Well, jimmycurry01, in Hollywood she does have to be young, at least in the mid-30s. Actually, it doesn't have to be about age, but having to look young enough. Catherine (while an obvious, predictable choice since she already just did a movie musical) would be fine, but like I said, she's starting to look her age, maybe too much botox. Let's face it, the woman doesn't look as good as she did in her Chicago days.
In the theatre world, it's not as superficial and they don't worry too much about age. But I would like to add that Bernadette looked younger at that age than Catherine does now. Hell, Bernadette still looks amazing, even in her 60's.
Yeah I like that idea though she probably is too big a star to take it. Her and Lea Michele would be funny as the stepsisters LOL. Ok, new idea for the princes....Justin Timberlake with Andy Samberg!!!
I think Zooey Deschanel would make a good Baker's Wife. So would Kristen Wiig. I'd rather see Kate Winslet as the Witch than the Baker's wife. But honestly, there are SO many good choices on this thread that I'm positive we'll all be disappointed with at least some of the casting. If they follow in Les Mis's footsteps, I think I'll be happy.
Witch - Angelina Jolie Baker - Paul Rudd Baker's Wife - Kristen Wiig Red Riding Hood - Sarah Hyland Jack's Mother - Rachel Dratch Jack - not sure, but not Radcliffe. He would be great singing and acting, I just think Jack should be more youngish looking and gangly Cinderella - Zoe Boyle (if she sings...she plays Lavinia in Downton Abbey) Prince - Jon Hamm Prince - Patrick Wilson Mysterious Old Man - Martin Short Narrator - Peter O'Toole
Hugh Jackman hopes that 'Les Miserables' will give him the oppurtunity to do more movie musicals. I really do think that he would be great as the Baker.
I think Hugh would be fun as the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince more than the Baker, but maybe it is too small of a part? Anne Hathaway would be great as the Baker's Wife, but I am not sure if she would want to do another movie musical so soon after Les Miz.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
Musicals are all becoming like a Christopher Guest film that uses the same cast in different roles. And unlike in a Guest film, it's getting nauseating.
I understand ageism in Hollywood, etc. etc. etc., but I'm not sure that the Witch is the 'Star' of the film, or that anything about her story or lyrics suggest a young woman.
Meryl can act. And she can sing.
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...
"She may want to stay away from film musicals after the less than enthusiastic response to Rock of Ages."
She wasn't the problem with that adaptation (if you can even call it that when only 4 lines form the show madeit into the screenplay) It is notlike her character even exists on stage
Jordan, I agree with you, there needs to be more variety with the cast of musicals. In that way, Rob Marshall was on the right track when he cast NINE (I guess Nicole Kidman was the only one who had made a movie musical, and no I don't think LA VIE EN ROSE counts as a musical), unfortunately not much else was right about the movie but that's another topic. You can't cast INTO THE WOODS with typical lead actors (like Jackman) as the Baker and the Baker's Wife, you gotta cast those two roles with character actors, that's what made Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason such perfect fit for the roles. In the original production Robert Westenberg and Kim Crosby (him more than her) where the conventional leading types, which fit perfectly. Jackman is wonderful so is Hathaway, but they are not character actors. James Corden played the role in the reading and he's a much better fit for the Baker, that's the type of actor they should be looking at. Ewan McGregor is the only lead actor I can think of who would be great as the Baker, because he easily slips into character parts.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
But they're seriously going to need to start dubbing actors since there just aren't enough Big movie stars that have the singing ability needed for a musical. And no, I don't think that Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Sigfriedandroy, Helena Bonham Carter, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp, Daniel Day Lewis, ETC. sing well enough to have it sound like they should be in a musical. They all have fine singing voices, sure, but if they weren't who they were and walked into an open call for a musical, they'd be stopped after 2 bars and thanked for coming in.
I love movie musicals as much as the next person but I can't stand to see the scores murdered just because they have to fit a mediocre singers range. Meryl Streep will sell tickets whether her songs are dubbed or not. And believe me, if she is indeed cast as the Witch, there's no way in HELL she has the vocal range needed for those songs the way they're written, so the keys will be changed, parts cut, all to suit a mediocre voice on a brilliant actress.
So let's start dubbing again! It opens the casting up beyond the only 10 or 11 people ever mentioned for musicals and gives them a better shot at getting made if they can get more names interested. (Like Sandra Bullock as The Baker's Wife...)
Plus this way we will get some interesting new voices doing justice to the scores. I assume that the voices will be dubbed from the Broadway community?
"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 don't disagree with the way in which you frame the issue, Jordan, although I don't love the conclusion.
I turned to Meryl simply b/c I'd rather see a consummate actress with a thin voice--Streep--instead of a middling actress (deformed by botox, Restalyn, et.al.) with a thin voice--C.Z-J.
I think it is true that Hollywood will not embrace a power-house singer unless she also happens to be a young, beautiful starlet, and I think that's a pretty small pool of people.
I think LuvUrBatBoy's idea of looking for Pop-star talent might be interesting. God save us from Madge. Can Cyndi Lauper act?
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...
Yes, she can. But she won't sell as much as Streep. And I used Streep in what I wrote since it was said that she's Marshall's first choice or she's already attached to it, or something like that.
Hell, why not Michelle Pfeiffer for the witch?! She's one of the most stunningly beautiful women to ever show her face on the screen and she has a better singing voice than Meryl. The idea of Pfeiffer in that role excites me more than almost any other casting I can think of.
I don't think she's an amazing singer, but I don't think CZJ has a thin voice at all. It has rasp, but she showed quite a bit of brassiness/richness in her Chicago vocals. Updated On: 12/24/12 at 01:28 AM