I love how YouTube allows me to take a break from my routine and relive a moment from film or theater. This is one of my favorite songs from the musical, Les Miserables. Listen to the soul searching and passion in his voice. He cannot quiet his conscience and let another fall for his crime. The song's momentum builds with power as he gathers courage to proclaim his identity and accept the consequences. I love when music and lyrics reveal the character's inner struggle and revelation from line to line. That's when a character grabs not only my attention, but also my empathy. The music creates a bridge for this type of intimacy between the performer and the audience.
A little funny observation: I love how he sings the song, but his facial expressions kind of crack me up during the performance :) I'm sure there's a SNL skit somewhere about these "wide-eyed" performing actors.
19 comments:
Oh I love Les Mis! And that's such a great song. You sum it up so well. And while I'd never thought about the eyes thing before, I'll never be able to ummmm look at them in the same way again!
I love Les Miz! That's the first musical I ever saw on Broadway. I love all of the songs, but especially "On My Own," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," and "One Day More." Now I've got to go listen to the soundtrack!
thanks for posting the article. I am into musical too. It is somehow relieved me of all the stress and tensions and problems in some particular moments.
I would love to see this. Extraordinary!
I LOVE Les Mis. I read the book years and years ago, then caught the show when it was in Birmingham sometime during high school. I have the soundtrack, too :)
My favorite song from the show is "On my own" - you can hear every ounce of emotion in Eponine's voice. So beautiful.
You know I've never see Les Mis! I can't open the YOUTUBE link here at work but will definitely do so when I get home. You have a beautiful artistic spirit Kelly. It's a rarity to meet someone who can find peace and joy through music and art.
I would never in my wildest dreams as a kid have imagined that we would ever be able to just call up clips of stuff when we wanted to see it. I remember being thrilled when VCRs came out. I love technology. :-)
Wow! I loved it! I guess I'm going to have to rent it! Thanks for sharing that.
Les Mis has such beautiful music. Chills. Absolutely. And I especially love the message of THIS song.
I was a vocal performance major for my undergrad degree. Trust me, in the beginning, most of us felt silly sometimes with all the wildly expressive faces we conjured while singing our souls out in some operatic piece...always fearing people were in the audience snickering at us. The silly feeling only goes away once you lose yourself in the character you become and forget the audience is even there.
Thank you for sharing this today!!! La, la, la...
Septembermom...I used to live in St. Louis and saw Les Mis during a run there. It is one of those stories that cuts across generations. We took my son who was at the time about 16 or so and loved it as much as we did...and at that age...that says a lot!
Dan
Oh you have just helped me remember how much I ADORE musicals. In another life/in my dreams, I would be on the stage starring in a musical...!
I love Les Mis! I can never pick a favorite musical but this ranks in my top five. Love the music and the story. I got chills just listening to it again. I think the big facial features come from the theater actors trying to reach the "back of the house". You know, when you're at a play you are never as close as that camera was on him. Thanks for posting this....it brought back great memories. Can't wait until I get the chance to see it again.
Good choice. I also like some of the arias from the original version of Phantom of the Opera. Many of the later traveling versions seen a bit lackluster compared to the original.
Don't you just love YouTube?! Thanks for the memories, a specatcular musical.
One of the most moving movies I have ever seen. Haven't seen the musical. Thanks for the clip.
I think this is my favorite musical of all time. I think. I know I cry every time. It feels so honest, this musical. Not put on to be clever, not constructed to rhyme.
My favorite musical too - (I also really, really loved the book!)
Great show!
Les Miz was the very first full-length musical I ever saw. It blew me away. The music is so great ... but I was so suprised there was no talking but I still got the story.
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