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Banish those worries the Hollywood filmversion ofLesMisrablesremainstruthful to the stageversion.

By NIKI CHEONGentertainment@thestar.com.my

FOR over 27 years, fans ofmusical theatre have beenentertained and thrilled by the

wonderful stage musical that isLesMisrables.

Whether on Broadway in NewYork, or in London where themusical premiered or on the manydifferent stages around the world(and in a variety of languages),Les Misrablesrarely disappointsbecause of the strength of thewords and the music of FrenchmenClaude-Michel Schnberg, AlainBoublil and Jean-Marc Natel, andHerbert Kretzmers English-lan-guage libretto.

I dont know any other musicalthat has ever had this extraordinarylife, said producer Sir CameronMackintosh in an interview atClaridges Hotel in London.

Mackintosh was also behind theoriginal staging of the musical in1985.

Today, the musical has finallycome to Malaysia albeit in theform of a film which features astar-studded castlist includingHugh Jackman,Russell Croweand AnneHathaway.

The musical isbased on Frenchnovelist Victor

Hugos book ofthe same name,set mostly duringthe June Rebellionof 1832 in Paris.Many years beforethe uprising, JeanValjean, a pris-oner who has justearned his ticket ofleave breaks parole.Javier, the police inspector whoreleased him, spends many yearssearching for him.

Those concerned that Hollywoodmay have taken liberties with oneof the most popular musicals of alltime can heave a sigh of relief thefilm version ofLes Mis, as it is com-monly referred to, remains true to

the stage version.The cinematic version featuresall the songs as well as a new onewritten by Schnberg, and hasbrought together the original crea-tive team who worked closely on

the production.It was essential to us from day

one when we started talking toCameron and Claude-Michel and allthat they stayed close creatively,

said producer Eric Fellner at thesame press conference in London.Actually, it was (director TomHooper) that insisted they stay veryclose creatively to the whole proc-ess so that we could ensure that we

were making a film that was abso-lutely would appeal to the fans ofthe musical.

The film stuck to the essence ofthe stage version, keeping dialogueto a minimum, making it essentiallysung-through. Besides that, Hooperalso insisted that most of the scenes particularly the solos and duets be performed live, with an on-setaccompaniment playing music intoear-pieces on the actors.

To prepare for this, all the actorswent through nine weeks of gruel-ling rehearsals. Jackman, who playsthe lead role of Jean Valjean and has

had years of musical theatre experi-ence, said that it was as intense arehearsal period as it is for any the-atrical show.

This, he explains, is quite differ-ent from his experiences in otherfilm productions.

Normally, on a film, the rehears-als could be a little half-hearted,

(there would be) discussions, peo-ple will give half performances.

(This) was not like that. Tom wasliterally moving in his chair, beingthree feet away from us, being acamera right from the beginning,he explained.

If it was hard for the actors inrehearsals, it would have beentougher on the set. They had todeal with the realities of film many takes for each scene (Hedoesnt care, Hathaway joked,when answering a question aboutHoopers many takes of them sing-ing live), technical difficulties as

well as other elements includingrain machines.In addition, this was the first

time singing live on film for mostof the actors; one could imaginehow this would take its toll onthem. However, this was not thecase as Hooper gave an example ofactor Eddie Redmayne who gave

exemplary performances as Mariussinging the heart-wrenching songEmpty Chairs And Empty Tables.

He sang that 21 times and hewould have kept going. And as youcan see in take 21 (the take whichended up in the film), there wasno issue of vocal stamina, Hoopershared.

The reason for making his actorssing to live accompaniment was togive them the freedom to exploretheir characters and stories.

When you have the freedom tochange scenes, as Anne did withI Dreamed A Dreamto change the

tempo faster or slower, it meanseach take is a unique event. I want-ed to put her in a place where shewouldnt be compromised in herinterpretation, he said.

The method truly paid off. Whileit appeared to be an odd decision to

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Keep the fire burning

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Tension inthe air:EddieRedmayne(second

from left) asMarius,sittingamong theotherstudentsbefore theevents of theJuneRebellion of1832, inLesMisrables.

The likely lads:(from left) Hugh Jackman, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, director TomHooper and Russell Crowe posing for a photo on the red carpet at the premier ofLes Misrablesin Sydney, Australia, on Dec 21.

Marius holding Eponine (Samantha Barks) tightly during a scene in Les Misrables.

Seeking freedom:Hugh Jackman asJean Valjean holding Isabelle Allen asYoung Cosette in a scene from LesMisrables.

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she had played in Londons West Endprior to the commencement of theshooting for the film.

But if she thought that the experi-ence was going to make things easierfor her, she was in for a surprise.

Ive been singing in theatre, so Ithought, Oh, singing live would besomething Im comfortable with butthere was lots of challenges that youwont come across in theatre, onebeing the big rain machine which sortof followed me around for a lot of thefilm, she shared.

It wasnt just Barks who found theexperience challenging. Redmayne,30, spoke about the pressures of liv-ing up to expectations and being ableto turn in a good performance, espe-cially since most of scenes involvedlive singing.

I grew up listening to Michael Ballwho sang this part (in the stage pro-

duction) and it is the version ofEmptyTable And Empty Chairs,its the onethat (people) know and love.

And the stakes get higherthroughout shooting because youdcome into set and youd hear whis-pers on set of the crew going, Oh,my god, did you hear Anne singingIDreamed A Dream,it was breathtak-ing, he shared.

Then there is also the fact that theyhad to sing live over and over again.Hooper had earlier mentioned thatRedmaynesEmpty Tablessolo whichfeatures in the film is the last of 21takes shot in one day. The director

was happy with seven, but the actorwould not have it.

With theatre, you can mend it thenext day; if you screw it up, you cantry to do it better. Here, I knew that Ileave at the end of that day and youcould never do anything about it ,you would have to wait six monthsand be disappointed with whatyouve done, which tends to be thesort of case.

So we did, I think, seven takes,

and Tom said, I think we got it, mate.I went, No, no no, well keep goinguntil theres actually blood comingout of my eyes! said Redmayne.

Even SeyfriedsMamma Mia!expe-rience she was one of the leads inthat film didnt make it easier forher, describingLes Misas a com-pletely different animal.

Mamma Mia!didnt feel to melike a musical by the time I really gotinvolved in this. At the same time, Itook a little bit of that confidence inme that I had done something thatkind of worked in a way, but this isthe biggest challenge of my career

and I cant even compare it, the 27-year-old actress explained.

Tough as it was for all of them,few who have watched the showwould disagree that they reallyshone. In fact, even their olderand more experienced colleaguesacknowledge this.

Interrupting Seyfried talking abouthow challenging the experience was,lead actor Hugh Jackman said: Notmany singers can hit a High C over

and over and over and over again.She then responded: You know

what, I probably hit that twice out oflike eight times to which Jackmanjust shook his head and said, Stop,just stop to the amusement of every-one in the room.

Despite the challenges, however,the talent of the younger cast mem-bers is evident in the film version ofLes Mis. In fact, it wouldnt be too farwrong to say that the trio togetherwith Hathaway and 12-year-old stageactor Daniel Huttlestone who repriseshis role as Gavroche stole the show.By Niki Cheong

soul

Spellbinding:Anne HathawayperformingI Dreamed

A Dream,which was shotin one take.