some of the lyrics, I can relate to some of the characters and I just feel that they give me some kind of an escape from life. They give me something to think about, maybe that's why I'm more positive, I don't focus on my own problems. But let's face it, they have opened a whole big can of worms. All musicals have some aspect of love (lol) in them and it certainly makes one a tad lonely because you want life to be a musical, you want some handsome prince to come and sweep you off your feet. Or maybe you want some mysterious musical genius to take an interest in you, however healthy or not that interest may be, perhaps teach you to sing, threaten to kill your fiancee, lure you to America to hear you sing, etc etc. But let's face it, life doesn't work like that does it? Musicals are always so much more interesting than reality and the people are always better yet realisation that it isn't true still always hurts.
I think that Erik (The Phantom of The Opera) is one of the most romantic people ever. He did everything to help Christine to succeed. Having someone sing The Music Of The Night to you would probably make you weak at the knees and if ever someone proposes to me (haha, I make myself laugh) I want them to propose the way he proposed to Christine - "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me, from my solitude. Say you'll want me with you here beside you. Anywhere you go let me go too, Christine, that's all I ask of you" in All I Ask Of You (Reprise (reprise)) after The Point of No Return in The Phantom of The Opera.
Another one of the greatest characters in a musical is Enjolras. He isn't romantic in the slightest, in fact in the book it said that "he seemed to be unaware of the existence of a creature called woman", but who cares? Everyone loves a challenge. Actually, he may have been a better character in the book, so much more passionate. The Phantom may be better in the book too, but I've not read that (I still haven't finished Les Mis, I should really get back to that). When he tells the people to "tie this man and take him to that tavern in there, [because] the people will decide your fate Inspector Javert", he doesn't have quite the same reaction in the book. In fact, he ties him up and tells him that he would be shot two minutes before the barricade fell, all because he didn't want to waste bullets, he was great.
I could go on about that book, especially Enjolras' and Grantaire's death, Marius first seeing Cosette, and of course Eponine's death, but if I don't stop myself now, I'll be at it all night, so I'm stopping and that marks the end of this blog post.
The other day, I saw somebody I used to fancy and I reacted rather blankly, almost not noticing him. I was really happy about that, because I always tend to struggle getting over crushes, I certainly don't see me getting over my current crush any time soon.
I think musicals have become a really major part of my life. Like love which "slips into your thoughts and infiltrates your soul", musicals succeed in taking over your life. I find a lot of them to be very meaningful, I can relate to some of the lyrics, I can relate to some of the characters and I just feel that they give me some kind of an escape from life. They give me something to think about, maybe that's why I'm more positive, I don't focus on my own problems. But let's face it, they have opened a whole big can of worms. All musicals have some aspect of love (lol) in them and it certainly makes one a tad lonely because you want life to be a musical, you want some handsome prince to come and sweep you off your feet. Or maybe you want some mysterious musical genius to take an interest in you, however healthy or not that interest may be, perhaps teach you to sing, threaten to kill your fiancee, lure you to America to hear you sing, etc etc. But let's face it, life doesn't work like that does it? Musicals are always so much more interesting than reality and the people are always better yet realisation that it isn't true still always hurts.
I think that Erik (The Phantom of The Opera) is one of the most romantic people ever. He did everything to help Christine to succeed. Having someone sing The Music Of The Night to you would probably make you weak at the knees and if ever someone proposes to me (haha, I make myself laugh) I want them to propose the way he proposed to Christine - "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me, from my solitude. Say you'll want me with you here beside you. Anywhere you go let me go too, Christine, that's all I ask of you" in All I Ask Of You (Reprise (reprise)) after The Point of No Return in The Phantom of The Opera.
Another one of the greatest characters in a musical is Enjolras. He isn't romantic in the slightest, in fact in the book it said that "he seemed to be unaware of the existence of a creature called woman", but who cares? Everyone loves a challenge. Actually, he may have been a better character in the book, so much more passionate. The Phantom may be better in the book too, but I've not read that (I still haven't finished Les Mis, I should really get back to that). When he tells the people to "tie this man and take him to that tavern in there, [because] the people will decide your fate Inspector Javert", he doesn't have quite the same reaction in the book. In fact, he ties him up and tells him that he would be shot two minutes before the barricade fell, all because he didn't want to waste bullets, he was great.
