Quique
|
Gary MorrisI think he's wonderful. Saw him in the 1st NT on February 26, 1991, and he has remained my fave Valjean next to Randal Keith. Opinions, please.
|
mastachen
|
I didn't realize it was 3:17 until I saw your post.
Anyways, to stay on topic, I've only heard him from the CSR, and I thought he wasn't vocally as strong. He seemed to be overpowered by Philip Quast during Confrontation and just got lost in the background during One Day More. I remember Jeff Kready, John Owen Jones, and Randal Keith having a booming final "One Day More," before the end of the song.
He seemed to run out of breath during his Soliloquy also. His Bring Him Home was impressive.
Overall, I'd say his recorded performance was just slightly above mediocre. Maybe he's a lot more impressive live.
|
Quique
|
| mastachen wrote: | | Overall, I'd say his recorded performance was just slightly above mediocre. Maybe he's a lot more impressive live. |
Agreed. His recorded performance seemed restrained.
He sounded great live. One of my fave Valjeans. Vocally heartrending. LOVED HIM.
|
Timmy_Wishes he was Quast
|
I actually really like him. As the only offically recorded alternative to Colm. Infact i prefer his performance to Colm. His Valjean is "softer" for want of a better word. i always find colm to be more aggressive and scary which is fine for the Prologue, but by the time we get to his parts with Cosette he should have mellowed no? (IMO) He's wonderful. I like him in the eplogue his voice seems to "blend" better with the other actors, where as Colm constantly seems to be fighting to be above them? (IMO) Would have loved to see him live, but his recorded performance is defiantly worth having.  Infact i may go listen to him now...
|
lesmisloony
|
Ooh, I hate him. I suppose he was good live, but he just sounds so... womanly... on the CSR that it's kind of painful. Of course, next to Colm and Randal Keith a lot of people aren't going to sound particularly butch...
I remember on Le Cafe insulting Gary Morris was a kind of sport... someone said that during "Confrontation" he sounded like Javert had walked in on him painting his nails, and in the sewers he sounded like he was being poked with a stick.
...that might be a little extreme, but I'm still definitely not a fan.
|
Orestes Fasting
|
| Quique wrote: |
Agreed. His recorded performance seemed restrained. |
Restrained?  It was his overacting that killed his CSR performance for me.
|
Sweeney Hyde
|
I love him on the CSR.
The only person I really have a problem with on the CSR is Kaho Shimada as Eponine, to be perfectly honest.
|
Quique
|
| Orestes Fasting wrote: | | Quique wrote: |
Agreed. His recorded performance seemed restrained. |
Restrained? It was his overacting that killed his CSR performance for me. |
Yes, he's vocally restrained on the CSR. Big time. His voice was so much more powerful live. He almost seems to whisper at many points in the recording.
As for his acting, I guess it's hard to judge as his live performance is so etched in my mind, that's all I see/hear.
|
herkind
|
I never saw him live since I was a toddler in 1991 but I'm not a fan of his performance on the CSR. He seemed to be overacting in some places and monotone in others. Also, his excessive vibrato ruined Bring Him Home for me.
As for Kaho Shimada, I'm not really a fan of her performance either but I've heard clips of her in Japanese and she sounds much better in her native language.
|
mastachen
|
| herkind wrote: |
As for Kaho Shimada, I'm not really a fan of her performance either but I've heard clips of her in Japanese and she sounds much better in her native language. |
I heard that she didn't know a word of English before she recorded for Les Mis. Is that true? I guess if it is, we'd have something to be impressed about...
Also I read someone's post on BWW that he/she thinks Gary Morris and Kaho Shimada were trying to imitate Colm and Frances's voices, respectively. Any thoughts on that?
|
Quique
|
Imitate? Naw. I never got that from their CSR performances.
|
Paula74
|
Strictly comparing recordings since I didn't see either live...
Having heard (and liked) Colm first, I heard Gary on the CSR and thought, "I like him much better than Colm!"
Didn't listen to either for years. Dug out my CSR about two years ago and was listening to it without any bias. I just didn't like Gary the second time around.
I can't put my finger on why...but I was surprised that I liked him in the first place.
|
herkind
|
| mastachen wrote: | | herkind wrote: |
As for Kaho Shimada, I'm not really a fan of her performance either but I've heard clips of her in Japanese and she sounds much better in her native language. |
I heard that she didn't know a word of English before she recorded for Les Mis. Is that true? I guess if it is, we'd have something to be impressed about...
