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Post by JH4HJ on May 19, 2012 15:32:58 GMT -5
The original novel (English translation) -- This is a great resource for classic literature... ...among them, Les Miserables -- Read online or download here: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/135The Theatrical Musical version -- LES MISERABLESThis is a FULL (but condensed) AUDIO ONLY version, with narration. Date: October 8, 2006 Cast: John Owen-Jones (Valjean), Hans Peter Janssens (Javert), Sophia Ragavelas (Fantine), Jon Lee (Marius), Sabrina Aloueche (Eponine), Gina Beck (Cosette), Simon Bailey(Enjolras), Chris Vincent (Thénardier), Tracie Bennett (Mme Thénardier) and the rest of the [then current] London company. [BBC narration by Anthony Andrews] This is a 90 minute "concert" version (with an in-studio audience) celebrating Les Mis's 21st anniversary. It was digitally recorded from the broadcast on BBC Radio2. It is a brilliant cast and the recording is crisp and clean. Most track edits were made during applause, so the concert should flow seamlessly on your iPod or other media player. If you burn a CD you must have software that allows "gap-less" recording, or use the preferences/options to indicate ZERO seconds as the time between tracks. One "zip" file (31 tracks in a zipped folder); 123MB UNzip the folder to access mp3 files www.mediafire.com/download.php?elhwq1yq4hqymhxFor those unfamiliar with the novel, various films and/or the theatrical productions, this a good place to start. I highly recommend it as a "primer" for those who would like to get a basic knowledge of the story in preparation for/anticipation of Hugh's movie version. It hits most of the highlights and has fluid narration in the transitions, making it easy to follow for those who'd like a little help getting to know the characters and following the plot. This broadcast was excellently produced by those wonderful folks at BBC Radio and available for quite a while online, though I can't find it now to give you the link. Luckily, I saved a copy. I hope you enjoy the show. the Wiki "synopsis" is also helpful (scroll down) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables_%28musical%29 |
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Post by jo on May 21, 2012 0:19:04 GMT -5
Cosette over the years -- *From the literary source , also used as logo for the original French concept album --  *It looks like the Amanda Seyfried movie portrayal drew inspiration from this illustration --  The iconic logo of the English version of the musical  And the new logo -- for the movie musical!  Jo |
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Post by mamaleh on Aug 14, 2012 10:28:01 GMT -5
For anyone in the NYC-area who might have missed it or wants another look, PBS's Channel 13 is showing the LES MIZ 25th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT again this Sunday evening, Aug. 19, 7 p.m. It's probably being shown in other markets, too, but I get alerts only from Thirteen.
Ellen
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Post by jo on Aug 17, 2012 21:05:59 GMT -5
Another original illustration from the novel --  I am not sure where we saw it ( maybe in the trailer) but there is a brief glimpse of Valjean walking away from the woods with little Cosette. Here's a recollection on the filming of that scene -- • Keeping his vow to Fantine, Valjean rescues the young Cosette (Isabelle Allen) and raises her. “One of the scenes I’ve seen in the rushes that just breaks my heart is Hugh finding little baby Cosette in the woods all covered in snow,” says producer Cameron Mackintosh. “It is one of the most haunting things I’ve seen.”Not a photo still from the trailer, which reprises the above illustration from the novel, but Hugh and Isabelle Allen chatting on the set.  Jo |
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Post by jo on Aug 17, 2012 21:39:04 GMT -5
If you scour long enough on the internet, you'll find the video clip   Jo |
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Post by jo on Aug 29, 2012 10:32:56 GMT -5
Someone has put together a feature on various Jean Valjean portrayals ( although some famous ones are missing, such as the Frederic March movie)- www.squidoo.com/valjean-les-miserablesWill Hugh's portrayal be the Valjean for the ages ? I hope so! Jo |
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Post by Jamie on Aug 29, 2012 12:47:56 GMT -5
Over the years, the iconic image of Cossette has been altered for each new city. I particularly remember the one for Fresno with the basket of grapes on her arm. I've done searches but so far no luck on finding many of these. Does anyone know of a site where they might have all been collected?
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Post by mamaleh on Aug 31, 2012 7:54:55 GMT -5
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Post by droverswoman on Sept 20, 2012 12:33:26 GMT -5
Jamie, I'd love to see all those different versions of the poster - they must be available somewhere! If I find anything, I'll let you know!
