According to today’s Sun the director of the Les Miserables movie Tom Hooper is making his lead stars, including Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, sing the musical’s vocally challenging numbers over and over again to ensure he gets the perfect take.
Every big musical number is being recorded live which is a real challenge to the cast. Some of the principals (including Hugh Jackman) are musical theatre stars and used to using their voices in this way but it’s taken its toll on some of the cast members who are losing their voices.
A source said: “It has to be note-perfect or Tom won’t use it - he’s a real perfectionist”. As well as throat sweets, production assistants at Pinewood Studios in are making up ginger and lemon drinks to help soothe the vocal cords, which the cast are being encouraged to drink despite their taste.
2 comments:
Tom certainly is a perfectionist and so he should be.
I am an Extra in the movie and even we had to sing live, with most of us not knowing a word before we turned up for filming. A great deal of effort by the singing coordinators, the ADs and the Cast/Extras was spent fine tuning.
The 'Barricade' scene was the only scene shot during the day at Greenwich. Getting the angles, the flag waving, and the singing perfect required a fastidious approach. Tom, with his No Compromise stance, may just be a Class above most other Directors.
This was my first job as an Extra. My hat certainly goes off to all Extras, based on my experience here. Long days of rain, wind and cold, and badgering regarding the singing. However, although I truly believe if the Producers wanted Extras who were singers they should have employed extras who are singers, or at least given the Extras a month to learn the material, the results will be awesome.
I am gob-smacked by the contribution made by the performers (this includes the Extras), and the full team responsible for ensuring this film will be a critical success.
Although the Extras are unlikely to get a mention in the credits, which is a huge shame and almost an injustice, they are my unsung heroes.
Gary Bland
@DreamingLesMis
Thanks for the info Gary which is great insight into rehearsals.
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