Celebrate Musicals Week Has Started!

Yes!  I've been waiting with bated breath for the tag to come up for CMW ever since I got up this morning.  So here it is, and Celebrate Musicals Week has officially started!

1.  What musical did you pick to "spotlight" this week and why?

Les Miserables.  Why?  Well, because I love this musical.  I really enjoy writing about things I love.  And that's pretty much it.

2.  How did you discover the musical you picked (hereinafter referred to as "your musical")?



I discovered Les Mis through the Barricade Boys Week Eva hosted awhile ago.  Back then I was just starting to follow blogs like Eva's and I didn't know a thing about Les Mis.  I was kind of shocked at the huge response Barricade Boys Week got and how everyone seemed to love them.  In fact, I was a little annoyed.  But also curious.



Well, I did some digging around in my mom's old CD's, because I wanted to know what everyone was so excited about.  It turned out that we had the Complete Symphonic Recording, so I listened to part of it and...hated it.  This went on for about a week.  Then I decided that it would be worth it to listen to the whole thing, and I loved it. Since then, I've been a huge, enormous, gigantic Mizzer and never looked back.

3.  If you had to pick three favorite songs from your musical, which ones would they be?

What?!  Only three?  Not fair.  NOT FAIR.  But if I had to choose...
"On My Own" is my definite favorite, 'cause I'm a stereotypical teenage girl.  I love the music and the words.
"A Little Fall of Rain" would be second.  It's the first song to ever make me cry, and it's usually the mark where I start to lose it when watching Les Mis.

The third...um.  "I Dreamed A Dream," probably.  So beautiful and sad.

4.  What's your least favorite song from your musical?
At last, an easy one!  Or perhaps not, 'cause I have three least favorites: "Lovely Ladies," "Master of the House," and "Dog Eats Dog."  We always skip LL and MotH, and we don't usually listen to DED either.  So those are my three.

5.  Who are your favorite characters (choose up to three)?



Erm.  Only three?  Again?  Well...ohmygoodness, I don't know!  Fine, I'll just pick Fantine, Eponine and Jean Valjean.

6.  Which versions of your musical have you seen/listened to, and which is your favorite?


I've seen the 2012 movie, the 10th Anniversary Concert, and the 25th Anniversary Concert.  I've listened to all of the above, plus the Complete Symphonic Recording, the Original Broadway Cast, the Original London Cast, and the Original French Concept Album.  My favorite would have to be the 10th.  It's just so epic.

7.   Is this your favorite musical of all time?  If not, what is?

Well.  YES!!!!!

8.   Which cast album/musical soundtrack in your collection do you listen to the most?

Actually, I only own the CSR and the movie cast recording of Les Mis (because I listen to LM the most), and I'd say that I actually listen to the movie cast the most.

9.   What is your favorite costume from your musical?

It depends on what you mean by "favorite costume."  If you mean whose outfits I'd most like to steal, definitely Cosette's from the movie and the 25thAC.

If you mean just in general...Eponine's.

(And an Honorable Mention goes to this awesome revolutionary coat.)

10.  If you could change anything about your musical, what would you change?

Hmmm...I love it as it is!  You can't really cut out "Lovely Ladies," because it is rather essential to the story, but I would cut out "Dog Eats Dog."  Um.  What else?  Let's see, I'd try to get more of the bad language out, and cut out Nick Jonas from the history of the show, and make Marius less annoying.  I think that's it. :D

11.  Which role(s) would you most like to play in any musical, if you had the opportunity to do so on stage?


Well, Eponine for one.  Her part is perfect for my voice and she's my favorite character.  Also, I would love to play Fantine.  She's one of my favorite characters too, and I love most of her songs.  (And yes, she is within my voice range.)
Other than that...how about Marguerite from The Scarlet Pimpernel?

12.  If you could choose one performer to play any part in your musical, who would you choose and which part would you have them play?
 
 Aaron Tveit as Enjolras.  Can you imagine him on stage with the Legendary Red Vest of Power and Awesomeness??  Yeah. 
13.  Do you consider yourself a musical theatre fan in general or do you just like a few musicals?


Well...I'm definitely not a complete musical geek, because I'm not all that well-versed in musical traditions, shows, etc.  But I am definitely a musical theatre fan- have been since I was five- and I like a lot more than just a few!
14.  Are you tired of the word "musical" yet?


Hahaha, was that a joke?  Of course not. (As if I would.)(Yes, that was a really bad parodying of POTO lines.)

15.  Turn your music playing device on shuffle (or utilize Pandora if you don't have one) and tell us the names of the first three show tunes that come up-- no cheating!  How do these rank on your favorites/most-listened-to list?

"Seventy-Six Trombones" from The Music Man.  I love this musical- SST ranks high on my list.
"Phantom of the Opera" from- you guessed it- The Phantom of the Opera.  This ranks Very High Indeed on my list.
"Eponine's Errand."  Ummm...this ranks high on my list, I suppose.

So the final ranking of the songs are:
1. "Phantom of the Opera"
2. "Seventy-Six Trombones"
3. "Eponine's Errand"
(Yes, I really did just rank a song from Les Mis lower than other songs.)

Annd that's the tag!  If you'd like to participate in Celebrate Musicals Week, there are more details here and the tag is here.
-Miss Jane Bennet