In 1986, I was in London. My friends asked if I was interested in seeing a musical or two. How could I not see a theatre event while in London? Cats was popular. I wanted to see it, and they arranged for tickets. They wanted to choose one other. They debated and tossed around various options. There was a new musical everyone was raving about. It hadn't made it across the pond. I knew of the story only because I knew of Victor Hugo. Les Miserable. Why not? They arranged for us to see a matinee. Most of the original cast performed the day I saw it. To this day, it is difficult for me to think of it without tearing. Powerful. Heart wrenching. Inspiring.
I returned to America, and no one knew what I was talking about. Then the Kennedy Center featured Broadway's anticipated new upcoming musical of the year: Les Miserable. Colm Wilkinson sang "Bring Him Home." Just thinking about it, I start to cry. I had heard him sing it live, in London, and he was finally on my television in America.
I saw the following trailer on Yahoo, yesterday. To my wonder and joy, Colm Wilkinson is playing the Bishop of Digne in the movie.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/les-miserables-2/trailers/les-miserables-jean-valjean-165247192.html
I think Hugh Jackman is a brilliant choice for the role of Jean Valjean.
When I see the movie, I won't be wearing any makeup. What's the point? I'll cry it all off within minutes of it starting. :-)
I've always loved this story, read it multiple times and watched several movie versions of it. I never got a chance to see the musical, though I have heard some of the songs from it and loved them. I hadn't really heard about this film until I saw a trailer for it, and got excited. I don't know if I'll see it in the theater, I will cry way too much -- but I'm not sure I can wait until the DVD comes out!
ReplyDeleteI've seen it multiple times. Every time it would come here, I'd buy a couple tickets and take a different person with me. I always bought tickets in Tier A seats, but there are effects you could see from there that you missed if you sat in the orchestra level. In England, we sat in the Balcony; tickets weren't easy to come by. I wept through most of it. I do, every time. I want the surround sound. :-)
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