Les Mis: Taking the Stage to the Screen

Les Miserables is a Tom Hooper movie based on the hit musical.  Set in the early 19^th century, the story follows an ex-prisoner, Jean Valjean, who breaks parole.  He is constantly being chased by a persistent police officer, determined to bring Jean back to prison.  His life soon changes when he takes custody of a young girl, Cossette.  The story is full of sadness and struggle. Hooper put together an all-star cast for this movie, and has been the most talked about movie musical to date. 

Lately, movie musicals have been popping up everywhere.  What stands out about Les Mis, is the singing.  During the production of many movie musicals the actors must match their pre-recorded vocals while filming.  This process works great, but doesn’t allow for the actors to perform on impulse.  Hooper wanted all real and live performances for Les Mis. The cast performed the music live while filming, as opposed to recording the songs months in advance. This type of filming allowed the actors to be spontaneous in their performance, giving it a more authentic feel.  Luckily for Hooper, the entire cast had the musical chops to pull it off.  If anyone needs proof that this type of filming works, check out Anne Hathaway’s version of “I Dreamed A Dream”.  This tear-jerking performance is by far the best I have seen in a movie musical. 

I loved both the singing and acting.  The live vocals resulted in very vulnerable and emotional performances, which is important for this musical. I have seen this musical on-stage as well.  As a musical theatre buff, I usually prefer to watch an on-stage version of a musical as opposed to on-screen.  In my opinion, this movie can go toe-to-toe with the musical.  No, the singing wasn’t perfect, but what musical has perfect singing? I have yet to see one, but that’s the beauty of musical theatre.  With an adequate cast and director,  I would love to see this process of filming a live-singing movie musical done again. 

 

Casting Call: The Job of a Casting Director

Does she have the voice? Is he the right height? Can he dance?  These are all questions a casting director will ask while holding auditions for a musical.  When putting on a musical production there is a creative team and a production team working together to produce a extraordinary show.  The production team consists of a producer, investor, general manager, stage manager, house manager dance captain, casting director, advertising, press representative, and actors.  The creative team consists of the composer, librettist, director, choreographer, set designer, costumer designers, light designer, musical director, sound designer, orchestrator, choreographer, and cast.                  

In my opinion, the casting director in musical theater plays one of the most important roles on the production team.  This is, of course, the individual in charge of selecting talent.  He/she is responsible for filling roles from the principles characters to the chorus.  A casting director (and team) may audition thousands of people over the course of a month.  The first audition is usually an open call.  This audition is open to all actors/actresses that are interested in being cast in the musical.  The casting director will then ask a few hundred people (or less) to return for a callback audition.  This process is very similar to the American Idol auditions that we have seen on television for many years. Sometimes actors that are chosen return for several auditions before they receive the role.  Musical auditions can include singing, dancing, and acting, and can last for several hours.

 Sometimes a director already has a particular actor in mind that he/she would like to cast for a role.  It is the casting director’s responsibility to arrange an audition for this performer or performers. Casting Directors usually work as free agents, casting for a number of productions at one time.  Even though the casting director selects the cast, he/she does not have much creative freedom.  They must choose the cast based off of the director’s vision.  Oftentimes, decisions on race, age, and body type are out of the casting director’s hands.

Many casting directors have a performance background, and have experienced the audition process themselves.  This helps to assist them in casting.  Overall, the casting director’s job is one of the most important, but overlooked portions of production in musical theater.  The cast is what the audience remembers and loves about a musical.  The casting director is responsible for finding that talented cast that is later celebrated with the success of the show. 

Check out the video below.  It gave me a lot of insight on casting directors working in theatre. 

Exploring Musical Theatre

I really enjoy the "Exploring Musical Theatre" videos on youtube.  Anyone interested in the theatre industry should watch these videos (there's about 400 of them lol).  Here is another helpful post that I watched today. EnJoY!

 

Memphis on Tour

Memphis is coming to Cincinnati !!! I am beyond excited.  I previously saw this show in New York City last March and it was amazing! Memphis is a musical set in the 50’s when the Rock and Roll era was born.  It tells the story of DJ Calhoun, a white disk jokey who has a passion for R&B and the blues.  He meets an up and coming African American singer by the name of Felicia Farrell, and falls in love with her.  Between racism and personal ambition, the two struggle to continue their love affair.

If you enjoy dazzling costumes, belting ballads, and an enchanting love story, this is the musical for you.  I had the pleasure of seeing Adam Pascal perform the role of DJ.  His amazing vocals, that I’ve have grown up admiring, brought me to tears and many points of the show.  The show has won four Tony awards and is doing very well on tour.