As in, “listened to the original cast recording on repeat on my Walkman on family car trips when I was a teenager” well. Let me also preface this review by admitting that I know Les Mis well. There is little downtime between numbers, and often a musical interlude connects scene changes, rather than creating clear dichotomy of starting/ending points. Almost everything is notated in music, which creates quite an operatic effect to the flow of the piece.
Les Miserables is almost completely sung through, with very little dialogue at all. I have seen all of the main actors in Les Miserables in other films, and have been impressed with all of their abilities, so I knew going into this production that the acting should have been likewise impressive. As a voice teacher, I strive to help my students improve their technique, but feel that they must also use interpretive skills to fully perform their pieces. While many tools still remain for the sound engineers (Autotune the most obvious of all), the movie version of Les Miserables was more or less an honest representation of the powers (and limits) of Hollywood actors in the arena of singing.įor more information on the process of used for this movie, check out this fantastic behind-the-scenes video.īefore providing a review of the aforementioned singing, I would like to admit that I am happy to accept imperfect singing if there is true dramatic intent and commitment to the text. All the singing recorded on set was then used for the soundtrack- no additional studio time required for the actors. By using live singing on set for each take, a varied diversity of effects can be created in the moment by the actors. However, with this year’s blockbuster musical production of Les Miserables directed by Tom Hooper has sought to change the way movie musicals are produced. It is for this main reason that I often have trouble watching movie musicals, and prefer live performance. The effect on film is a singer who is obviously lip-synching along to his own recording. Actors must adjust their acting based on their vocal choices (which possibly occurred months prior, before any filming). This recording is then played on set, while filming occurs. The actors arrive on set having already made all their musical choices in a recording studio. Generally, soundtracks to movie musicals are pre-recorded, allowing time for editing by sound engineers. All the singing on the soundtracks was done by Marnie Nixon. For instance, not only did Natalie Wood not really sing during her scenes in both West Side Story and The King and I, but the voice dubbed over the film was not even hers.
In fact, movie versions of favorite stage musicals have a long history of altering the natural form of the music, particularly that of the voice, to fit with the director’s ideal, as well as to hide any faults on the part of the actors.
When one thinks of movie musicals, live singing is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. In this review of Les Miserables, Voice Teacher Stefanie Izzo provides an in-depth look at vocal and dramatic elements in the new movie version of the musical.
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