javertim
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| Kragey wrote: | But her Eponine made me puke in my mouth. (Kind of like Tim Howar. :: shivers : |
Aww, that's kinda sad. I know we're not on the subject of Marius, but Tim Howar has always been my favorite in that part. What didn't you like about him?
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Kragey
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| javertim wrote: | | Kragey wrote: | | But her Eponine made me puke in my mouth. (Kind of like Tim Howar. :: shivers : |
Aww, that's kinda sad. I know we're not on the subject of Marius, but Tim Howar has always been my favorite in that part. What didn't you like about him? |
I couldn't stand his voice at ALL. Not just for the part, but for any reason. It sounds like he's so horribly congested, and any time he tries to belt or hit a higher note it sounds...just...UGH.
To each their own, though, because I really loved Adam Jacobs (probably MY favorite Marius), and I know tons of people who hated him.
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Annaliese
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I think the problem with Diana is that she is just too damn cute. She'd make a great Little Red though (as long as she could also bring out the viciousness- which I think she could.) She could probably play down the cuteness if she wanted to- but poor girl, her face is just cute as a button. And I did not enjoy her interp of Eponine. I like Kaho, Marie, and Frances. And a girl I saw when I was seven in the National Tour- Jennifer Naimo.
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digitalxdoll
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My favourite eponine is Frances Ruffelle. I saw her back in 1996, she was fantastic.
I also like....
Sophia Ragalevas
Jessica Snow Wilson (never seen her, but i like her voice)
Joanna Ampil
Lea Salonga
Kaho Shimada
Gemma Wardle
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Annaliese
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Actually, I think Daphne Rubin Vega would have made a great Eponine (the original Mimi from RENT) It is sort of hard to imagine her in a period piece- but her voice would effectively convey the rawness of Eponine without being whiney- and she would never have been CUTE. She would have been sweet at the times that were appropriate, but she would also bring a much needed genuine toughness to the role. Gah- I am really sad she never played the part now.
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loquaciously
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...
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loquaciously
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...
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Fantine
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You know, Frances Ruffelle is growing on me.
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EponineGiry
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I like Frances much better in the OLC than OBC. It was actually the OBC that made me think "meh." But her OLC is actually a good performance.
Lea Salonga, being my queen, must get a vote, but I do think her voice is too mature for the role. (Cue Moci killing me.)
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Kragey
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| digitalxdoll wrote: |
Jessica Snow Wilson (never seen her, but i like her voice)[/size] |
I saw her. She was pretty good...probably in the upper middle of my Eponines list.
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nicnikniki
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| Fantine wrote: | | You know, Frances Ruffelle is growing on me. |
I was also starting to think that recently, but last night I had another listen of her on the OLC and I have to admit, I don't like her voice. I've tried to make myself like it, and then I realised that forcing myself to like someone's voice is missing the point! Lea Salonga is definitely my favourite. I also think Kaho is incredibly overrated. Shonagh Daly is OK.
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Sairin
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| loquaciously wrote: | | I LOVE Daphne on the OBC of Rent. LOVE her. (Rosario Dawson's voice is completely wrong for the part of Mimi.) |
Really? I absolutely hate her there, she ruins several great songs for me (there's singing and then there's yowling...Rosario actually sings). I'm just glad the OST's out cuz now I never have to put the OBC on again. The film is great, they've replaced the one person who really got on my nerves.
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Vicam
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| Sairin wrote: | | loquaciously wrote: | | I LOVE Daphne on the OBC of Rent. LOVE her. (Rosario Dawson's voice is completely wrong for the part of Mimi.) |
Really? I absolutely hate her there, she ruins several great songs for me (there's singing and then there's yowling...Rosario actually sings). I'm just glad the OST's out cuz now I never have to put the OBC on again. The film is great, they've replaced the one person who really got on my nerves. |
I totally agree with you Sairin, I loved Rosario's voice on the OST for RENT and was not impressed with Daphne Ruben-Vega's at all. I hear that for the 10th Anniversary Broadway production it's going to be all the original Broadway cast members, so that should be interesting
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Moci
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| EponineGiry wrote: |
Lea Salonga, being my queen, must get a vote, but I do think her voice is too mature for the role. (Cue Moci killing me.) |
Would I? 
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Roseinmisery
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While I have to agree that Lea Salonga is ridiculously talented and probably everyone's favourite Eponine, she isn't mine. I have to agree that she sounds a little too mature for the role. Love her ALFOR, though.
Kaho Shimada I thought had a really beautiful voice but that it was too beautiful for the character. Weirdly, I thought she would have suited Cosette better.
