mkm and I are big fans of the Theater. BK (before kids) we used to go fairly often. Now it is a very rare thing to get to the theater (except that we have a subscription to a local regional theater). There are many musicals that I am fond of. I never really rank one over another because they all are great in different ways, but if I had to pick a sort of granddaddy of my favorite shows, it will be Les Miserables.
I have seen this show about 5 times in different productions. The first time I saw it I was just blown away by the story (I then read the book), the music and the production. I highly recommend this show to everyone, and if you have not seen it, then do so some day.
When the show hit its tenth year the producers did a few special things. There was a major concert performance in London, but they also produced a 3 CD set called “Les Miserables: The Complete Symphonic Recording.” Different from any of the previous recordings, these CDs were a recording of the entire production, rather than just the big songs. It was created in an interesting way as well. The producers chose different actors from different productions around the world who they felt were the best voices for the parts. They then had the London Symphony Orchestra record all the music and then had the different actors record their voices (sometimes by themselves). The most interesting actor to appear is the Eponine who was in the Japanese production and she spoke no English!
The Valjean they chose was Gary Morris who played the part on Broadway briefly. Here is his recording of “Bring Him Home.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbmVAfYTeKo&hl=en]
