Les Miserables

Salutations!

"What are they and where are you?"
"Salutations are greetings. They're just my fancy way of saying hello."--Charlotte's Web (book)

I really wanted to post so, I decided that since I've been in such a Les Mis mood, I'd go ahead and write on that subject for awhile. Like everything with me, I go in stages. Watching a certain movie or listening to certain music or reading certain books pulls me into a world where I want to stay for awhile. Right now, I'm in the world of Monteur-sur-meil. I think I spelled that right.
This whole mood kicked off by the program that was recently on TV (PBS) of the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables. Our family has been long standing Les Mis fans by seeing the production on Broadway twice, listening to the CDs on every road trip (along with Beauty and the Beast), and owning the video tape (WHOAH, talk about old) of the 10th anniversary show. We loved the 10th anniversary one and, when discovering the 25th, had to watch it. We were going to tape it, but Mom and Kathryn had checked in during the middle of it just to catch a glimpse.
Coming downstairs after being on my computer for awhile, I walked into to Grandpa's room (where the TV is) and they surprised me by going to PBS and showing me the show. I was excited but got ready to critique everyone, comparing them to the 10th version which is the TRUE version. ;)
Since only Valjean and Cosette were on, I tackeled them. Valjean did not seem nearly as old as Colm Wilkinson and Cosette was blonde instead of Brunette, but I could live with that. Now, I wanted to stay and see the other characters which Mom and Kathryn did not reveal. The next song was One Day More, my favorite out of the entire production. First to sing is Valjean and then Marius. Now, I had not seen Marius until now. Since the camera was not on a close-up, all I saw was dark, curly hair. I giggled as I jokingly made a reference to Nick Jonas. Then the camera went to a close up and....IT WAS NICK JONAS! Whoah, hold on. Where did he come from? He's not supposed to be anywhere near Les Mis. He's supposed to be jamming with his band, singing with his mediocre voice. How in the world did they let him into Les Mis?!
Baffled, I continued to watch. Next of the new ones, was Epoinine. Dark hair instead of blonde (like in the 10th), but she seemed fine. Next is Enjoras or however you spell his name. I always think of his as the Booming Voice, Leader guy. He didn't seem to have quite as boomy of a voice, but it was boomy enough for a pass so he was on the good list. Next, of course, comes Javert and he looked so different and sounded so different from the 10th that I'd about had it. How could they do this? What were they thinking? (The Thenardiers were grungy so they were fine.)
Well, we didn't finish watching 'cause it was the middle of the show. Instead, we ended up watching the whole thing Sunday night. My view of the new production is as follows: Definitely not as good as the 10th anniversary but it was still lots of fun to watch, Nick Jonas wasn't TERRIBLE as Marius but he wasn't that great either (Heart Full of Love? very bad), Javert wasn't very good especially since he was wearing a purple outfit, best part of the show was when they brought out the original cast and they all sang One Day More! Goosebumps!!! hahaha

All that is to say is that I am now thrust into a Les Mis mood where the songs have been stuck in my head. I've had a new drive for reading more of the book. Plus, I now want to rewatch the movie.
Talk to you later!