I could go on about that book, especially Enjolras' and Grantaire's death, Marius first seeing Cosette, and of course Eponine's death, but if I don't stop myself now, I'll be at it all night, so I'm stopping and that marks the end of this blog post.
Thursday, 2 December 2010
A big old pat on the back
I am incredibly proud of myself right now, I should set myself more day long challenges.
Today, when I was getting up, I was reflecting on various things, one of which was the length of a musical. So, due to this reflection, I decided to set myself a challenge: to listen to the whole of The Phantom of the Opera, the whole of Love Never Dies and the whole of Les Miserables, prologues and all, without skipping through a single song.
I think the challenge was started at about half past ten, maybe as late a half past eleven, and it finished not that long ago. I sat down, content with a brain numbing Sims 2 game and my headphones glued to my ears, one of which started to feel the strain about an hour or two ago. I listened to every single song from all three of those musicals with very little distraction, which is quite impressive: those are some long musicals. It actually got to the point where I missed the start of The Karate Kid because I was on the second last song of Les Miserables and I was not going to give up there.
Anyway, I think that it would be fun to do this again. I'm sure I could find another challenge that takes up most of the day. Next time I could try all three extended versions of The Lord of the Rings in one day! Yeah, right. One of those films would take up a day, never mind all three. And the tears... the house would be flooded by the end of that haul. Well, I'm sure I can find something else.
Today, when I was getting up, I was reflecting on various things, one of which was the length of a musical. So, due to this reflection, I decided to set myself a challenge: to listen to the whole of The Phantom of the Opera, the whole of Love Never Dies and the whole of Les Miserables, prologues and all, without skipping through a single song.
I think the challenge was started at about half past ten, maybe as late a half past eleven, and it finished not that long ago. I sat down, content with a brain numbing Sims 2 game and my headphones glued to my ears, one of which started to feel the strain about an hour or two ago. I listened to every single song from all three of those musicals with very little distraction, which is quite impressive: those are some long musicals. It actually got to the point where I missed the start of The Karate Kid because I was on the second last song of Les Miserables and I was not going to give up there.
Anyway, I think that it would be fun to do this again. I'm sure I could find another challenge that takes up most of the day. Next time I could try all three extended versions of The Lord of the Rings in one day! Yeah, right. One of those films would take up a day, never mind all three. And the tears... the house would be flooded by the end of that haul. Well, I'm sure I can find something else.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Attraction, follow up
Flawless vocals, fabulous hair, a wonderful smile and the ability to look awesome in a mask: Ramin Karimloo has all of these things going for him. He also looks fab in a suit, he looks fab as a French revolutionary student and he is very cute when he's embarrased, it's rude. It doesn't help that he is about 6 feet tall too, sickening. He is a person who is attractive and I can tell you why.
He is not, however, the only person who is attractive because of their singing ability. Take Michael Ball for example. His voice combined with the fact that he was gorgeous 15 years ago (I'm of course not saying that he isn't gorgeous now, just not quite so much) made him very attractive. Michael Ball as Marius, be still my heart.
Alfie Boe as well, wow. I thought when I saw him as Jean Valjean in the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables, that he couldn't be as good as Colm Wilkinson but when he opened his mouth, my jaw dropped and I fell in love. Alfie Boe sang with Colm Wilkinson and John Owen-Jones, and someone else, but they are not of note (no offense), during the finale and boy, was he good.
Speaking of Les Mis and attractiveness, I was in heaven when a couple of the cast members performed with the original cast members to sing 'One Day More': Ramin Karimloo, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe in the same place, hallelujah!
He is not, however, the only person who is attractive because of their singing ability. Take Michael Ball for example. His voice combined with the fact that he was gorgeous 15 years ago (I'm of course not saying that he isn't gorgeous now, just not quite so much) made him very attractive. Michael Ball as Marius, be still my heart.
Alfie Boe as well, wow. I thought when I saw him as Jean Valjean in the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables, that he couldn't be as good as Colm Wilkinson but when he opened his mouth, my jaw dropped and I fell in love. Alfie Boe sang with Colm Wilkinson and John Owen-Jones, and someone else, but they are not of note (no offense), during the finale and boy, was he good.
Speaking of Les Mis and attractiveness, I was in heaven when a couple of the cast members performed with the original cast members to sing 'One Day More': Ramin Karimloo, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe in the same place, hallelujah!
