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| General Cornwallis |
Anniversary CastIf you had to choose who each part in Les Miserables would show up at the next anniversary cast, who would you pick and why? |
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| mizzie |
Oy, difficult decisions galore are in my mind.
Jean Valjean: Randal Keith is a great Valjean in my opinion. Colm is wonderful, but this would be a great way to switch things up a bit. Javert: Oy gevalt! Um....I love my Philly, but he might be a bit old for the role now. Voice-wise I mean. I don't know if he would have it in his vocal chords to play Javert again, but if he can, the more power to him! Fantine: Hm. As crazy as this sounds, I would love to see Bernadette Peters try this role. Still, because I want to use people who have actually played the roles, I adore Ruthie Henshall as Fantine. Yes....clich�s are very fun. Enjolras: I want my Anthony Warlow back! Bring him back! Mommy, mommy! Marius: Oy. I can't decide. Hugh Jackman. Just because I saw his name somewhere before posting here. So basically there is no substance at all behind this decision. Don't hurt me! Eponine: Diana Kaarina was such a nice Eponine. Still, I think I should snatch the role! Cosette: I saw Sandra Joseph playing Christine in PoTO a few years ago, and for the entire show I was thinking about how great a Cosette she would make. And that's all for now! I'll think of the rest tomorrow! ♪♪ |
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| JemiBoe1981 |
AAAAH! (hugs you tightly)... You are officially one of my new favorite people!!! I think she'd be very interesting as Fantine... she has a wonderful voice for it... she's just getting on a bit... |
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| Ghost |
Anthony Warlow and Bernadette Peters are like 20 years too old to appear in the roles you mentioned.
Quast could certainly do Javert. He isn't even that old. He did Archibald in "Secret Garden" which is far more vocally demanding than Javert. Anyway, there will be no 20:th anniversary concert. |
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| sweeteponine |
What? How do you know? That would be very sad 
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| Sairin |
www.londonlesmis.co.uk | ||||||||
| Moci |
It'd be in October, it's August now. If anything is happening, many reports are saying that something may be planned for the 21st Anniversary, but we'll have to see. |
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| B3TA07 |
I think they should wait for 25. I like that number. | ||||||||
| Fantine |
Me too: also because it would mean that Les Mis will be around for 5 more years 
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| mizzie |
He he *hugs back*
Sure, they're older, but for an Anniversary concert it could work.
True, but this is just for any Anniversary cast. Ah well. And yes, 25 is a fun number! Les Mis�rables will be a quarter of a century old! Michelle♪♪ |
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| General Cornwallis |
I'd pick Randall Keith (Valjean), Ron Baker (Javert), Carmen Cusack (Fantine), Stephen Tate (T), Jenny Galloway (M. T.), Annalene Beechey (Cosette), Jon Lee (Marius), Kaho Shimada (Eponine), Anthony Warlow (Enjolras), Trent Blanton (Grantaire) any old kid as Gavroche and Cosette. | ||||||||
| Moci |
Philip Quast is only 48. In the past few years, he's done 4 musicals (The Secret Garden, South Pacific, Pan and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) as well as doing several concerts. 
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| mizzie |
Ah, merci beaucoup, Moci! |
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| Sairin |
I saw Forum, he was in fine voice and rather comic too.  Wouldn't make him do the role again though, cuz he really doesn't want to.
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| Ghost |
Yes, he probably wouldn't do it. | ||||||||
| Moci |
Damn. It'll be Mike Mac then. 
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| Sairin |
Oh dear God no. There must be more than one good Javert in the world. Anyone but him (except Pradon though). | ||||||||
| Moci |
But someone has decided that he is the Javert. He has an amazing voice at least, unlike Pradon, who I've heard could act it, but not sing it. Perhaps we could clone the two of them together.
Or we could just kidnap Philip Quast...
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| Sairin |
From what I've heard about Pradon's acting, he was rather psychotic so I don't know if I'd like it. I definitely can't stand his voice though (sounds like his Javert comes from Bolton).
I think when you said someone decided Mike Mac was the man, the emphasis there is on *someone*. 
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| Fantine |
Who is Pradon? | ||||||||
| General Cornwallis |
He plays Marius in the 1991 French Revival CD. He later played Javert at the Palace Theatre.
Why are all of you obsessed with Philip Quast? My opinion is that there are far better performers as Javert, they simply aren't as famous. |
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| Moci |
But Philip Quast is Philip Quast.
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| Sairin |
Not in a nasty way, but it's my opinion that there aren't. |
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| General Cornwallis |
General Cornwallis thinks he is cream of the crop, just not the only one who is.
Shuler Hensley, Ron Baker and Chuck Wagner all come to mind as well as Quast. |
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| Eponine Poe |
Well, ignoring whether or not these people are too old for the part:
Valjean-Colm Wilkinson of course! Javert-Terrence Mann .:sigh:. Eponine- Frances Ruffelle all the way! .:gives a fangirlish squeal:. Marius: Michael Ball. He's so sweet as Marius...even though Marius is a narcissistic, self-centred, jerk...*cough* Well, anyways..next.. Fantine: Amy Lee! Lol. Just kidding. That's be funny, though. Probably Ruthie Henshall? Enjolras: somebody hot..who can sing...ahhh, Ewan McGregor! THat would be sooo funny! But, nah, probably Michael Maguire, wasn't he supposed to be good? Cosette: Maybe if we could teach Emmy Rossum to act...hehe. Nah. She probably can't project onstage either. How about a young Sarah Brightman, that would be infinitely funny. I don't really know about the other peeps. Somebody small and cute and with a cockney accent for Gavroche, though. ^^ |
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| Ghost |
If Michael Ball will still play Marius in any occasion, it'll be the biggest joke ever. | ||||||||
| Emperor of the Fiends |
Agreed. That would be appalling. Not only is he too old vocally-but I don't think his current weight is exactly suitable for the character. |
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| Kragey |
I second this motion!
But that made me die a little inside. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
Yes. "Nice" being the operative word here -- that was her problem. Too "nice." |
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| Frank_Rind |
As much as I would like to see a young Bernadette Peters try her hand at this role, I would much rather see today's more mature Bernadette try out Madame Thenardier. She can walk the fine line between high comedy and low viciousness, as evidenced by her portrayal of the Witch in 'Into the Woods' many moons ago. Its a small role, but Bernadette would definitely excel. I always had a desire to see Judy Kuhn tackle Fantine, but once again, I feel she's past the appropriate age. I always liked her as a belter more than a soprano, and I don't think the TAC was adequate in showing off her talents. However, on this topic, I did see a Fantine played by a woman in her late 40s who quite successfully incorporated her age into the character. It was in a pro-am production I saw lately, and the woman was a former cover of the role on the West End. She was stunning. So ya never know... Also, on a note of interest, Lea Salonga has expressed some interest in tackling Fantine, but I'm not sure how that would turn out. Joanna Ampil did it well, and the two women seem to be very similar vocally... Thoughts? |
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| nicnikniki |
Do you really think their voices are similar? I think Joanna Ampil kind of pushes her notes (but I like her anyway) while Lea Salonga is always kind of sweet and pretty (I like her too though). They have both played Eponine, I've heard, but I think Lea Salonga would make a better Fantine than Eponine. She made Eponine too pretty and distressed, which is more the kind of way Fantine needs to be portrayed, I think. | ||||||||
| Kragey |
[quote="Frank_Rind"]
As you mentioned, older women can excel at the part of Fantine. I adored Bernadette's witch, not so much because she was particularily vicious, but because she had a quirky, misunderstood feeling to her.
I don't really see it. Joanna Ampil has always been much more interesting to me, whereas Lea Salonga tends to bore me. |
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| Moci |
I can imagine Lea Salonga being a wonderful Fantine, although I am biased, because of how well she seems to work when doing roles that carry emotion and passion. I think any problems with her doing it would be that people would compare with her Jo Ampil, because people seem to do that, probably because they're the only official, English language recorded Kims. Yet they are different and I'd be interested in Lea's own interpretation of the character, as one thing she seems to do is be able to reinvent a character. | ||||||||
| javertsw |
Valjean- Jeff Leyton
Javert- Couldn't say. Roger Allam except for age.. well I suppose you can't be too old for Javert. No-one else has really impressed me that much as Javert. (Cornell John acts the role great, but I didn't think his voice suited Javert. Michael McCarthy is exactly the opposite). Fantine- It has to be Joanna Ampil. She was practically perfect as Fantine to me. Mme. Thenardier- Claire Moore, simply because I adore this woman. Thenardier- Stephen Tate Enjolras- I haven't experienced anyone who has really blew me away as Enjolras. Marius- Gary Tushaw. He was just wonderful. Cosette- Julia Moeller Eponine- Sophia Ragavelas |