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Post by mamaleh on Oct 15, 2012 7:54:50 GMT -5
Maybe slightly off topic, but I didn't know where else to put it: Russell Crowe's NYC concert on Oct. 11 sounds like it would have been a reunion of sorts for Hugh, had he been able to attend. I read that among Crowe's guest artists were LES MIZ costar Samantha Barks plus XMO:W and REAL STEEL's Kevin Durand; finally, Sting popped up to everyone's surprise late in the show.
Wish I'd been able to get a ticket. I tried, but it was sold out pretty quickly.
Ellen
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Post by Kelly on Oct 15, 2012 18:25:52 GMT -5
Maybe slightly off topic, but I didn't know where else to put it: Russell Crowe's NYC concert on Oct. 11 sounds like it would have been a reunion of sorts for Hugh, had he been able to attend. I read that among Crowe's guest artists were LES MIZ costar Samantha Barks plus XMO:W and REAL STEEL's Kevin Durand; finally, Sting popped up to everyone's surprise late in the show. Wish I'd been able to get a ticket. I tried, but it was sold out pretty quickly. Ellen Is there a review anywhere? |
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Post by mamaleh on Oct 15, 2012 18:56:18 GMT -5
I haven't seen any yet. I was curious, too.
Ellen
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Post by Jamie on Oct 15, 2012 21:21:32 GMT -5
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Post by nevaeh777 on Oct 15, 2012 23:27:14 GMT -5
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Post by JH4HJ on Oct 20, 2012 12:30:13 GMT -5
For those still "doing homework" to prepare for the movie (and who don't want to read the original tome), here's a pretty succinct recap of the musical I found online:
PROLOGUE: 1815, DIGNE
Jean Valjean, released on parole after 19 years on the chain gang, finds that the yellow ticket-of-leave he must, by law, display condemns him to be an outcast. Only the saintly Bishop of Digne treats him kindly and Valjean, embittered by years of hardship, repays him by stealing some silver. Valjean is caught and brought back by police, and is astonished when the Bishop lies to the police to save him, also giving him two precious candlesticks. Valjean decides to start his life anew.
1823, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER
Eight years have passed and Valjean, having broken his parole and changed his name to Monsieur Madeleine, has risen to become both a factory owner and Mayor. One of his workers, Fantine, has a secret illegitimate child. When the other women discover this, they demand her dismissal. The foreman, whose advances she has rejected, throws her out.
Desperate for money to pay for medicines for her daughter, Fantine sells her locket, her hair, and then joins the whores in selling herself. Utterly degraded by her new trade she gets into a fight with a prospective customer and is about to be take to prison by Javert when "The Mayor" arrives and demands she be taken to a hospital instead.
The Mayor then rescues a man pinned down by a runaway cart. Javert is reminded of the abnormal strength of convict 24601 Jean Valjean, a parole-breaker whom he has been tracking for years, but who, he says has just been recaptured. Valjean, unable to see an innocent man go to prison in his place, confesses to the court that he is prisoner 24601.
At the hospital Valjean promises the dying Fantine to find and look after her daughter Cosette. Javert arrives to arrest him, but Valjean escapes.
1823, MONTFERMEIL
Cosette has been lodged for five years with the Thenardiers who run an inn, horribly abusing the little girl whom they use as a skivvy while indulging their own daughter, Eponine. Valjean finds Cosette fetching water in the dark. He pays the Thenardiers to let him take Cosette away and takes her to Paris. But Javert is still on his tail...
1832, PARIS
Nine years later there is a great unrest in the city because of the likely demise of the popular leader General Lamarque, the only man left in the Government who shows any feeling for the poor. The urchin Gavroche is in his element mixing with the whores and the beggars of the capital. Among the street-gangs is one led by Thenardier and his wife, which sets upon Jean Valjean and Cosette. They are rescued by Javert, who does not recognize Valjean until after he has made good his escape. The Thenardiers' daughter Eponine, who is secretly in love with the student Marius, reluctantly agrees to help him find Cosette, with whom he has fallen in love.
At a political meeting in a small cafe, a group of idealistic students prepare for the revolution they are sure will erupt on the death of General Lamarque. When Gavroche brings the news of the General's death, the students, led by Enjolras, stream out into the streets to whip up popular support. Only Marius is distracted by the thoughts of the mysterious Cosette.
