Crazy Dare

[Remora]

Okay, so I found a complete Les Miserables script somewhere, and I showed it to one of my friends, who's also a fan of the show, and she dared me to memorize it. Right now, I'm really close to finishing, but I think I'm starting to lose all touch with reality...Was I crazy to take this on?

[Schmergo]

No, I have the whole thing memorized. It just took awhile. I suggest getting the CSR (Complete Symphonic Recording) off of iTunes, which has every second of music in the entire show... a few listens and you'll never forget it.

[bb]

The entire 1000 page Les Mis?

o.0

But I think we've come to the conclusion that we all ARE crazy, yeah?

~BB

[Schmergo]

No, zee three-hour moosical! Don't you worry, young man!

[bb]

Oh, the moose-ical!

Good luck, Remora!

~BB

[Remora]

Don't give me any ideas, BB...<.< >.> ;D

How does iTunes work, Schmergo? I've never used it before...

[Schmergo]

You can download iTunes from www.apple.com/itunes/download/

You can either establish a full account, which I think requires a credit card and your home address-- we don't do that in my family-- or you can buy iTunes gift cards, go to where it says 'redeem' on iTunes, and type in the code for the gift card. (The CSR costs $19.99 on iTunes).

Unlike any other music-downloader (such as Limewire, ugh), iTunes is completely legal. Some artists only release music on iTunes and not on CDs.

If iTunes is too difficult to use or your parents don't want you to get an iTunes account, you can also buy the CSR from music stores, or Amazon.com: www.amazon.com/Miserables-Complete-Symphonic-Recording/dp/B0002E5L62/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1224270679&sr=8-1 It costs $27 new on Amazon, but is cheaper used: www.amazon.com/Miserables-Complete-Symphonic-Recording/dp/B000003BVK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1224270679&sr=8-2

The CSR is notable for having all of the music from Les Mis (and then some-- the recent revival cut a lot of material and changed some lyrics), but the cast is a little weird. For example, Jean Valjean is played by Gary Morris, an American country singer doing a Colm Wilkinson impersonation (Colm Wilkinson being the guy who played Valjean on every other recording ever.) Kaho Shimoda, who plays Eponine, learned the role phonetically because she speaks no English, so her accent is really distracting. Some of the other roles are really weird, too, like Mrs. Thenardier and Grantaire. Michael Ball is Marius and Philip Quast is Javert, just like on the TAC. Anthony Warlow plays Enjolras on this, and most people consider him to be the definitive Enjolras (I personally prefer Michael Maguire from the OBC and the TAC, but that's just me.)

I still think it's a good recording to have, though. If you don't want to buy it at all, ConfuciusLost on youtube has uploaded the entire CD! www.youtube.com/user/ConfuciousLost

[Remora]

Thanks for the link, Schmergo! I got it off YouTube for now, but I'm going to try and buy it at this one music store at the mall here as soon as I can.

[bb]

Now I know where to go if I need a definitive resource on musicals...

~BB

[Schmergo]

Thanks, BB! I try!

Remora-- any comments so far on the CSR? When I gave the CD to Aku, she said she was 'scared of it' and that it was the 'strangest version of Les Mis' since I sang it solo.

[Remora]

The funny thing is, it sounded exactly like the Tuacahn performance, if nearly everyone had a British accent, Javert wasn't black and with a different Eponine, and Thenardier didn't have a problem with cussing. (Here in Utah, you can choose whether or not you swear, I think.)...Other than that, it was spooky how alike they were. (Well, except for they cut out "The Well Scene.")

Oh, and Mme. Thenardier sounds exactly like I imagined Umbridge before I saw the OOTP movie.

And the strangest version of Les Mis in my opinion is the I chased my friend--Demongirl on my site--around the gym at a dance, and refused to stop singing it until she asked this guy to dance. (She said she wanted to, but was too shy, so I figured my horrible singing would help that.) I was about halfway through Master of the House when she finally said she'd do it.

[Schmergo]

Oh my gosh, Master of the House is the song I sing when I chase my friend around the gym, too! She hates it! She thinks the song's about an evil zookeeper who kills the animals!

Man, I love Michael Ball. His voice is so great. Yeah, I don't sing the swear words when I do Les Mis-- I do my own versions, like, "Raise it up the master's... don't ask." And "I'll kill you, you bad man!"

[Remora]

Everyone hates it when I sing Master of the House, too. Apparently, it gets stuck in their heads for a long time...

I liked Michael Ball in this, too. I liked him better than the Marius in the other recording I have. But my favorite Marius was the one at Tuacahn because at just the right angle, he looked exactly like my friend who is the Marius of a love triangle at my school. Plus, he had a pretty darn good voice.

That's pretty much what I do when I sing it, too...There are some parts where it's hard to change it, though, so I just leave it out.

[Schmergo]

Hahaha, well I'm the Umbridge of musical theatre. I've managed to censor everything ever.

Don't you know you're taking gloves from one already dead?

P.S. What's the other recording you have? If you don't know what it's called, you can describe what the different cast members sound like...

[Remora]

It's the Original Broadway Cast Recording, and I also have another version of On My Own in which the lyrics are different. (And now I'm all alone again/Nowhere to go/No one to turn to/I did not want your money sir/I came out here because I was told to.)

[Schmergo]

EEEEURRRRGHHHH! Not the Original Broadway Marius! (*Shoots David Bryant in the eyeball*) Have you seen this? www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq6_NWyvwD4 It's the original Broadway cast on the Tony awards, and David Bryant is disgustingly bad.

However, I actually like the Original Broadway Javert the best (and notice everyone cheering when he comes out). Nobody agrees with me because everyone, including Aku, likes Philip Quast from the TAC and CSR the best, but I love the Broadway dude. His voice isn't as harsh. He's Terrence Mann, and he also played Chauvelin in Scarlet Pimpernel, the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Czolgozs in Assassins, and... the Rum Tum Tugger in Cats! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eaXE9t7Mys Yes, that's the same Javert! Amazingly, he's straight and married with kids... I bet he likes to embarrass them by making them watch that.

[Remora]

Gah! His voice is nowhere near as good as Micheal Ball's!

I love Rum Tum Tugger and the Beast! Cats, Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables are my favorite musicals of all time! And I decided to listen to both versions of Javert's Suicide to see who I liked better, and I agree with you--Terrance Mann is better. Randomly, this reminds me that somewhere you mentioned being the only person on a Les Miserables fan site who doesn't want to have Enjolras's babies, didn't you? I liked him well enough in the musical, but in the book, he kind of scared me.

[Schmergo]

THANK YOU REMORA! You're the only person I know who agrees with me on all of these things. I am actually grinning from ear to ear. Seriously, even GRANTAIRE wants to have Enjolras' babies.

I'm beginning to suspect that maybe you ARE me.

[Remora]

Schmergo, you just gave me a strange desire to write a fic about that...Grantaire/Enjolras...Now that would be rather fun. And I don't even like slash.

And yes, Schmergo, I am you. I hijacked your soul last Tuesday while you were asleep in math class and made it my own! Mwa ha ha ha ha!

[Schmergo]

Remora-- Disturbingly, Enjolras/Grantaire is widely accepted as canon by the Les Miserables fandom. 0_o I personally don't believe that Enjolras had any regard at all for Grantaire, but as for how Grantaire felt about Enjolras, well, I can't quite say. I've been personally attacked (with many an 'f' word) by some very intellectual people who firmly believe that Enjolras and Grantaire were in love. There are probably hundreds of Enjolras/Grantaire fanfictions out there. SCARY.

Dangit, how did you know I was asleep in math class on Tuesday...