A little piece of musical theater fans everywhere died this week (or at the very least, was put on life-support with a one percent chance of survival).
For months casting announcements have been slowly leaking out about the highly anticipated film adaptation of “Les Miserables.”
Hugh Jackman as Valjean (cautiously excited), Russell Crowe as Javert (well done), Eddie Redmayne as Marius (another good choice)—and so the list continues, with no strong objections from the legions of Les Mis fanatics.
However, this week, things went horribly wrong with two simple words: Taylor Swift. Which were followed by an even more startling word: Eponine. And now we, “the people,” must appeal to the producers and casting directors better nature. I’ll start:
We get it (sort of), Taylor Swift, most definitely has the waif look down. She’s also a very pretty girl who will look gorgeous on all of the promotional posters.
She may also be able to sing well enough to scrape by on the songs.
And it’s not that we don’t want Taylor Swift to be Eponine, it’s just that we’d rather have anyone else play the part (seriously).
I’m all for giving the young people a shot, but we all saw “Valentine’s Day,” or at least the trailer. That shot has already been fired.
Considering this film is 37 years in the making, do you really feel comforable with your choice? Eponine is one of the most iconic roles in musical theater. I don’t think she’ll grow on us quite the same way Mr. Brosnan did.
And here it is, my last ditch effort: Having mastered “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Scarlet Letter” you decided it was time to graduate Miss Swift to some light reading from Victor Hugo?
I just hope you all can live with yourselves.
__________________________________
More on the Story: CBS News
…just for fun:
On My Own
Advertisement