Cosette is consumed by the thoughts of Marius, with whom she has fallen in love. Valjean realizes that his "daughter" is changing very quickly but refuses to tell her anything of her past. In spite of her own feelings for Marius, Eponine sadly brings him to Cosette and then prevents an attempt by her father's gang to rob Valjean's house. Valjean, convinced it was Javert who was lurking outside his house, tells Cosette they must prepare to flee the country. On the eve of the revolution the students and Javert see the situation from their different viewpoints; Cosette and Marius part in despair of ever meeting again; Eponine mourns the loss of Marius; and Valjean looks forward to the security of exile. The Thenardiers, meanwhile, dream of rich pickings underground from the chaos to come.
The students prepare to build the barricade. Marius, noticing that Eponine has joined the insurrection, sends her with a letter to Cosette, which is intercepted at the Rue Plumet by Valjean. Eponine decides, despite what he has said to her, to rejoin Marius at the barricade.
The barricade is built and the revolutionaries defy an army warning that they must give up or die. Gavroche exposes Javert as a policy spy. In trying to return to the barricade Eponine is shot and killed. Valjean arrives at the barricades in search of Marius. He is given the chance to kill Javert, but instead lets him go.
The students settle down for a night on the barricade and, in the quiet of the night, Valjean prays to God to save Marius from the onslaught which is to come. The next day, with ammunition running low, Gavroche runs out to collect more and is shot. The rebels are all killed, including their leader, Enjolras.
Valjean escapes into the sewers with the unconscious Marius. After meeting Thenardier, who is robbing the corpses of the rebels, he emerges into the light only to meet Javert once more. he pleads for time to deliver the young man to a hospital. Javert decides to let him go and, his unbending principles of justice having been shattered by Valjean's own mercy, he kills himself by throwing himself into the swollen River Seine. A number of Parisian women come to terms with the failed insurrection and its victims. Unaware of the identity of his rescuer, Marius recovers in Cosette's care. Valjean confesses the truth of his past to Marius and insists that after the young couple are married, he must go away rather than taint the sanctity and safety of their union. At Marius and Cosette's wedding the Thenardiers try to blackmail Marius. Thenardier says Cosette's "father" is a murderer and, as proof, produces a ring which he stole from the corpse in the sewers the night the barricades fell. It is Marius' own ring, and he realizes it was Valjean who rescued him that night. He and Cosette go to Valjean, where Cosette learns for the first time of her own history before the old man dies, joining the spirits of Fantine, Eponine, and all those who died on the barricades.
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Post by ocjackie on Oct 20, 2012 17:06:01 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the short version of the story. I am very much into Broadway, but I never saw this show, because I thought of it as dark. I'm not a Phantom lover either. The music is another thing though. It is beautiful. But now I'm getting caught up in it because of Hugh. This is the one that he promised me at BOB, that he would try real hard to get that Oscar. Need I say more. I know where I'm going to be on 12/25, and it's not at home with the Chanukah menorah or with the Xmas tree. Anyone care to meet me at the movies? >  |
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Post by jo on Oct 20, 2012 20:24:12 GMT -5
It may be a little sad but the story is ultimately uplifting and that is the message you usually leave the theatre with  You may want to get a copy of any of the various cast recordings- my sentimenal favorite is the original London cast recording ( and also because Michael Ball is on it) and my most listened to these days is the Complete Symphonic Recording because it looks like it may contain the most nearly complete lyrics of the movie ( plus Michael Ball is also on it). There are also anniversary concert DVDs -- the 10th with the dream cast ( including original Valjean Colm, my countrywoman Lea, and of course Michael Ball) and the more recent 25th anniversary concert. My preference is obvious - LOL - it is the one with the dream cast ! Or you may trawl through YouTube as there are many uploads from various productions! It is the powerful, sweeping, romantic and poignant music which makes Les Miserables a complete experience! Go listen, Jackie Jo |
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Post by ocjackie on Oct 20, 2012 22:36:34 GMT -5
Thanks, Jo, I will. I know the music is beautiful and now we have the words. I'll pick it up tomorrow. |
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Post by mamaleh on Oct 21, 2012 13:01:44 GMT -5
I'd never seen the 1952 Michael Rennie version of LES MIZ, so I tuned in to TCM today. It's all of 105 minutes; major characters such as the Thenardiers, Eponine and Enjoiras are eliminated; and the last shot shows a happy Valjean and Cosette in a familial hug watching as the doctor Valjean sent for tends to Marius' wounds. Quite a difference.
