"Do you hear the People Sing?" sung by 17 Jean Valjeans from around the world

[+ FreshFluff]

Les Miz is not the coolest musical, but I think you'll enjoy this clip from the 10th anniversary of the show's opening. Check out the Irish guy at 3:40, and Vlad Lenin, now an expat in Iceland, chewing the scenery. I think the overall best performance came from the Austrian Valjean, but I wish the French guy had gotten more of a chance to show off his stuff.

 

Aside from that, there's something about watching the Hungarian and Pole singing this that brings a tear to my eye.

 

Some subtitles would have come in handy, as the order of the lines, as well as some of the lines themselves, were apparently changed.

 

[video=youtube;gpDbvlAI_A0]

[Daverwr]

Oh, Wow! How spectacular. Thank you, Fluff. I thoroughly enjoyed that. A perfect lullaby to send me off to slumber. But, I'm such a theatre queen that I didn't need sub-titles. I knew all the words! Thanks again!

[tyro]

Thanks for posting the video. I was surprised by the differences in the voices. Some of these dudes were high tenors; I never hear Valjean that way in my head.

T

[+ FreshFluff]

Oh, Wow! How spectacular. Thank you, Fluff. I thoroughly enjoyed that. A perfect lullaby to send me off to slumber. But, I'm such a theatre queen that I didn't need sub-titles. I knew all the words! Thanks again!

 

Lullaby? That's reveille!

 

The reason I wanted subtitles is that I thought some of the lyrics had been transposed. Turns out I was wrong.

 

 

Thanks for posting the video. I was surprised by the differences in the voices. Some of these dudes were high tenors; I never hear Valjean that way in my head.

T

 

Yeah, the Japanese guy sounds especially unusual. Must be something about the language.

[rguer]

 

Yeah, the Japanese guy sounds especially unusual. Must be something about the language.

 

I thought, "He looks like The Chairman on Iron Chef."

 

And indeed, it is!

[Gar1eth]

Les Miz is not the coolest musical, but I think you'll enjoy this clip from the 10th anniversary of the show's opening. Check out the Irish guy at 3:40, and Vlad Lenin, now an expat in Iceland, chewing the scenery. I think the overall best performance came from the Austrian Valjean, but I wish the French guy had gotten more of a chance to show off his stuff.

 

Aside from that, there's something about watching the Hungarian and Pole singing this that brings a tear to my eye.

 

Some subtitles would have come in handy, as the order of the lines, as well as some of the lines themselves, were apparently changed.

 

[video=youtube;gpDbvlAI_A0]

 

I must disagree. I've always thought it was a great musical. I first saw it in London in 1989-not the original cast. But I thought they were good enough to have been. I remember getting a bit tearful at the end when Valjean (spoiler alert) dies. I still do come to think of it.

 

Gman

 

PS I just bought the symphonic anniversary edition which this clip is from on iTunes about 2 weeks ago.

[wisconsinguy]

I also must disagree. I have seen two different stage performances. I also have the film version. I can't recall how many times I watched it with friends and family. I enjoy it more each time. The film is as outstanding.

[Gar1eth]

Lullaby? That's reveille!

 

The reason I wanted subtitles is that I thought some of the lyrics had been transposed. Turns out I was wrong.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, the Japanese guy sounds especially unusual. Must be something about the language.

 

There was an old international cast multi CD set I bought years ago-probably in the '90's. I liked it but I don't think it received good reviews. I remember reading in the booklet that came with it that they had chosen the Eponine (it was either her or Cosette- but I'm fairly sure it was Eponine) that they thought was the best one performing. But she was Japanese and knew no English. She obviously knew the song, but they had to teach her the English phonetically. Her tone was good, but the pronunciation was awful. And that was one of the points the review I read mentioned.

 

Gman

[Gar1eth]

Just for fun for us Les Miserables-ophiles, here is the back translation into English of the Japanese version of "I Dreamed A Dream". Considering how difficult it must have been to translate the lyrics into Japanese that would fit the melody, I think the translators did a great job.

 

The Dream Was Shattered (I Dreamed a Dream)

Fantine:

 

In the past, men would whisper sweet words

And we could grow old in love

The world was a song

That made my heart pound

It was a dream, but now . . .