I know I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this but I really do love Frances Ruffelle's voice. At first I imagined Eponine to have a deeper voice like in the Brick, but actually she sounds just right. I love the way her voice sounds husky and strained, because I always imagined Eponine to sound like that except more raucous and tuneless. Frances makes her sound beautiful but with an edge.
In acting terms, however, my favourite is Celia Keenan-Bolger. I thought the fact that she played a very gritty and book accurate Eponine was a nice change from the abundant eppie-sues out there. I hate it when Eponine is all pretty and sweet when it is Cosette who should be played like that. It is just wrong and makes everyone think that she should end up with Marius instead.
Also deserving honorable mentions are Sutton Foster (magnificent belting and acting) and Sabrina Aloueche (great version of OMO).
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Muscialperformer92
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Gosh a tough one ! Ponine is my favourite character (No I'm not an Eppy-bopper (spells?), I love cosette- and don't enjoy if it gets too disney) so I have a very distinct way I want her to be.
My over all fave is Nancy Sullivan- her acting, voice and apperance fits so well with how I want to the role to be portrayed. She left me in tears several times- it was so heartbreaking and strong! (and a little detail I loved: after thenardiers' gang has left in "the attack" she looks after them like thinking "oh god I have gone against my family, and all the people I know- what will I do now?" which strongly contrasted with Marius and Cosette afterwards)- Vocally she acts all the time- never a dull "sounding pretty" second at all- and I like her light kind-of girlish sound, as well as her whole voice in general! So sad to see her leave- but that's another subject The Eponine on the picture in my signature is also inspired by her- hence the blonde hair
I am a big fan of Lea Salonga and Sutton foster as well- mainly because of their vocals- as well as doing a great acting job.
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Moci
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Woah, where in the dark corners of the forum was this bumped up from? It's funny, but reading this made me realise how many great people don't post here anymore. I've come across all nostalgic!
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mastachen
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My favorite is Marissa McGowan.
My least favorite is Megan McGinnis.
Everyone else, Lea, Sutton foster, etc., pretty much falls in between.
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Quique
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Question: What's so bad about Rosalyn James' Eponine?
The riffs don't bother me. Yes, it seems as if it's just another "Oh, can't be like the original" thing but others have done similar things in the past and it doesn't distort the song.
Just asking because while she isn't the best I've heard, my reaction to what I've seen and heard of her is generally neutral, while the majority of those who've seen her and reviewed the show (even those who come away raving about the tour) end up not liking her.
I'm not a die-hard brick fan so this point doesn't really influence my opinion but it is the first time they've cast someone that is closer to novel Eponine in that she doesn't look like the annoying girl-next-door, pretty bangs, cutesy 'ponine type.
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Orestes Fasting
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| Quique wrote: | Question: What's so bad about Rosalyn James' Eponine?
The riffs don't bother me. Yes, it seems as if it's just another "Oh, can't be like the original" thing but others have done similar things in the past and it doesn't distort the song.
Just asking because while she isn't the best I've heard, my reaction to what I've seen and heard of her is generally neutral, while the majority of those who've seen her and reviewed the show (even those who come away raving about the tour) end up not liking her.
I'm not a die-hard brick fan so this point doesn't really influence my opinion but it is the first time they've cast someone that is closer to novel Eponine in that she doesn't look like the annoying girl-next-door, pretty bangs, cutesy 'ponine type. |
I'm with you on this one. I've seen her four times and she's fine. I didn't get a lot of depth out of her performance--her emotional range is from 'tough and angry' to 'tough and angry and hiding a lot of pain underneath,' just like her dynamic range is from forte to fortissimo. BUT. She is vocally one of the strongest members of the cast, second only to John Owen-Jones. If I had a voice like hers I'd be tempted to riff too. Last time I saw her the entire cast seemed a bit under the weather, her included, but the other three times she sounded wonderful, like her vocal power was entirely effortless. And her acting isn't bad; it's rather one-note, but nowhere near the Flat Interpretation Hall of Fame, let alone the Painful Acting Hall of Fame.
I feel kind of sorry for Gareth Gates, who is fine as Marius but not vocally up to snuff--he's okay in the first two thirds of the role and succeeds in passing off his soft-spokenness as an acting choice, but in the more demanding passages of Empty Chairs it becomes obvious that he's straining and not really getting there. And he's sandwiched in between Rosalind James and Katie Hall, both of whom clearly have extensive training, amazing vocal power, and good control, even though they have different backgrounds. It makes for an oddly assorted Marius-Cosette-Eponine trio.