Ellen
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Post by birchie on Oct 22, 2012 10:28:05 GMT -5
I'd never seen the 1952 Michael Rennie version of LES MIZ, so I tuned in to TCM today. It's all of 105 minutes; major characters such as the Thenardiers, Eponine and Enjoiras are eliminated; and the last shot shows a happy Valjean and Cosette in a familial hug watching as the doctor Valjean sent for tends to Marius' wounds. Quite a difference. Ellen Hi Ellen, That is one of my least favorite versions ever! They made so many changes to the story and as you said, that ending!!!!! So many of the adaptations really miss the point of Victor Hugo's novel. I don't know if anyone saw the Gerard Depardieu-John Malkovich version? I call it the creepy version.  I've only seen the shortened American version so I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who saw the full length French version. Maybe it was less creepy. I just couldn't get my head around... 1. How could Javert not reckognize someone who looks like Gerard Depardieu just because he grew a little hair. 8-) and... 2. I hated the angry, bitter, somewhat incestuous old man, which is how they portrayed Valjean. Creepy! That just turned me off. 2a. Also didn't like the one note also creepy Javert. Different kind of creepy. I like my Javerts to have depth and layers to their performances. Plus he was even more relentless than in the book. 3. I never could see Thenardier in Christian Clavier. He's a very good French actor but one of my favorite things he did was Just Visiting with Jean Reno. (They also did the original French Les Visiteurs.) So I kept seeing that character instead of Thenardier. 4. I couldn't believe even one girl would love that Marius never mind 2 of them! One of the worst Marius performances & looks I've seen. 5. Lots of stupid small, unnecessary changes. Like the stuttering housekeeper woman became a mute man.  So I'd love to hear if the longer one was better and how. Thanks, Sue |
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Post by birchie on Nov 19, 2012 17:31:48 GMT -5
Wasn't sure where to put this. Playbill had an article (PHOTO ARCHIVE: Les Misérables Over the Years) with a whole bunch of pix. While I was looking through the pix I ran across one (#27) that said Shuler Hensley as Javert! Sure enough I looked at his site and among his stage credits he lists: Les Misérables (Inspector Javert)
Imperial Theatre, NYC
November 2000 - November 2001 The page on Shuler's site also has a picture: www.shulerhensley.com/lesmis.htmThe Playbill article with the pictures is here: t.co/VYcbeHCnSue |
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Post by jo on Nov 19, 2012 17:42:29 GMT -5
You probably missed that discussion in the past - because when we were speculating on the casting ( only Hugh had been cast then - confirmed in that Toronto stagedoor) one the actors we speculated on to make a good Javert would be Shuler Hensley. Partly because he had already played the part and of course he does have that rich operatic voice ( he did have an opera degree in music, if I remember right). But I guess Hooper and Universal also wanted a prominent actor who can sing. Btw, when Shuler saw Back on Broadway - of course Hugh pounced on him! Big Shuler immediately lifted Hugh high in his arms - LOL. And then they did a hilarious take on "It's Been A Hard Day's Night"...But Hugh's opening "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin" must have brought back rich memories of their acting and singing together for a year. It was the time when Hugh Jackman was not yet THE HUGH JACKMAN |
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Post by ocjackie on Nov 19, 2012 17:47:09 GMT -5
I didn't know Lea Michele played Cosette. I wonder how old she was then?
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Post by birchie on Nov 19, 2012 19:53:02 GMT -5
You probably missed that discussion in the past - because when we were speculating on the casting ( only Hugh had been cast then - confirmed in that Toronto stagedoor) one the actors we speculated on to make a good Javert would be Shuler Hensley. Partly because he had already played the part and of course he does have that rich operatic voice ( he did have an opera degree in music, if I remember right). But I guess Hooper and Universal also wanted a prominent actor who can sing. Btw, when Shuler saw Back on Broadway - of course Hugh pounced on him! Big Shuler immediately lifted Hugh high in his arms - LOL. And then they did a hilarious take on "It's Been A Hard Day's Night"...But Hugh's opening "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin" must have brought back rich memories of their acting and singing together for a year. It was the time when Hugh Jackman was not yet THE HUGH JACKMAN I remember a mention of Shuler as a possible Javert back when the first word of Hugh as JVJ was posted. I've been reading here regularly for many years but I don't remember anyone mentioning that he had already played Javert for a year on Broadway. Could be old brain cells at work. Sorry if it's old news. |
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Post by rmtndew on Nov 19, 2012 22:33:30 GMT -5
I didn't know Lea Michele played Cosette. I wonder how old she was then? She was 10 or 11, I think. It was her Broadway debut. - Alicia |
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