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Post by Briar Rose's Dark Knight on Mar 14, 2015 10:44:08 GMT -5
Silver, you did a much better job explaining my concerns about this project than I did. Probably because my musical ability consists of being able to determine whether or not I like a piece of music and/or the performer.
I hope it works out well as I love both the animated Beauty and the Beast and place the Broadway version as my 3rd favorite musical behind only Les Miserables and The Lion King. But until I see actual proof in the form of a strong performance, I remain in the wait and see category.
In other news, Disney announced the casting of Josh Gad to play LeFou. Gad is well on his way to becoming a Disney Legend someday as he will forever be known as Olaf.
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Post by Silver on Mar 14, 2015 23:30:44 GMT -5
Thank you for the compliment BRP.
I have reconsidered something though. Perhaps a conservatory trained vocalist was not cast in the lead roles. Yet there can still (hopefully) be a way to please those on both sides of the coin. While I did state previously it is rare for singers who are not trained to suddenly become accomplished vocal artists. There can be a blurred line if the right person is chosen. Kristne Bell who was Anna in Frozen is not threatre trained. (Idina Menzel's ease of vocal power unfortunatley proves who the real lady with theatre backround is) She's had lessons but nothing more. She's what I refer to as "raw talent". However to my pleasent surprise. She held up remarkably well when the standard of Idina's powerhouse belt is applied. Kristen may not have been my first choice off the bat (thinking vocally here) if you asked my opinion in terms of what is required for Anna's range in the score. Even still, I'm amazed at how enjoyable her delivery was as she managed to create a sub-genre between threatre and easy-listening.
I can say the same for Anna Kenndrick who portrayed Cinderella and Machenzie Mauzy who was Repunzel in last year's stage to screen musical Into the Woods. So here is hoping this will be the case for our leads with this upcoming film.
I really want to love this adaptation. If the vocals are not in place it could ruin it all for me though. I'm not saying people can't hit the occasional flat note. It happens to even the greatest singers. However having a certain expectation is not unwarrented. I will gladly compromise though in favor of "raw talented" vocals if the casting directors and rest of the creative team were not seeking a legit theatre performer. And I will gladly voice my pleasure if Emma Waston and Dan Stevens achieve the task at hand. Despite die-hard fan backlash of both stars against theatre fans recognizing the difference between authentic vocal ability and what is generally someone merely just plain old singing. (Anyobody can do that really) We're not not out to attack Emma and Dan. I could just as easily argue there is a bias among the those die-hard fans to assume they will sound execptional when they have each openly admitted to not being trained to the press. We are understandably skeptical but optemistic anyhow that we can all leave happy when the film's credits roll.
Congrats to Josh Gad!
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Post by Briar Rose's Dark Knight on Mar 15, 2015 23:02:50 GMT -5
I think you raise great points. For me the issue at hand is not whether or not Emma Watson or anyone else in this film was cast based on their musical training in the past. The issue is whether or not they can perform their roles in what is a musical version.
As I've said before, while music is a very important part of almost every single Disney film, not every Disney film is actually a musical. Take for instance Cinderella. The songs in that film are legendary. They're some of the very best in Disney history. But for the most part, those songs do not advance the story forward, at least not in the same way as the songs in Beauty and the Beast do.
I hope the actors can deliver the performance necessary. I'm more than wiling to give them a chance to.
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Little_Cassie
Disney Grandmaster
"A Day Without Laughter is a Day Wasted"
Posts: 724
Favourite Movie: The Little Mermaid/Tangled :)
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Post by Little_Cassie on Mar 16, 2015 13:55:17 GMT -5
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Post by Silver on Mar 30, 2015 16:42:56 GMT -5
Confirmed casting announced for the next batch of actors. Academy Award winner Emma Thompson as Mrs.Potts (Best known to Disney fans as P.L Travers from Saving Mr.Banks and is currently playing Mrs.Lovett in a London concert of the musical Sweeney Todd) Tony and Academy Aawrd winner Kevin Kline as Maurice (Voice of Capatain Pheoebus from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame and well acclaimed performance as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance) and six time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald (Was Mother Abess in the live TV recording of The Sound of Music in 2013 and best known to global audiences as Naomi on ABC's TV series Private Practice) How do I put this gently? I LOVE EMMA, KEVIN AND AUDRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be attendance for this movie in March 2017 just because they are in it!  Still we await for the casting announcements on the role of Cogsworth and Lumiere. |
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Post by icyheart16 on Apr 1, 2015 10:02:13 GMT -5
I love Emma and Kevin! This has me excited! Great casting choices!
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Post by Silver on Apr 13, 2015 17:40:23 GMT -5
The cast list is nearly complete. Ian McKellen (Known mostly as Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit series and Magneto from the X-Men franchise) has been cast as Cogsworth. I think he will most certainly do David Ogden Stiers proud. Who shall play Lumiere? Hmmm? Choices, choices. |
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Post by icyheart16 on Apr 15, 2015 8:41:32 GMT -5
Ahhhh... Sir Ian McKellan... LOVE! And he just has one of those voices. I really don't think they could have chosen anyone better!
And I just wanted to say that I can't wait to see Josh Gad in a live action Disney film... And as Le Fou! He is most known as the voice of our beloved Olaf! So it will be interesting to see him as the bad guy.
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Little_Cassie
Disney Grandmaster
"A Day Without Laughter is a Day Wasted"
Posts: 724
Favourite Movie: The Little Mermaid/Tangled :)
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Post by Little_Cassie on Apr 21, 2015 15:17:30 GMT -5
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Post by Silver on Apr 21, 2015 16:21:38 GMT -5
Whoa! Talk about casting against type. I've known him through his resume to either play the the romantic leading man or the villain. So if they hadn't cast the role of the Beast or or Gaston I would have figured he'd be considered for those. But I know this man can sing! He was the lead in the musical Moulin Rouge in 2001 starring opposite Nicole Kidman. Now he has the opportunity to shine as the comic relief. Plus as a bonus he is a master with accents. I'm confident in this one. Thank you for the update Cassie. |
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Post by icyheart16 on Apr 21, 2015 17:18:55 GMT -5
Wow! This is really turning out to be a star studded cast!
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Post by Silver on May 30, 2015 23:49:05 GMT -5
Josh Gad tweets from the set- "Yesterday, I walked onto a ballroom out of my childhood & saw Belle waltz w/a Beast. Get ready for magic people!"
Let's hope so indeed Mr.Gad because my childhood has a specific memory of a particular ballroom sequence. That has carried over to be cherished in my adulthood.
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Post by Briar Rose's Dark Knight on Jun 7, 2015 1:28:55 GMT -5
The artistic success of this film will hinge on just how much they honor people's childhood memories. As far as I'm concerned, Disney has to convince me that they will indeed honor those cherished memories. To this point, the two live action variants have shown me that they are fully capable of honoring those cherished memories or fully capable of insulting those cherished memories.
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Post by Silver on Jun 15, 2015 16:44:36 GMT -5
If I'm confident in anything. It's that Academy award winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (for Ana Karina, Atonement and Pride and Prejudice) is no stranger to grand glamorous gowns.
Into fashion or not. We're all waiting on Belle's ballgown!
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Post by Briar Rose's Dark Knight on Jun 15, 2015 19:49:45 GMT -5
Read a couple of weeks ago where the music will be different from the Broadway version. At least some of the songs added to the stage version including Home, If I Can't Love Her, and Human Again will not be in the live action movie adaptation because of pacing reasons. They are instead going with some new songs and Alan Menken is doing the music for the new songs.
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