The official trailer for the Les Miserables film. Just listen to those over-processed vocals on “I Dreamed a Dream.” Judging from the breathy quality, jagged vibrato and the noticeable break from chest voice to head voice, they must have belonged to Anne Hathaway at some point.
Alas, it would appear that AutoTune is the new Marni Nixon. The studios are no fools. This way, it’s perfectly fine if they don’t acknowledge it in the credits.
There really isn’t much to be said about last night’s TONY Awards ceremony that hasn’t already been said. It was a pretty uneventful night as the TONYS go. Everyone predicted that “Book of Mormon” would sweep and it did. It was a wonderful year for new works which is always heartening. I wished “The Scottsboro Boys” hadn’t been so thoroughly snubbed. I had mixed feelings about the work itself, but I thought Susan Stroman’s choreography and staging was some of the best ever to be seen in a Broadway musical.
Neil Patrick Harris has become the go-to guy for hosting duties and with good reason. Mr. Harris did a fine serviceable job, moving the awards along with a brisk pace, and keeping the wince-worthy insider jokes to a minimum. I could have done without the rival host banter between Hugh Jackman and him, but their duet together was a highlight of the evening. (It was certainly more energetic and delightful than any of the production numbers from the Best Musical nominees.)
The one major letdown of the evening was “War Horse” taking home the Best Play trophy. It was truly shocking when one considers the wealth of exciting, new American plays that came out this season - a rarity in the arid world of Broadway. “War Horse” is not only a standard British import, it’s “Old Yeller” dressed up with oversized puppets; a visual feast, but pretty barren content wise. Still, it’s a testament to the fact that you can’t put much stock in these trivial awards.
But I’m nitpicking. All things considered, it was one of the more tolerable TONY nights. Perhaps it was the forced relocation to the Beacon Theater that made everyone get their act together, but the show didn’t lumber along like it usually does. Here’s to a good year for Broadway!
I do not presume to claim ownership of any content on this site. All quotes, photos, videos and audio files are gathered from various sources on the web unless otherwise stated .