It's a little slice of heaven by the sea!
I havent written anything here in a while because my laptop died and was impossible to ressurect. Well, I got a new one but needless to say, I was a bit resentful of new laptops because I thought the whole widescreen thing was ugly and none of them had little volume wheels on the side (I'm sure that's probably not the technical term) and the screen was the wrong size, I actually said that I thought they looked "like someone had sat on them and squished them". However, I really did need one, for homework and the like so I got one as a (bit of an early) birthday present. I really like it, especially the whole Windows 7 thing where you can put little post it notes on your screen, mine is already covered with my casting notes for Les Miserables (I cannot for the life of me find a Marius).
So, current obsession? Musical theatre! More specifically Love Never Dies: the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It is just simply brilliant!
I always wanted to know what happened to the Phantom after Christine left with Raoul. To be perfectly honest, I actually prefered Raoul in The Phantom of The Opera to the Phantom himself, but that has all changed.
Okay, so all of this will be complete gibberish to people who don't know the story of The Phantom of The Opera. Well, here's a little summary. Spoilers. "Christine Daae was brought up in the Paris Opera house when her famous musician father suddenly dies, telling her he will send her and angel of music to look after her. She grows up and discovers that she is hearing a voice, telling her and teaching her to sing. She believes he is the angel of music but infact he is a disfigured genius, The phantom. He falls in love with her whilst. Although she is fasinated and drawn towards the phantom, she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, The vicomte de changy- or Raoul. The phantom gets madly jealous, kidknapps Christine, and threatens to kill Raoul. She, to save Raoul, agrees to marry the phantom and kisses him. He then realizes what he's done and then makes Christine go with Raoul, disappearing forever." I didn't write that because I couldn't work out how to so I apologise for all the errors in the summary.
SPOILERS!!
So now that you know the basic story I can tell you the basic story of Love Never Dies, trying not to give too much away. It's set ten years after the end of The Phantom of The Opera and apparently, Madame Giry, who acted as Christine's mother in the Paris Opera House, and her daughter Meg, Christine's best friend from Paris, smuggled the Phantom out of France and to America, Coney Island specifically. The Phantom joined a freak show, bought the freak show and then became the head honcho on Coney Island as the mysterious Mr Y. He manages to lure Christine to America to sing and she takes her husband Raoul and her son Gustave with her. Chaos, alcoholism, paternity issues and ultimately death ensue at the Phantom's mysterious Phantasma.
I sat a couple of weeks ago listening to the entire musical on my iPod for about 3 and a half hours the whole way through, but it was definitely worth it, I loved it. I read reviews on the BBC website at school one day when I was supposed to be finding out opinions on genetic engineering (shhh, you didn't read that) and there were a lot of mixed reviews on it. I personally would love to see it live, despite the opinions of it being "stodgy"etc. The worst review was without a doubt the one that said "Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to Phantom Of The Opera, is as slow to motor as a lawnmower at spring’s first cut.", it also said "it splutters", and that the Phantom was "here played efficiently but, well, just a little facelessly by Ramin Karimloo". Needless to say it was the Daily Mail website saying all of this and as you may or may not know, my relationship with the Daily Mail has always been a little 'strained'. Let's face it, they're just jealous. I thought that Ramin Karimloo's voice was breathtaking but then again I have thought so since I saw him playing Enjolras in the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert. He doesn't struggle on the high notes and his tuning is completely flawless despite his lack of formal training and his inability to read music. When he opens his mouth the world seems to stop, he is just so good.
There was a review that talked about a show of male bravado in the second act in the form of the song 'Devil Take the Hindmost'. Well, that song happens to be one of my favourites. I love the utter resentment between the Phantom and Raoul and the way they sound so disgusted by each other. Great song.
One of the other great songs would have to be 'Dear Old Friend'. In this song, Christine, Raoul, Madame Giry and Meg are reuinited and it's clear that none of them are particularly pleased to see each other.
I really like 'The Beauty Underneath'. Andrew Lloyd Webber's attempt at a rock song is very effective.
There is also 'Coney Island Waltz' which is very haunting, 'Entr'acte' which incorporates melodies from most of the other songs and allows some relief from the high emotion of the surrounding songs, 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' which could be quite icky if the Phantom wasn't as attractive as he is and of course 'Love Never Dies', the title song, while not as recognisable as 'The Phantom of The Opera' (here performed by Ramin Karimloo) is still a beautiful piece which showcases Andrew Lloyd Webber's songwriting prowess.