Also I read someone's post on BWW that he/she thinks Gary Morris and Kaho Shimada were trying to imitate Colm and Frances's voices, respectively. Any thoughts on that? |
I heard that too. She learned the part phonetically. I can't remember if she performed the part in Japanese before or after the CSR was made. Anyway, I think the biggest issue I had with her was I felt she was trying to mask her accent which led to some strange vowel sounds. I do like that her vocals were softer than most other Eponines. She was quieter and sadder which made you feel more for her.
I don't think they were trying to imitate Colm and Frances. At least, that's not how it came across.
|
The Very Angry Woman
|
| herkind wrote: | | I heard that too. She learned the part phonetically. I can't remember if she performed the part in Japanese before or after the CSR was made. Anyway, I think the biggest issue I had with her was I felt she was trying to mask her accent which led to some strange vowel sounds. |
She did. She was in the Tokyo production at the time.
I think part of the reason her accent is all over the place is because she had a dialect coach AND Anthony Warlow both helping her out.
|
Vanessa20
|
I like Gary fairly well, even though he's far from my favorite Valjean.The CSR was my first recording of the show, so I'm one of the few people who heard him before I heard Colm. That probably makes me like him better than other people do. I'm too young to have seen him onstage, but I've read reviews from a few different people who said he was better live than on the recording.
One fact that amazes me is that he once played Rodolfo in "La Boheme." I don't know how he could have done it without making Puccini roll over in his grave.
|
Jekkienumber24601
|
John Owen Jones is my favorite Valjean by far, followed closely by Wilkinson, than Randal Keith, whom I saw on tour.
|
windbelle
|
| The Very Angry Woman wrote: |
I think part of the reason her accent is all over the place is because she had a dialect coach AND Anthony Warlow both helping her out. |
Huh, how did that come about? 
But to the point, though I'm not a fan either, I think Gary's vocal performance is tolerable to my ears. And I was a little surprised to learn that so many people hated him. He does sound a bit restrained in vocal strength in CSR.
As for Shimada, I'm not sensitive to accent, 'cause I'm not a native English speaker. I just don't like the way she handles on my own and a little fall of rain, kind of overacted IMO. But she is pretty lovely and sad in other small parts.
|
Timmy_Wishes he was Quast
|
| Quote: | The Very Angry Woman wrote:
I think part of the reason her accent is all over the place is because she had a dialect coach AND Anthony Warlow both helping her out.
| Quote: |
Huh, how did that come about? Shocked |
|
They recorded their vocals at the same time. The Australian Members of the Cast and Kaho...but can't remember where. 
|
The Very Angry Woman
|
| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast wrote: | | They recorded their vocals at the same time. The Australian Members of the Cast and Kaho...but can't remember where. |
Sydney.
|
Lazarus (Adam G)
|
I'll need to here him live, because on the album he sucked.
|
windbelle
|
| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast wrote: |
They recorded their vocals at the same time. The Australian Members of the Cast and Kaho...but can't remember where. |
Yeah I know, but still that does not explain Kaho's accent itself. Any evidence that it's the achievement of Anthony Warlow?
And back to the topic, I remember Gary recorded his part in London, right? I was wondering Why he didn't record with the chorus in LA.
|
Quique
|
I think Gary recorded his part in Nashville.
|
Timmy_Wishes he was Quast
|
| Quote: | | I think Gary recorded his part in Nashville. |
| Quote: | | I remember Gary recorded his part in London, right? |
Bits of both. Gary laid down some of his vocals with the Symphonic in London and then the rest later in Nashville, he defiantly recorded Bring Him Home In London, as it is featured on "Stage By Stage".
Most of this information is in the CSR insert booklet.
EDIT* And in response to the L.A Question i don't know but one would assume it was to do with recording availability as Gary could get to London and logistically speaking it would be silly to move all the people to London, but whilst they were in the USA they could kill two birds with one stone. Get the LA vocals and finish of Morris'.
Though it is the huge variety of locations and recording sessions that i feel is the biggest let down in the recording as you miss the playing off of the characters against one another.
OH and on another note if re:confrontation upon reading "The Musical World of Boublil and Schonberg", they discuss the Confrontation and the composer himself tells the author that there is SUPPOSED to be a vocal imbalance. i.e One character is meant to be heard above the other. And woe betide any Sound Techie that tries to make the vocals balance.
|
