# Why didn't any of you bastards tell me there was a LES MIZ musical coming? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603 "2012-11-30T19:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/1 "2012-11-30T19:46:52Z")
So late last night I was working on a really boring report with the TV on in the background when a familiar tune came from the idiot box. Well, screen, it’s too skinny to be a box at this point. Anyway, it was “I Dreamed A Dream.” Naturally I assumed a touring company was coming to Memphis to perform _Les Miserables_, which as everyone knows is not only the greatest musical ever made but quite possibly the greatest musical that can logically exist. As the through-composed stage musical is the zenith of human artistic achievement, _Les Miz_ is quite possibly the culmination of all Aslan’s hopes and plans for the betterment of mankind. Naturally I looked up to see when the play was coming to town. Except that it’s _not_ a play. It’s a movie. A movie directed by Tom Hooper, starring Amanda Seyfried and Wolverine. Opening NEXT MONTH. I was torn between two emotions. One, of course, was joy. Blissful, heavenly joy, enough to make me briefly consider not cooking and eating the Smurfs in my pantry. But simultaneously I was filled with the hottest and blackest rage this side of Orodruin, as NONE OF YOU FUCKERS HAD TOLD ME THIS WAS COMING. None of you, even though it’s common knowledge that I am completely incompetent in the use of the internet and thus could reasonably be inferred to be unaware of the coming wonderment. I’d like an explanation. Or we can just talk about the movie. There’ll be blood either way. ---
**Author:** ![Kasper1014](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c89c15/32.png) [@Kasper1014](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kasper1014)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/2 "2012-11-30T19:48:27Z")
😃 I’m going Christmas night!!! Soooo excited!!! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/3 "2012-11-30T19:53:49Z")
I guess you missed [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653588&highlight=jackman) thread from May. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/4 "2012-11-30T19:59:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I guess you missed [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=653588&highlight=jackman) thread from May. I was busy with new-baby stuff in May. Anyway I didn’t see that thread and have not clicked your link, so by Rhymer Rules 19, 23, and 3187, it does not exist. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/5 "2012-11-30T20:05:43Z")
We’re not going Christmas night (mainly because we’d have to find a sitter for the toddler on Christmas night) but we’ll be there that weekend. We just saw the stage show in Chicago last weekend so it’ll be a Les Miserables-iffic holiday season. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/6 "2012-11-30T20:22:35Z")
Going to see this movie is going to be the wife’s revenge for having been dragged to [del]all[/del]most of the Marvel movies. I have never seen the musical, know none of the songs and am profoundly uninterested in the story. I read the book, I teach the background. That’s all I need. \ I’m going to have serious earworms after this, aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/7 "2012-11-30T20:25:00Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I was busy with new-baby stuff in May. Anyway I didn’t see that thread and have not clicked your link, so by Rhymer Rules 19, 23, and 3187, it does not exist. While you were away you were put on double secret probation which renders your rules null and void. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/8 "2012-11-30T20:26:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Going to see this movie is going to be the wife’s revenge for having been dragged to [del]all[/del]most of the Marvel movies. I have never seen the musical, know none of the songs and am profoundly uninterested in the story. I read the book, I teach the background. That’s all I need. > > \ > > I’m going to have serious earworms after this, aren’t I? You know, it’s possible to love BOTH super-heroes AND musicals. I remind you that the doomed\* Hugh Jackman has done both. As for the earworms, I have already directed seventeen of the Bellucci slapbots to sneak into your house tonight and sing the entire thing for you. - For various complicated reasons. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/9 "2012-11-30T20:27:38Z")
The coolest thing about this is that the vocals were recorded on set, live NOT pre-recorded in a studio and lip-synced on set. The teaser, which has been playing CONSTANTLY in every theater in America, featured Anne Hathaway singing “I Dreamed a Dream” in prison. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/10 "2012-11-30T20:38:37Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You know, it’s possible to love BOTH super-heroes AND musicals. I remind you that the doomed\* Hugh Jackman has done both. > > As for the earworms, I have already directed seventeen of the Bellucci slapbots to sneak into your house tonight and sing the entire thing for you. > > - For various complicated reasons. Hey! I _like_ musicals, ok? I can sing the entire score to _Music Man_, _West Side Story and Camelot. I have Once More, With Feeling and Dr. Horrible_ on my phone for boring tournaments. It’s just that this one never appealed much to me. So call back your slapbots, foul fiend! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/11 "2012-11-30T20:42:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Hey! I _like_ musicals, ok? I can sing the entire score to _Music Man_, _West Side Story and Camelot. I have Once More, With Feeling and Dr. Horrible_ on my phone for boring tournaments. It’s just that this one never appealed much to me. So call back your slapbots, foul fiend! They’re not going to SLAP you. Just stand around naked while singing to you. Also, the fact that you compare “Once More with Feeling” to Les Miz indicates to me that you should consider forgoing any additional mushroom consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/12 "2012-11-30T20:48:45Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I was busy with new-baby stuff in May. Anyway I didn’t see that thread and have not clicked your link, so by Rhymer Rules 19, 23, and 3187, it does not exist. Dude, I was busy with new baby stuff in May too and I saw the thread. No excuses. Doesn’t it just look so super swell? I like to watch the trailer and cry, then I put on the Broadway album and cry. I can’t wait to go see it with my mom and sister and cry. Good times! ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/13 "2012-11-30T20:51:44Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > They’re not going to SLAP you. Just stand around naked while singing to you. Monica Bellucci slapbots? Seriously? Naked? Singing? Where do I sign up? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/14 "2012-11-30T20:57:37Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > The coolest thing about this is that the vocals were recorded on set, live NOT pre-recorded in a studio and lip-synced on set. The teaser, which has been playing CONSTANTLY in every theater in America, featured Anne Hathaway singing “I Dreamed a Dream” in prison. I originally raised concerns in the other thread about the vocal performances. After seeing someone like Lea Solonga knock that out of the park Hathaway’s performance seemed very thin. But I have thought about it. I think it is a brilliant move if done well. Most musicals don’t work on film. I saw The Producers on Broadway with the original cast. I thought it was amazingly good and funny. But the movie (of the musical) didn’t work. They didn’t change it enough. Stage performances don’t work on film. Filming them on set while they are singing should bring an intimacy to the performances that could otherwise be lost. They don’t have to sing for the back row. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwgQjfg0hZw&feature=fvst) is the extended first look. Mostly interviews so it doesn’t spoil too much. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/15 "2012-11-30T21:15:25Z")
This could be the greatest thng since sliced bread - but I am so very seriously SICK of hearing about it - its been in the ‘long preview’ in every movie we’ve seen this year and now the commercails at every turn. I have zero idea what the excitement is about - I’ll agree that the film looks well made and the decision to do the musical the way they did is innovative and potentially game changing … I’m just so sick of hearing about it that I have zero intentions of seeing it ever - not that I would have had any intentions had I not heard about it (I don’t know why I want to see a movie about 'The Miserables" - unless its a sequal of ‘The Incredibles’ starring thier less fortunate in-laws.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/16 "2012-11-30T21:20:13Z")
You already knew . . . . . . especially since I didn’t know it until reading this thread. So by definition, you already knew. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/17 "2012-11-30T21:25:22Z")
> [@simster](#): > > This could be the greatest thng since sliced bread - but I am so very seriously SICK of hearing about it - its been in the ‘long preview’ in every movie we’ve seen this year and now the commercails at every turn. > > I have zero idea what the excitement is about - I’ll agree that the film looks well made and the decision to do the musical the way they did is innovative and potentially game changing .. > > I’m just so sick of hearing about it that I have zero intentions of seeing it ever - not that I would have had any intentions had I not heard about it (I don’t know why I want to see a movie about 'The Miserables" - unless its a sequal of ‘The Incredibles’ starring thier less fortunate in-laws.) Maybe if there had been sliced bread then, Valjean would have been excused. “All I did was steal a slice of bread” – well, OK then. I adore the musical but my objection is Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. Cosette is a reserved dark-haired woman (OK, at least in my head); Seyfried should be playing Eponine. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/18 "2012-11-30T21:27:19Z")
I’m waiting for the sequel, _More Miserables_. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/19 "2012-11-30T21:27:41Z")
> [@simster](#): > > This could be the greatest thng since sliced bread - but I am so very seriously SICK of hearing about it - its been in the ‘long preview’ in every movie we’ve seen this year and now the commercails at every turn. I haven’t been to the movies lately so I can’t speak for the previews but I think I’ve seen a single commercial for it on TV (and I’m in the Chicago media market, not exactly tiny). I’m not doubting your word, I just find it interesting how people can have such disparate experiences. Same thing with the Judge Dredd thread where some people said they were bombarded with ads and others said they had no idea it existed. > [@gigi](#): > > …my objection is Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. Cosette is a reserved dark-haired woman (OK, at least in my head); Seyfried should be playing Eponine. Every performance I’ve seen (four now) has had a blonde Cosette and a brunette Eponine. At this point I just assumed it was intentional. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603/20 "2012-11-30T21:28:18Z")
The poll doesn’t have the option “Why don’t you know how to spell _Les Mis_ correctly?”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-any-of-you-bastards-tell-me-there-was-a-les-miz-musical-coming/642603.md?page=2)