Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| pish123c |
Where to begin!?Just recently I got interested in Les Miserables.The thing is-I have no idea where to begin. Which cast recording should I get? How about the book? The movie? Any advice for a beginner on this massive show is greatly appreciated. Also-Do you think the revival will still be playing in when I'm in New York in April? And feel free to just tell me why you love this show. Thanks. |
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| EponineBarker |
I don't think the Revival will be playing through to next April. I heard that it was playing till like, October.
Anyway, about recordings, the OBC and OLC are a great introduction to Les Mis. And maybe once you have some grounds, then the TAC might be a good one to get or the CSR, which includes the entire show on 3 discs. As for the book, the unabridged version is extremely long, so if your first starting out, maybe the abridged version might be the best idea. Hope that helps! 
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| Aimee |
Get to know the show first, then once you know and love that dive into the book. The book means far more when you already know the show and the book enlightens the show all over again when you read it. | ||
| Orestes Fasting |
There are four major English recordings of Les Mis. (Plus a few obscure ones like the Manchester highlights and about twenty non-English recordings, including the French concept album.) They are, in the order I'd recommend them:
1. The Tenth Anniversary Concert recording--a little more complete than the OBC or OLC, best cast all-around, recorded live with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. This is also referred to as the "Dream Cast in Concert," and the DVD is actually easier to come by than the CD. 2. The Original London Cast recording--the earliest recording besides the concept album. Kind of quirky and the tempos are often taken ponderously slow, but the cast is very good and it's pretty easy to find in a record shop. 3. The Original Broadway Cast recording--also has a fairly decent cast, though not as lovely as the OLC. A little too slick, polished, and Americanized for my taste; it doesn't have the same character as the others. Not a bad recording, but not the one you should be looking out for. 4. The Complete Symphonic Recording--is nice because it has every single note of the show in it, unlike the others which snip bits here and there. Aside from one or two excellent performers, the cast is dreadful, and doesn't hang together very well. Its main virtues are the orchestra and its completeness. The book is about 1500 pages long, so don't expect to finish it in one sitting while killing time on a Saturday afternoon. Its length can be intimidating, but whatever you do don't buy an abridged version. Most of the bulk is added by Hugo's fifty-page digressions onto irrelevant subjects; abridged versions cut those out, but they also cut out parts that are relevant to the plot. The digressions are skippable, and if you want to tackle the book without slogging through fifty pages about the battle of Waterloo, I would suggest this article on what can be skipped. It allows you to tailor the "abridgments" based on how much off-topic rambling you're willing to put up with. (Hugo's off-topic rambling can actually be quite charming, mind you.) The gigantic grey paperback with the little Cosette logo on the cover is far and away the version to buy; it's unabridged, easier to lug around than a hardcover, and has one of the better translations. I, like the others, would recommend becoming familiar with the show before you read the book, lest you become a snotty book elitist like me. Despite Hugo's wordiness, it's a wonderful book with a much wider scope than the musical, delving much deeper into social commentary and the characters' pasts. Reading the book will answer a lot of "why the hell did ____ do ____?" questions that might come up when you see the show, because every single aspect of the rather complex plot is explained in full, unlike the musical which often summarizes events and skims right past important points. There are literally dozens of movies based on Les Mis, so there is no "the movie." The TAC video is worth buying; of the non-musical movie adaptations, most of them strip the story down to Javert's pursuit of Valjean and only deal fleetingly with the rest of the plot. (The exceptions being a couple of French-made TV miniseries and/or three-hour behemoths that reproduce the whole thing in loving detail.) Whatever you do, do NOT buy the 1998 version with Liam Neeson and Geoffery Rush. They both give fine performances, but the movie itself mangles the plot and most of the characters beyond recognition. Rent it if you're curious, but for the love of all that's holy, don't buy it. The revival was originally slated as a limited run, but that went down the toilet real fast. Rumors are being bandied about of another cast change in the fall, and Telecharge is selling tickets through December. Unless ticket sales slump drastically, I wouldn't be surprised if it's still around next year. |
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| lesmisboy |
Look for 'Les Miserables - History In The Making' by Edward Behr, you'll probably find it on Amazon. Although some of the information is outdated, it has a wealth of information about the history of the musical, worldwide productions, cast recordings etc. as well as lots of beautiful photographs. | ||
| Quique |
A good place to begin is the TAC. | ||
| pish123c |
what exactly IS the TAC? | ||
| Quique |
10th Anniversary Concert, hehe. | ||
| pish123c |
oh ok. sorry...i may as well be wearing a "Les Mis n00b" sign shouldn't I? 
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| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
We all start somewhere.
Maybe there should be a master list of fandom jargon... |
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| Orestes Fasting |
And yes, I agree with Quique, the TAC video is a good place to begin. Nice overview of the show with a solid cast.
Lanoire--there is one, albeit slightly outdated and slanted towards the fanfiction community. |
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| Quique |
Heehee. Love that site. | ||
| EponineBarker |
Thank God, I'm not the only one who thinks that the entire cast of the CSR is wonderful. I love some of the singers, but there are some I don't care for or can't stand. But yeah, pick up the TAC video/DVD if you can. I was really new to Les Mis last year, and seeing the TAC video helped me understand the story a lot better. |
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| What Is This Feeling? |
Lol, CSR is good. I hate Valjean/ Eponine though. And Marius is just agh (never partial to Michael Ball). But everyone, else is really good. I actually rather enjoy the Fantine to. And ofcourse Philp Quast is on it, so how can you go wrong there?lol
Also, though I wouldn't reccomend buying this first. I would do OLC actually. Great way, TAC is good too. If u do CSR, you probably will love it and then know all the orchestrations. iI think it is more rewarding to know some music, but then se the complete orchestrations live, ya know/ But whatever ya want, lol. |