I once had a dream

I lived with high hopes

(I dreamed) that love was forever

And that God would continue to forgive

I was young and overflowed with courage

My dreams were shining/glittering

I flew towards freedom

And pursued pleasure

The dream became a nightmare

When the fangs of wolves

Tore apart my hopes

And devoured my dreams

 

In the summer, that man came

I overflowed with happiness

But although he slept with me,

By the autumn, he was gone

I continue to wait

For that man's return

It's a foolish illusion

That the cold winds of winter will erase

The life I dreamed of

Has now descended into hell

And now the dream will never return to me.

 

The Original For Comparison

 

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high and life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I prayed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hopes apart

And they turn your dreams to shame

And still I dream he'd come to me

That we would live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream, I dreamed

[+ FreshFluff]

It's one of my favorites. I meant that it's too popular to be considered cool among most musical aficionados. If I were to suggest "at the end of the day" at one of the finer piano bars around the city, I'm guessing people would roll their eyes.

[Gar1eth]

It's one of my favorites. I meant that it's too popular to be considered cool among most musical aficionados. If I were to suggest "at the end of the day" at one of the finer piano bars around the city, I'm guessing people would roll their eyes.

I guess this is one of those times it's in my favor that I've never been cool. I can enjoy Les Miz without guilt.

 

Gman

[wisconsinguy]

I guess this is one of those times it's in my favor that I've never been cool. I can enjoy Les Miz without guilt.

 

Gman

Nice to be uncool in this situation also. I didn't realize that being a musical aficionado means you don't like a popular musical with us low life! I'm proud to say if ANY cast member became ill, I could step in any role in two of my favorite musicals. "The Sound Of Music, and Les Miz." Don't even need a script!!! And, as in many cases, I don't understand. Do musical aficionados only hang out in finer piano bars?

[TruHart1]

Nice to be uncool in this situation also. I didn't realize that being a musical aficionado means you don't like a popular musical with us low life! I'm proud to say if ANY cast member became ill, I could step in any role in two of my favorite musicals. "The Sound Of Music, and Les Miz." Don't even need a script!!! And, as in many cases, I don't understand. Do musical aficionados only hang out in finer piano bars?

 

HaHa! So droll Mr. WG2!!! I believe that makes you "Master of the House!"

 

TruHart1

[+ FreshFluff]

I could definitely serve as an understudy for any role in the Sound of Music. For Les Miz, I'd have to study the lyrics to a few of the songs.

 

I tend to associate Les Miz with Phantom of the Opera, since they opened around the same time and I saw them (later) on the same trip to London. Some musical theater purists mock Andrew Lloyd Webber, so I probably, unfairly, extend that to Les Miz.

 

Do musical aficionados only hang out in finer piano bars?

 

I once requested Shall We Dance from the King and I. It wasn't clear if the piano player didn't know the lyrics or if people weren't that interested, but he stopped mid-song.

[BSR]

Thank you to OP FreshFluff and those who added to this thread. After being forced to sit through "Cats" (long story, but 2 of the most painful hours of my life), I developed a horrible phobia about musical theater. Just hearing "Broadway" would make me break out in hives. But I started to realize that some musical theater is amazing stuff: I loved "West Side Story" as a kid and love it even more as an adult, and "Jesus Christ Superstar" is simply brilliant. A few years back, I got free tix to see "Phantom" here in Las Vegas. I didn't want to go, but my mom begged me to take her. Boy, was I glad I did, because I loved it and ended up seeing the Vegas production four more times.

 

As enormously popular as "Les Miserables" is, I avoided it simply because of the old phobia. But I realize now that the famous Susan Boyle audition on Britain's Got Talent was "I Dreamed A Dream." And musical theater boy band (yes, it's now a thing) Collabro won the most recent BGT with "Stars" and "Bring Him Home." Inspired by this thread, I looked up a bunch of Les Miz clips on YouTube, some of which were great. My favorites were the ones in French because I think works are always best in their original language. My French isn't good enough to understand the lyric just by ear, but I googled the French lyrics and followed along that way. Even though the video's French Valjean sings only one line, I thought he was the best one. And LOL, FreshFluff, the Icelandic's resemblance to Lenin is downright startling.

 

I hear not-so-good things about the movie version (e.g., Hugh Jackman's singing isn't great and Russell Crowe is supposedly awful). Is the DVD worth renting? Unfortunately for me, "Les Miserables" has run its course in the theater. If folks here recommend against the film version, I guess my only chance to see it will be the occasional revival.

[wisconsinguy]

FF...Now I understand!!! You r a musical aficionado. I can now sleep.

