Marius

As with Valjean and Fantine, it’s easy to assume that the screen portrayal of Marius can’t possibly be equaled. Eddie Redmayne gives a consummate performance that combines romance and tenderness with strength, passion and dignity, not to mention a rich, handsome voice, and has probably made countless Les Mis fans fall in love with a character they once viewed as a boring, stereotypical lover boy. Read the rest of this entry »

As a longtime fan of the musical Les Misérables, sometimes I can hardly believe that a film version finally exists. After twenty-seven years of “maybe someday,” the musical phenomenon finally made its way to the big screen and is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray for all to see again and again. And the film’s influence has become apparent in the looks, details and atmospheres of many a subsequent stage production. Read the rest of this entry »

Dawn of Anguish

TSOD being what it is, onstage we’re expected to believe that all of Act II until “Drink With Me” takes place within an hour or two, at sunset, while “Drink With Me” and “Bring Him Home” cover the length of the entire night. Of course on film that would seem ridiculous, so at this point Read the rest of this entry »

FILM: Do You Hear the People Sing?

Act II of the stage version opens with an orchestral reprise of “Do You Hear the People Sing” – which probably inspired the filmmakers to move the song itself to this point. In doing so, they give it a much more dramatic context: General Lamarque’s funeral. No ragtag tablecloth waving Read the rest of this entry »

Castle on a Cloud

Both stage and film now take us to Montfermeil, where we find little Cosette slaving away at the Thénardiers’ inn. But the film includes a detail from the novel not found onstage – the fact that this sequence takes place on Christmas Eve. Poor Cosette is shown gazing enviously out at the street where Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since I first read the essay “What’s the Difference?” on the now defunct website wssonstage.com, comparing an contrasting the stage and film versions of West Side Story, I knew I wanted to write a similar comparison of the stage and film versions of Les Misérables. Now that the Les Mis film has finally been released, I Read the rest of this entry »

I hope I don’t lose half my followers when they see that I’ve written a tribute to a Broadway/West End musical. I know that some opera buffs turn up their noses at anything that isn’t operatic. But Read the rest of this entry »