discussion no. ?

[devils-child7.livejournal.com]

I've been such a terrible mod; I apologize profusely! The only thing I can say in my defense is that I've been away in Montréal, but still.

Today's discussion title: the most inadvertently amusing performances by actors in the show.

(I have a whole list, really: Uwe Kröger (no words on this one), Dave Willetts, Oliver Thornton, Dudu Fisher, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Julien Combey, etc.)

Comments

[beautyisme.livejournal.com]

I saw Dudu Fischer as Valjean. He was actually the first Valjean that I ever saw but as I was about 8 years old I don't remember too much about his performance! Maybe that's a good thing?

I also saw Daphne Rubin-Vega's Fantine in January. There are no words. I wasn't expecting her to be good vocally since she was totally wrong for the part to begin with. But I figured that maybe she'd give a good performance acting-wise. I'd seen her years earlier in Rent and was impressed by her ability to throw all of her energy into the character. No such luck though. I found her performances dull and very one note. She starts off pathetic at her facotry job and there's no chance as Fantine descends into prostitution and sickness. There's the same level of anguish that never really changes. I've seen Fantines who really marked the characters descent, her loss of hope, her loss of pride, her shock at being treated kindly etc. I got none of that from Daphne.

I also have to add Alex Gehgmenani's (sp?) Valjean to my list of unintentionally amusing performances. Not that he was "bad" per se, but waaaay too young. He looked older so appearances weren't the problem and for most of the first act he was fine. But when the Cosette relationship became a large plot point he didn't seem to know what to do. I don't think he was able to relate to the paternal feelings or convey them well. Also at the end of the Threnardier's Walz of Treachery, when he picks Cosette up and spins her around, he grunted and strained his face like she saw the heavest thing on earth. Um...your character is supposed to have this fabled strength. Just a little while ago we saw him lift a heavily loaded cart off a man, and now you want us to think you're struggling with the weight of an underfed child?

Oh gosh I'm mean!

[mmejavert.livejournal.com]

Martin Pasching!


"Rrrrrrrrrot! Das blut ist heiss und jung!" Never fails to crack me up every single time.

[runaway-elf.livejournal.com]

When I saw Les Mis in January, there were two standout unintentionally amusing things..
1. During A Little Fall of Rain, Adam Jacobs looked up briefly and rolled his eyes. Or at least, that's what it looked like to me and the people near me. There was kind of this collective, "did he just do that?" reaction. But he was SO GREAT otherwise that I forgave it.. haha. Except for that bit of weirdness, he was absolutely wonderful.
2. Going into the sewers, Alexander G...(can't spell) said "sorry" to Adam. As they were going into the trapdoor, you could definitely hear a "sorry." It was weird.

Uh yeah Daphne Rubin Vega was just bad.

[mbs-bookworm.livejournal.com]

Yamaguchi Yuichiro. He's not nearly the worst overall (that distinction goes to David Fisher), but he has his moments. I watched a boot of his Soliliquoy on Youtube and laughed my head off at his body language.

[xthe-ingenue.livejournal.com]

Diana. Kaarina.

Seriously, I wanted to kill her. She's so.... cutsey and bouncy, and "oh, look at me, I'm only a little poor, but I'm tOtaLLy CUTE, feel bad for me plz kthx." If I recall, she was smiling through OMO. And I just wanted to STRANGLE her. She was the epitome of everything Eponine is NOT supposed to be, but she perfectly illustrated how much of a norm that has become, so then when GOOD Eponines like Frances Ruffelle, Sutton Foster and Celia Keenan-Bolger come along, everyone thinks they're awful.

But. Worst. Eponine. Ever.
Mandy Bruno.
Her performance SLAYED me. Just.... oh god it was hilarious. There's not much more I can say.

Oh, also Jon Lee as Marius. hahahaha. But I forgive him, because he was in SClub and I <3 SClub.

And last but not least, Tracy Shayne as Cosette. Screechy =/= good, Tracy. And the way she tried to belt her lines at the end of One Day More to try and be heard over everyone else really amuses me.

[smartamy15.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I thought that Alex G. as Valjean was pretty amusing. As someone else said already, he was very cranky. Valjean isn't really supposed to be cranky - just very troubled. So his continous anger and somewhat display of frustration didn't float with me as a good performance. Ah, well.

And Carly Rose Soneclar in the revival as little Cosette... dear God it was pretty dreadful. I felt simultaneously horrible and amused because she was straining so much and it just made for a really bad performance.

[vifetoile.livejournal.com]

When I saw Les Mis in London, John Owen Jones, during 'Come To Me,' was completely ruining the scene. He was constantly in a hurry, always looking at the door, never focused on Fantine. In fact, on the line "Your child shall want for nothing" he actually did a little hand wave that read as: "Pssh, hurry up and die so I can get in my Confrontation with Javert."

And the Gavroche I saw in London - don't know who it is - oh, he was so, so wrong for the part. Painfully wrong, if for no other reason that because he was about as tall as most of the women in the cast. In the crowd scenes, I seriously lost Gavroche, and he just acted like a hyperactive kid.

And Sabrina Aloueche, also of the - sniff - former London cast, was a really good Eponine, but at the end of 'Little Fall of Rain,' (ALFOR?) she started to come closer to Marius' face, but -- eehhh - died right before she could kiss him. Even typing it out, I'm like, "Wha?" It was so incredibly cheesy to my eyes.

[duva.livejournal.com]

Two words: Simon Bailey.

Actually it was more painful than entertaining.