[wisconsinguy]

Thank you to OP FreshFluff and those who added to this thread. After being forced to sit through "Cats" (long story, but 2 of the most painful hours of my life), I developed a horrible phobia about musical theater. Just hearing "Broadway" would make me break out in hives. But I started to realize that some musical theater is amazing stuff: I loved "West Side Story" as a kid and love it even more as an adult, and "Jesus Christ Superstar" is simply brilliant. A few years back, I got free tix to see "Phantom" here in Las Vegas. I didn't want to go, but my mom begged me to take her. Boy, was I glad I did, because I loved it and ended up seeing the Vegas production four more times.

 

As enormously popular as "Les Miserables" is, I avoided it simply because of the old phobia. But I realize now that the famous Susan Boyle audition on Britain's Got Talent was "I Dreamed A Dream." And musical theater boy band (yes, it's now a thing) Collabro won the most recent BGT with "Stars" and "Bring Him Home." Inspired by this thread, I looked up a bunch of Les Miz clips on YouTube, some of which were great. My favorites were the ones in French because I think works are always best in their original language. My French isn't good enough to understand the lyric just by ear, but I googled the French lyrics and followed along that way. Even though the video's French Valjean sings only one line, I thought he was the best one. And LOL, FreshFluff, the Icelandic's resemblance to Lenin is downright startling.

 

I hear not-so-good things about the movie version (e.g., Hugh Jackman's singing isn't great and Russell Crowe is supposedly awful). Is the DVD worth renting? Unfortunately for me, "Les Miserables" has run its course in the theater. If folks here recommend against the film version, I guess my only chance to see it will be the occasional revival.

As I said, I have watched the film version many times with friends and family. On my ten scale, I give Hugh a 7. If you are just looking for a voice, Russell can be painful. HOWEVER, the casting of Russell was brilliant. As the character, he did an outstanding job. Don't forget the rest of the cast! It is certainly worth the money to rent. Invite a friend over, do some popcorn, get naked if you like, and enjoy!

[Gar1eth]

I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of this response. I didn't realize it was going to be so long when I started. The most important info for BSR is the LAST PARAGRAPH in case he, or anyone else, wants to skip the rest.

 

Thank you to OP FreshFluff and those who added to this thread. After being forced to sit through "Cats" (long story, but 2 of the most painful hours of my life), I developed a horrible phobia about musical theater.

 

The summer of 1982 (I think it was '82) -I was 21-and I was away from home ( for the first time as an 'adult') at summer school at the University of Texas. I was staying in UT's Kinsolving Dorm. It was a rough life. Let me tell you. I was only taking a 3 credit Intro to Psychology Class (Psyc 301 with Prof Cohen-I think most likely Irish). Aside from the class tests, the only other thing I had to do class-wise was volunteer to be a subject in a certain number of experiments. So I spent a lot time outside class playing volleyball (badly) on the Kinsolving Dorm Rooftop Court. I also had my 1st experiences with Blue Bell Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream as well as with fajitas (Yes, Virginia, there once was a time when fajitas and wraps weren't common restaurant items). Neither had made it yet to the town where I grew up in N. Texas. It would have been a great time to have my first experience with sex. You can't have everything, I guess. But I only had to wait another 21 years for that.

 

Sorry, memory got the best of me. It was a nice 6 weeks. But the reason I brought this up was that my Resident Assistant had the London West End Cast Album of Cats. The show hadn't made it to the USA at that point. I also don't think the album was available in the USA yet. He had either gotten it in London and brought it back, or someone had sent it to him. I fell in love-mainly with the Jellicle Song-the one right after the Overture-but I was fairly enamored with the rest of the 1st record (it was a 2 album set). And for years I wanted to see the actual production.

 

It took years for me to catch a touring company. I saw it around 1990 probably at Jones Hall in Houston. I had known the music by that time for 8 years. I was so excited to see it. I couldn't wait. Well I saw it-and my experience, while milder than BSR's, pretty much left me flat. It was really disappointing after all those of years of wanting to see it. The show probably wasn't awful. But I had been expecting so much more. I'm not terribly fond of Evita either although I like Joseph ...Dreamcoat, and I love Phantom.

 

...Inspired by this thread, I looked up a bunch of Les Miz clips on YouTube, some of which were great. My favorites were the ones in French because I think works are always best in their original language. [/QuOte]

 

 

I'm not sure if you know. The first 'Les Miserables' done in French is not really the show we now know. The French don't really have a tradition of non-opera musicals as we do here in the USA or in Great Britain. If I remember correctly- and please if I'm wrong someone let me know-the original production in Paris was more like an 'in concert' production with a very short run.