'Til I Hear You Sing' is the first song we hear being sung by the Phantom and really introduces the character. It is a very emotional display of the way he feels about Christine and is on the same level as 'Music of The Night'.
So, that's my opinion. A very long, drawn out opinion, but my opinion nonetheless. I really suggest you listen to some of the songs from the musicals, not just the ones I mentioned, you might find your favourite songs elsewhere in the musical.
So, current obsession? Musical theatre! More specifically Love Never Dies: the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. It is just simply brilliant!
I always wanted to know what happened to the Phantom after Christine left with Raoul. To be perfectly honest, I actually prefered Raoul in The Phantom of The Opera to the Phantom himself, but that has all changed.
Okay, so all of this will be complete gibberish to people who don't know the story of The Phantom of The Opera. Well, here's a little summary. Spoilers. "Christine Daae was brought up in the Paris Opera house when her famous musician father suddenly dies, telling her he will send her and angel of music to look after her. She grows up and discovers that she is hearing a voice, telling her and teaching her to sing. She believes he is the angel of music but infact he is a disfigured genius, The phantom. He falls in love with her whilst. Although she is fasinated and drawn towards the phantom, she falls in love with her childhood sweetheart, The vicomte de changy- or Raoul. The phantom gets madly jealous, kidknapps Christine, and threatens to kill Raoul. She, to save Raoul, agrees to marry the phantom and kisses him. He then realizes what he's done and then makes Christine go with Raoul, disappearing forever." I didn't write that because I couldn't work out how to so I apologise for all the errors in the summary.
SPOILERS!!
So now that you know the basic story I can tell you the basic story of Love Never Dies, trying not to give too much away. It's set ten years after the end of The Phantom of The Opera and apparently, Madame Giry, who acted as Christine's mother in the Paris Opera House, and her daughter Meg, Christine's best friend from Paris, smuggled the Phantom out of France and to America, Coney Island specifically. The Phantom joined a freak show, bought the freak show and then became the head honcho on Coney Island as the mysterious Mr Y. He manages to lure Christine to America to sing and she takes her husband Raoul and her son Gustave with her. Chaos, alcoholism, paternity issues and ultimately death ensue at the Phantom's mysterious Phantasma.
I sat a couple of weeks ago listening to the entire musical on my iPod for about 3 and a half hours the whole way through, but it was definitely worth it, I loved it. I read reviews on the BBC website at school one day when I was supposed to be finding out opinions on genetic engineering (shhh, you didn't read that) and there were a lot of mixed reviews on it. I personally would love to see it live, despite the opinions of it being "stodgy"etc. The worst review was without a doubt the one that said "Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to Phantom Of The Opera, is as slow to motor as a lawnmower at spring’s first cut.", it also said "it splutters", and that the Phantom was "here played efficiently but, well, just a little facelessly by Ramin Karimloo". Needless to say it was the Daily Mail website saying all of this and as you may or may not know, my relationship with the Daily Mail has always been a little 'strained'. Let's face it, they're just jealous. I thought that Ramin Karimloo's voice was breathtaking but then again I have thought so since I saw him playing Enjolras in the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert. He doesn't struggle on the high notes and his tuning is completely flawless despite his lack of formal training and his inability to read music. When he opens his mouth the world seems to stop, he is just so good.
There was a review that talked about a show of male bravado in the second act in the form of the song 'Devil Take the Hindmost'. Well, that song happens to be one of my favourites. I love the utter resentment between the Phantom and Raoul and the way they sound so disgusted by each other. Great song.
One of the other great songs would have to be 'Dear Old Friend'. In this song, Christine, Raoul, Madame Giry and Meg are reuinited and it's clear that none of them are particularly pleased to see each other.
I really like 'The Beauty Underneath'. Andrew Lloyd Webber's attempt at a rock song is very effective.
There is also 'Coney Island Waltz' which is very haunting, 'Entr'acte' which incorporates melodies from most of the other songs and allows some relief from the high emotion of the surrounding songs, 'Beneath a Moonless Sky' which could be quite icky if the Phantom wasn't as attractive as he is and of course 'Love Never Dies', the title song, while not as recognisable as 'The Phantom of The Opera' (here performed by Ramin Karimloo) is still a beautiful piece which showcases Andrew Lloyd Webber's songwriting prowess.