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Eppie-Sue
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My main problem with Rosalind James is that she wasn't likeable at all, unless you go for a very 21st century approach of rather reserve likeability and like her because she is unlikeable. I do realise that, in that, maybe she is closer to the brick than many others, but as this is the musical, I simply didn't think it was the right choice for the role. I'm not an Eppie-bopper, but normally, I do feel something for Eponine's character, which is what it should be like, both in novel and on stage - especially on stage, as she is so much more prominent. With Rosalind James, I didn't feel anything. Admittedly, she was not quite as bad as I thought she might be after reading the first reviews, and while I dislike the riff in OMO, it's not my main criticism about her performance, but I thought she wasn't good. I didn't feel for her at all, I thought she was mostly angry, didn't give her acting around Marius/Gareth Gates much subtlety and seemed very aggressive a lot of times. It didn't help that I didn't get any clear idea about what their "relationship" is like from Gates either, to be fair. But yes, mostly, I thought that her approach, while maybe deliberately, maybe through coincidence, being a bit closer to the idea of a repulsive Eponine, suffered from her overdoing this particular aspect and not giving her anything relatable. I definitely don't want a cute!Eponine, but as she's such a major character, I believe she needs a certain amount of loveableness and a few more softer layers than James's Eponine... Really, I didn't hate her and I don't think she's The Worst Ever. But half the time I didn't care about her, and when I did, I struggled to see what she wanted to get across. Maybe she has improved within the last six months, though, who knows.
Edit: typo. 
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Quique
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That's what I thought it might be. And I do get this roughness from her portrayal and don't see anything that balances that out.
You're right about the likability thing for the musical. There has to be something there that is appealing or at least sad enough to move you.
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Soliloquy
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| digitalxdoll wrote: | My favourite eponine is Frances Ruffelle. I saw her back in 1996, she was fantastic.
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I saw her around that time too and absolutely loved her. For me she'll always be my Eponine (and I adore her on the Original London Cast Recording). That said, I also did see Lea Salonga around the same time and she was also fantastic. It's a close-call between the two, but I find the vulnerability and slightly 'rough around the edges' feeling of Frances' Eponine more suited to the role.
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Orestes Fasting
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Now that I've had a chance to see Rosalind from up close (I was in front row last night), I can see her interactions with Marius in a bit more detail. Up close you can see that she flirts with Marius very, very obviously, practically smacking him over the head with it--I'm tempted to say that in this production she obviously learned her flirting technique from her mother, except there was less bosom-heaving. And Gareth Gates is either completely oblivious or just keeps brushing her off, and the more he does it the more exasperated she gets. That's where most of her anger comes from, and it is in some measure justified, because once it's that obvious she's in love with him, Marius' actions start looking deliberately cruel.
Except with Gareth Gates I'm really not sure whether he's being cruel or just oblivious. Luke Kempner was obviously oblivious--he was a very enthusiastic Marius, and as soon as he thought of Cosette he'd turn into a big Labrador puppy and be too busy wagging his tail to think of anything else. But Gareth is harder to read, because his Marius is in general a bit more reserved. I do rather get the impression of "Your desperate flirting is getting obnoxious, so please knock it off so that I can TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL GIRL I JUST MET..." And Rosalind's reaction is pretty much "F*** you, I can't believe I was dumb enough to fall in love with such an insensitive prick." Which, if anything, is the big fault of her performance--you get the sense that she has fallen in love with Marius despite herself, and doesn't actually like him that much beyond her desperate crush.
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Soliloquy
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Oh, I totally forgot to say. My very first Eponine was Linzi Hateley, who I thought was amazing too (her 'On My Own' is hard to top). It seems I saw my very favourite Eponines all around the same time, when I was younger.
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music is my life!!!
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^^^^ I agree! I also prefer the recording of Joseph where she's the narrator
Her voice is amazing, but when I used to try to copy, I'd lose my voice
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Soliloquy
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| music is my life!!! wrote: | ^^^^ I agree! I also prefer the recording of Joseph where she's the narrator
Her voice is amazing, but when I used to try to copy, I'd lose my voice |
I saw her as the narrator too. She IS the narrator in my opinion! 
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Roseinmisery
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| Soliloquy wrote: | | music is my life!!! wrote: | ^^^^ I agree! I also prefer the recording of Joseph where she's the narrator
Her voice is amazing, but when I used to try to copy, I'd lose my voice |
I saw her as the narrator too. She IS the narrator in my opinion! |
Yeah, she's definitely my favourite narrator too and one of my favourite eponines. I remember seeing her on the documentary of Les Mis and loving her performance. I liked the fact that she sang it similar to Frances. Couldn't stand the orange lipstick, though.
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