 

Somehow a year or so later Cameron MacIntosh became involved. He got together with the original composers and they worked with, I think, two different English lyricists. The music and songs from the original French production were expanded and added to. In fact some of the original songs were moved to different places, possibly given to different characters, and had their lyrics totally changed. So really the English language version of 'Les Miserables' is the original language of most of the show.

 

I apologize if that is more than you, or anyone else on the Forum, really wanted to know. I know there are many Broadway and Opera aficionados on here who know much more than I will ever know about those subjects. Les Miz is the only show I know that much detail on.

 

After I saw it in London in 1989, I became fascinated by the musical. The last scene where (SPOILER ALERT) Valjean dies usually gets me choked up. After the show I ended buying the original cast 'cassette' at the theatre merchandise booth and played it all over Europe in my ersatz Walkman for 6 weeks. By the end of that time, I could with a only a little prompting probably have substituted for any character assuming I had been able to sing or act.

 

(I learned the backstory from a book called The Complete Book of Les Miserables by Edward Behr, c. 1989 if anyone is interested. It's a great book.)

 

Interestingly enough there's an episode in the book where it talks about Cameron Macintosh and several others involved in the show taking a holiday together with their wives and partners. It never mentions that Cameron is gay and that his partner is male. I'm not sure how well-known that was in 1989 to the world at large. I remember being quite surprised years later when I found out. I even re-read the book to see if I had missed it saying something about a boyfriend when I first read it. But no, it said generic/sexless 'partner' or maybe 'significant other' and didn't specify who was on the holiday with a wife and who with a partner. Things were definitely not as open back in 1989.

 

 

Unfortunately for me, "Les Miserables" has run its course in the theater. If folks here recommend against the film version, I guess my only chance to see it will be the occasional revival.

 

It's on Broadway again right now. It's playing at the Imperial Theatre. If you can't get to NYC to see it, maybe it will go on tour.

 

 

Gman

[rguer]

After being forced to sit through "Cats" (long story, but 2 of the most painful hours of my life), I developed a horrible phobia about musical theater.

 

I have seen Cats only once. I liked it, but I wouldn't call it musical theatre. It was more like a dance show with singing. Kind of like Movin' Out - a dance show that happened to be performed in a theatre that usually shows musicals.

[BSR]

Thanks for the response, Gman. Since the new board's search feature seems to work better than the old one, I was easily able to find an old thread on the movie version. I'll watch it if I ever get my hands on a copy. Because I had read a few very critical rants about the Jackman/Hathaway/Crowe version, I didn't want my first exposure to Les Miz to be so negative that it would forever sour me on a great musical. But while the film apparently has its shortcomings, it doesn't sound that bad either. Cheaper than a trip to NYC, that's for sure.

 

Gman, I wonder if the French version hasn't been expanded and filled out to match up to its English counterpart. There are YouTube clips of the songs in French that seem to match both in number and length to the English interpretation. In any case, I'll try to catch the production in NYC, I'll definitely find the DVD at some point, but I do like the songs in French on YouTube.

[Gar1eth]

Thanks for the response, Gman. Since the new board's search feature seems to work better than the old one, I was easily able to find an old thread on the movie version. I'll watch it if I ever get my hands on a copy. Because I had read a few very critical rants about the Jackman/Hathaway/Crowe version, I didn't want my first exposure to Les Miz to be so negative that it would forever sour me on a great musical. But while the film apparently has its shortcomings, it doesn't sound that bad either. Cheaper than a trip to NYC, that's for sure.

 

I have a confession to make. As much as I love Les Miz, I haven't seen the movie either. I wasn't sure how good it was going to be- and I really love the play- so I avoided it.

 

Gman' date=' I wonder if the French version hasn't been expanded and filled out to match up to its English counterpart. There are YouTube clips of the songs in French that seem to match both in number and length to the English interpretation. In any case, I'll try to catch the production in NYC, I'll definitely find the DVD at some point, but I do like the songs in French on YouTube.[/quote']

 

BSR,

 

I'm sure that the French version now has everything the English language version does. But it would almost have to have been (back) translated into French from English since what we now know as Les Miz was written/composed in the UK- the original French concert version having served as a bare outline. I was only making the point that the English lyrics are for the majority of the show, the original lyrics.