'Til I Hear You Sing' is the first song we hear being sung by the Phantom and really introduces the character. It is a very emotional display of the way he feels about Christine and is on the same level as 'Music of The Night'.
So, that's my opinion. A very long, drawn out opinion, but my opinion nonetheless. I really suggest you listen to some of the songs from the musicals, not just the ones I mentioned, you might find your favourite songs elsewhere in the musical.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Attraction
What makes someone attractive? Well, beats me. You could ask me if I think someone is attractive but, if so, I couldn't possibly tell you why.
I was sitting with my mum last night looking at pictures of attractive guys, from the classically attractive like Robert Redford, Paul Newman, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, to people like Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Mark Ronson. I decided at one point to throw some (for want of a better word) wild card into the equation, so I found pictures of Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin and showed her a picture of the fabulous Gideon Graves, aka Jason Schwartzman. The reaction to Anton Yelchin was acceptable, but when I googled Zachary Quinto I discovered that "he doesn't do it for [her]" (by the way, I love those square brackets when quoting; you can make the quote fit what you're saying), and when I showed her the picture of Gideon I said that I was going to show her a picture of someone looking good wearing a suit that isn't technically a suit. She looked at the picture and said that he didn't actually look that good. Well, I wasn't impressed, but it made me think, what does make someone attractive because lets face it, he isn't; he's short (no offense to short people, there is nothing wring with being short, I just have a "weird thing about guys' heights"). There has to be something attractive about him, but I can't think what it is, I mean, he has a tendency to play really nerdy characters, and occasionally somewhat creepy ones (note: Ethan in Slackers *shudder*). So what is it? And Zachary Quinto, other than being 6'1, I can't actually find anything attractive about him. So why do I find him attractive? At least with most people I can find one or two reasons for finding them attractive, but for some of them, I can't.
Oh, and then there's the whole Spock thing. Yes, again, don't ask me why, but for some reason I have a thing for (Zachary Quinto as) Spock. But, Spock, why do I have a thing for Spock? Weird.
Another weird thing, my thing for serial killers. Okay, not real serial killers, but serial killers in films and books. People like Tom Hanniger, Patrick Bateman, Sylar from Heroes (again, Zachary Quinto), and Mickey from Scream 2. Why is it, that when I found out that two of those people were the people killing everyone in their respective films, that I found them so much more attractive. Surely that can't be normal, or healthy.
I was sitting with my mum last night looking at pictures of attractive guys, from the classically attractive like Robert Redford, Paul Newman, River Phoenix, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, to people like Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Mark Ronson. I decided at one point to throw some (for want of a better word) wild card into the equation, so I found pictures of Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin and showed her a picture of the fabulous Gideon Graves, aka Jason Schwartzman. The reaction to Anton Yelchin was acceptable, but when I googled Zachary Quinto I discovered that "he doesn't do it for [her]" (by the way, I love those square brackets when quoting; you can make the quote fit what you're saying), and when I showed her the picture of Gideon I said that I was going to show her a picture of someone looking good wearing a suit that isn't technically a suit. She looked at the picture and said that he didn't actually look that good. Well, I wasn't impressed, but it made me think, what does make someone attractive because lets face it, he isn't; he's short (no offense to short people, there is nothing wring with being short, I just have a "weird thing about guys' heights"). There has to be something attractive about him, but I can't think what it is, I mean, he has a tendency to play really nerdy characters, and occasionally somewhat creepy ones (note: Ethan in Slackers *shudder*). So what is it? And Zachary Quinto, other than being 6'1, I can't actually find anything attractive about him. So why do I find him attractive? At least with most people I can find one or two reasons for finding them attractive, but for some of them, I can't.
Oh, and then there's the whole Spock thing. Yes, again, don't ask me why, but for some reason I have a thing for (Zachary Quinto as) Spock. But, Spock, why do I have a thing for Spock? Weird.
Another weird thing, my thing for serial killers. Okay, not real serial killers, but serial killers in films and books. People like Tom Hanniger, Patrick Bateman, Sylar from Heroes (again, Zachary Quinto), and Mickey from Scream 2. Why is it, that when I found out that two of those people were the people killing everyone in their respective films, that I found them so much more attractive. Surely that can't be normal, or healthy.
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