Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Just do it.

Where's the 'anything sung by bob' option?

I don't think that I can, in all moral consciousness, choose without a question.

Never heard Les Mis. Never heard Hobbes sing (that I know of unless he's a famous recording star in another life). Makes it tough to choose.

Never heard Les Mis???

Good heavens! You're missing out on one of the better founts of theatrical music out there!

You should fix this thing as soon as possible.

I have been in the process of fixing it these past couple weeks. I am up to . . . oh, "Master of the House" on the complete recording.

I know of most of the songs on Les Mis, but I've never actually seen it. All the way through, at any rate. I have seen various bits of various performances.

Hobbes, can I hear you sing so I can give a valid opinion? I've seen both Les Mis and Phantom, but I don't think I've ever has the privilege of hearing you sing.

Perhaps you could sing a medley of Les Mis and PotO, yes?

Phantom = little sisters' obsession, my annoyance.
Hobbes = not such an impressive singer in the comic strip.
Les Mis = musical brilliance. Seriously.

Unless the question was something like, "which would you want to disappear forever?" or whatnot, I'm going to side with Les Mis.

Phantom of the Opera strikes me more emotionally. I am a big fan of both musicals, but I identify more with the Phantom than I do with, say, Marius. You know, a passionate musician running around in the basement of a big building?

Okay, if it's time to educate myself on Les Mis, any recommendations of which recording I should look for? Or are they all fabulous?

a mom, you can never go wrong with the original broadway cast recording. however, it is VERY LONG. seriously, i can never get through the darn thing. i used to have an original cast highlights cd that introduced me to the best songs and wasn't too long to listen to when i wanted to relax.

Mom, a great intro to Les Mis is the 10 anniversary Dream cast concert. They took the best actor for each role from the past ten years and put them all together.
I'll admit, I'm dissapointed by all the pro-Phantom, anti-Les Mis nonsense on here. Some songs on Phantom are good, but everything in between is just mediocre filler; I can't stand the attempt at "Rock Opera" which really just means pulling in some electric guitars to play the same refrain over and over; the plot is romantic but not amazing... whereas Les Mis, to me, is life changingly good and profound. Guess it's just me, and I'm more than a little biased, since Les Mis is my favorite book of all time.
I grew out of Phantom in like 8th grade after seeing it live for the 3rd time. I'd still give my left arm to see Les Mis again (for what would be the 6th time).

I'm with jooniper here. The phantom is a little whiny-pants/seducer, Christine is flighty, and the other guy is bland. "Think of Me" is not opera, I'm sorry. On the other hand, Les Mis really delves into the inner lives of the characters, more than most other musicals, as far as I can tell, and I find myself sympathizing even with the antagonists. The music of the latter is more pleasant to listen to, in my opinion.

jooniper wrote:Mom, a great intro to Les Mis is the 10 anniversary Dream cast concert. They took the best actor for each role from the past ten years and put them all together.

Agreed. This is what I grew up on. And it's still my favorite recording. I especially like the multi-language version of "Do you Hear the People Sing" at the end. Awesome. If you need to, though, just get a highlights CD that will give you a taste of it.

What would really be awesome would be if you could get a hold of the video from the concert. I have a copy we recorded off PBS a million years ago, but I don't think you can get it anywhere else right now.

I had the VHS but it got lost amidst the many moves of my college experience. I'm hoping for the DVD for a present soon, but it's hard to find. Amazon has it here:
http://www.amazon.com/Miserables-Annive ... B00110K62U
Honestly, listen to Michael Ball/Marius sing "Red and Black" or pretty much anything Ruthie Henshall (Fantine) does. It's AMAZING.

you can watch the 10th anniversary Les Mis on Netflix. I mean not instantly but they can send it to you.
of course that would mean that you had to be subscribed to Netflix which I am. I am planning on adding it to my list of movies that will be sent to me.

Wow. Strong feelings about either choice here much?

K. I have a hold at the library on the original Broadway cast recording and went for the whole thing. Since I don't know the story (no, I've not read it either), I figure that will give me a better sense of the whole.

For those of you who obviously are not fond of Phantom, is it the musical or the story that bothers you? (I actually have read that book long before I ever hear Weber's adaptation.) And how do you feel about other ALW operettas like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or Evita?

And while we're comparing, I'll also confess that I've never listened to the soundtrack from Wicked. I read the book when it first came out and enjoyed it, but I'm still having trouble reconciling myself to a musical version. Not sure why.

Are your favorites always pleasant to listen to?

For me, it's the music of Phantom that bugs me. I love the story and have read it many times, though I still don't think it's something earth-shattering.
But the music.... well, I guess I just don't like Andrew Lloyd Weber. Phantom and Evita at least have a few songs I like, whereas Cats and Joseph make me want to ram my head into a wall. And the big thing is, for Phantom, most of what I like is the lyrics.... which ALW didn't write. So yeah, I guess I'm really just not a fan of ALW. He does the same dynamic too much: normal singing to a nice enough song, then BAM! electric guitars to "rock it up" a little. This happens to pretty much anything Che sings in Evita. It just gets predictable and really not that impressive to me.