 

Gman

[+ quoththeraven]

This gives me the opportunity to post the video of the ROK (South Korean) Air Force parody, Les Militaribles. The officers playing Javert and Valjean are, respectively, a graduate of an college opera program and a student in such a program. Cosette's voice is more of a musical theater/pop one. (And yes, she totally goes flat on an early high note, but otherwise her performance is fine, just not operatic.) Subtitles are in Hangul (Korean) and English.

South Korean men must serve in the military for two years. The country is still technically at war with North Korea; there's a ceasefire, not a truce, which is why the DMZ is probably the most heavily militarized area in the world. This video was made by the Air Force military band and the ROK Air Force media contents team (in other words, their PR group) as a PR campaign and as a morale booster for current troops and entertainment for Koreans, many of whom remember what it was like to be in the military. From what I understand, the snow shoveling by hand actually happens as depicted.

[TruHart1]

It's one of my favorites. I meant that it's too popular to be considered cool among most musical aficionados. If I were to suggest "at the end of the day" at one of the finer piano bars around the city, I'm guessing people would roll their eyes.

 

For me, my secret beloved (guilty pleasure) musical is "Wicked" which I actually didn't see until almost 10 years into its run, in about 2011! I have made up for that since though, by seeing it every single time I've visited NYC since, with various and sometimes uneven casts! I believe if I requested "Dancing Through Life" or "I'm Not That Girl" or even "Popular" I'd be thrown out of most any piano bar!

 

I have gone so far as to acquire the German (from a Stuttgart production) and Japanese (from a Tokyo production) original cast album CD's through Amazon Deutsch and Amazon Japan, in addition to the US original cast, 5th Anniversary Edition, which included extras and a few excerpts from the German & Japanese versions (which gave me a clue that they were available complete!)

 

(So now you know my secret, I'm a young tween girl, trapped in the body of an old man! )

 

TruHart1

[Gar1eth]

I like Wicked too, TruHart. Not as much as you, but I like it. I saw it again recently on my birthday in January-my third time. I'm glad I had seen it before as I was about 20 minutes late-unavoidable I wasn't feeling well prior to the performance. If it had kept up I wouldn't have been able to attend at all.

 

But back to 'Les Miz'-as QTR has presented a Korean version, here is an a cappella version by the Maccabeats -a group out of Yeshiva University in NYC-using the songs to symbolize the Passover story (just in time as Passover is coming up soon). If you are familiar with either the book of Exodus or Cecil B. Demille's Ten Commandments, you'll be able to follow the story. As a quick update for those who aren't -

 

1. Pharaoh gave an order to kill all the male children. Mose's mother put him in a basket of reeds and had it put in the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him as a prince.

 

2. I don't think this is in the Bible-but is an extra-biblical story. Pharaoh was afraid that Moses might grow up to take control of Egypt from the Pharaoh's family. So he decided to put the infant to a test. He had a crown and a pile of glowing hot coals put on the ground equidistant from the infant Moses. If Moses went toward the shiny crown, it was thought to be a sign that he would usurp the crown and would be put to death. But if he went for the coals, that would show he wasn't a danger. So the story goes that initially Moses crawled towards the crown. But G-d or an angel moved the crown out of the way, and Moses went towards the coals. He put one of the coals in his mouth and burned himself. Ever after he had some kind of trouble talking. When he meets the Burning Bush as an adult-and this is in the Bible-he says something about -why do you want me when I speak haltingly. I've read somewhere that this story may be trying to indicate that Moses was a foreigner and didn't speak Egyptian well ( apparently neither did Joseph-he of the multi-colored coat-or at least that's what it says in the song Poor Poor Joseph).

 

3. The Egyptian's wine has turned to blood-which is one of the 10 Plagues G-d visited on the Egyptians when Phaoroh wouldn't let the Hebrews go. And there was a plague of frogs also.

 

I think that's all the background needed if you know the general story from your younger years at Sunday School or from the movie.

 

 

Gman

[+ WilliamM]

It's one of my favorites. I meant that it's too popular to be considered cool among most musical aficionados. If I were to suggest "at the end of the day" at one of the finer piano bars around the city, I'm guessing people would roll their eyes.

 

You are right. If you talk to most New York City theater geeks, you will get negative comments about the musical.

It's partly due to people's frustration with shows like "Phantom of the Opera," "Miss Saigon," "Cats" that run for decades on Broadway and tie up the best theaters. Even musicals like "Chicago,"that won extreme praises from the toughest critics in the original version in the 1970s and also the current very long running revival, are in the same category because the casts have changed so often that it's viewed as played out.