Look, for what it's worth I enjoyed the film more than when I saw the recent revival on stage.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
I adore both. I might actually like Les Mis a little more, because of the live singing. Into the Woods had a weird sound to it to me (the singing, not the orchestrations). It almost sounded pop-ish and it took me out of it a little.
For me, Les Miserables had more highs, as well as more lows. Into The Woods has fewer flaws, but there is no performance in it that matches Hathaway. While I would favor Into The Woods, both are very good.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
For me, (aside from the casting of Crowe) the only problem with the movie was the way it was shot, or edited (and I don't know enough about how films are made to differentiate.) And by that I'm talking about how so many scenes (particulalry during songs) were shot in horrendous tight close ups. It was one after the other after the other, ad nauseum. But if those had been kept to a minimum, my recollection is that everything else (with the one exception noted) was pretty good. On the other hand, my memory isn't what it once was.
CZJ at opening night party for A Little Night Music, Dec 13, 2009.
I'll stop pretending Les Miserables is good if you start paying more attention to what you're watching and listening to and stop misinterpreting things to suit your skewed views.
I loved both but I also prefer Les Miserables. I even loved Crowe in it, I thought he did a great job and he surprised me. I loved his rendition of "Stars."
^I agree with you! I thought what he did with that song felt more like a prayer than some aggressive showcase we've seen so often from other portrayals of the character.
I still really enjoyed the Les Miz movie. There are a few things about it that I wish were better, but as a whole, I loved it. I loved Into the woods as well. I just wish that the film versions of Phantom and Rent were as good as either of the two newest entries to the genre.
I didn't need Into the Woods to help me know I hated the movie of Les Miserables.
Amen. The live singing in Les Miserables did absolutely nothing for me. I have found the most recent versions of Les Miserables (the film and the revival) to be pretty dreadful.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "