LesMis starring Wolverine, Gladiator, Cat Woman, Mean Girl, Marilyn’s escort, and Éponine

Think about it for a moment, the stars of the amazing LesMis 2012 (see review) actually have played Wolverine, Gladiator, Cat Woman, Mean Girl, Marilyn’s escort, and Éponine! In this article, let me put videos of their LesMis roles side by side with these other roles. Have a watch. I hope they put a smile on your face.

Hugh Jackman & Russell Crowe sings “Javert Releases Prisoner 24601 On Parole”

Hugh in X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer

Russell in Maximus Gladiator Speech with Fight with Russell Crowe

Anne Hathaway sings I Dreamed A Dream in Les Mis Trailer

Anne as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises – Batman and Catwoman Roof Fight

Amanda Seyfried (as Cosette) & Eddie Redmayne (as Marius Pontmercy) sings “A Heart Full Of Love”

Amanda in Mean Girls

Eddie (as Marilyn Monroe‘s escort) in My Week With Marilyn. Also read him talk about his “Hellishly Scary” Les Mis Role and Binging When It Was All Over (via Vanity Fair).

And saving the best, to me, for last!

Samantha Barks sings “On My Own” in Les Mis 2012

Samantha starred as Éponine sings “On My Own” at the 25th anniversary performance of Les Miserables.

And as a bonus, the awesome Sacha Baron Cohen as Thénardier on the World Premiere red carpet chatting in a funny voice!

Sacha as Borat (in character) in this awesome Borat Interview on (American) CNN

Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thénardier on the World Premiere red carpet chatting!

Helena as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Half-Blood Prince

This article is cross-posted by me to examiner.

A Les Misérables Lover’s Journey from 1989 to 2012 Christmas – #LesMis Part 1

Les Mis 1989

Love is a mysterious thing. During the 1989 Christmas holiday, a visiting friend and I walked pass the Royal Alex by chance. We, on a whim, decided to buy the cheapest last minute tickets available to see Les Misérables. Cheap seats were cheap for a reason and we ended up sitting in the absolute worst seat (yes, last row against the wall) in the theatre. To my surprise, even sitting in the worst seats, we quite enjoyed Les Mis. So much so that I bought a copy of the full-Toronto-cast-signed charity Les Mis poster (donating the minimum ~$35, close to or more than the ticket price). I treasured that signed poster for many years until a national mover lost it! Yes, it kinda suck for me!

Les Mis 2012

I’ve been quite excited about Les Mis again once I realize the creative gamble Oscar winning director Tom Hooper is trying with Les Mis (2012 film). To prepare for writing this series of articles, I went to Calgary Public Library and borrowed the following:

1) three Les Mis music CDs (sang by the 10th anniversary cast, the 25th anniversary cast, plus an international cast recording),

2) Les Mis (1998 film),  and

3) Les Mis (25th Anniversary Concert in 2010).

I remember watching Les Mis (1998 film) in the theatre when it was released and quite enjoyed it. To be honest, knowing the Les Mis (2012 film) is live sung by the cast, the dramatic 1998 film suddenly seem lacking in emotional impact (to me) when compare to what I hope to see from 2012 film. I ended up enjoying the music CDs a lot more than the 1998 film.

Watching Les Mis (25th Anniversary Concert in 2010) for the first time also was quite nice in terms of sound quality and the bonus material of the original cast singing at the end of the DVD. My one complain is the fact that the 25th anniversary performance was a concert so see the cast dressed in costume and sang standing in front of a mic reduced the emotional impact greatly for me.

Christmas 2012

Listening to all the CDs and watching the 25th Anniversary Concert has put in such a mood that I bought a ticket to the Christmas Opening show last night, for me, an unheard of 12 days ahead of the opening!

I can’t wait to see Les Mis! Do you plan to see Les Mis? On Christmas Day? This article is cross-posted on examiner and is part 1 of my #LesMis series. More to come. Here is “Les Misérables – International Trailer”