#ivan rutherford

[cometomecosette]

Video Review: Les Misérables, 3rd National Tour, 2000, Act II (long)

Here’s the second half of my review of this complete Les Mis performance, which I wrote some time ago but I'm sharing again in honor of Barricade Day.

Main Cast

Jean Valjean: Ivan Rutherford

Javert: Stephen Bishop

Fantine: Joan Almedilla

Thénardier: J.P. Dougherty

Mme. Thénardier: Aymee Garcia

Marius: Tim Howar

Enjolras: Kevin Earley

Éponine: Sutton Foster

Cosette: Regan Thiel

Grantaire/Bamatabois: Trent Blanton

Young Cosette: Stephanie Mieko Cohen

Gavroche: Christopher Carlson

“Upon These Stones,” “On My Own,” “The Barricade,” “Javert at the Barricade,” “Little People”

Sometimes the smallest details can change our impressions of a character. For example, Sutton’s Éponine purposefully gets Marius’s attention by touching his back as she walks past him. Éponines who do this create a different sense of their desires and motives than Éponines who don’t. There’s also a big difference between Éponines who sing “Little you know! Little you care!” alone after Marius leaves and those who, like Sutton here, sing it as an outburst directly to Marius’s face, angrily snatching the letter from his hand. Every Éponine I ever saw in both the 3rd National Tour and the 2006 Broadway revival did the latter. Personally, I think it’s a bit petulant compared to singing the line alone. But if we assume she’s come to the barricade hoping Marius will finally love her for joining the battle – which her purposefully letting him know she’s there might imply – and yet he still doesn’t get it, I suppose an outburst to his face is understandable.

I like that neither Tim’s Marius nor Ivan’s Valjean are too harsh with Éponine. Tim strikes a good balance between stern and caring, while Ivan is nicely gentle instead of automatically treating her like a spy for Javert. His letter-reading is good too, though I wish the camera showed his face instead of focusing on Éponine as she eavesdrops.

I’ve written about Sutton’s “On My Own” before, but I’ll restate my feelings here. I honestly don’t think anyone has ever sung the song more beautifully; her voice is like flame and crystal combined in sound form. And her journey from happy dreams to raw anger and despair is vivid and deeply felt without a trace of sentimentality. I can’t fault it, even though I personally don’t care much for angry renditions of this song.

The barricade boys’ pledge to hold the barricade and defiance of the officer’s warning are gripping as they should be, especially the magnificent high A sung by Ben Davis’s Feuilly on “We’ll be there!” It’s no wonder that he went on to sing operatic roles as well as musical theatre.

Christopher’s Gavroche comes into his own in “Little People.” His Act I might have been slightly bland, but here I can fully believe in his spunk and cheek.

Kevin’s commanding presence as Enjolras and the rich-voiced stolidness of Stephen’s Javert are still outstanding.

The tone of the “Little People” scene definitely changes when the now usually-cut lines before and after “Shoot me now or shoot me later…” are included. Instead of just a few boys clamoring ineffectually in the background to shoot Javert, the barricade erupts into chaos after Javert is outed as a spy, with Courfeyrac, Feuilly and others forming an impromptu firing squad to shoot him in blatant defiance of Enjolras’s orders, and with Enjolras and Combeferre’s cooler heads just barely prevailing in the end. I still wonder why the scene was written this way, when it has no basis in the novel. I can only assume the musical’s authors thought it would be more moving to see the barricade boys come close to falling into bloodlust and anarchy under the stress of adversity, only to ultimately choose idealism, courage and unity, than if they were always disciplined and unified. Maybe on the stage, this is true.

At any rate, I like the detail of Gavroche grabbing a gun to join the impromptu firing squad and a woman trying to wrest the gun from him. It’s a welcome, subtle touch of comic relief and fully in character for the boy.

“A Little Fall of Rain,” Night of Anguish,” “First Attack, “Drink With Me”

Kudos to Sutton for remembering to act wounded even before she collapses, climbing very slowly down the barricade, having to stop and rest midway down, and then clutching Marius for support. Not all other Éponines do that. During the song she never cries out or writhes in pain, but I think it works. The motionless tension of her body makes me assume that her Éponine is hiding her pain from Marius, which fits with the lyrics, and of course lets us focus on the moment’s tender emotions. In the last verse, I like the way she gently fades away, loosening her grip on Marius’s arm and lying completely still except to move her lips as she sings, but then, at the very end, finding the strength to pull herself up and kiss him. It evokes the way Hugo’s Éponine lies so motionless that Marius thinks she’s already dead, only to open her eyes and utter her love confession.

Tim’s concern and tenderness compliment Sutton’s performance perfectly, and though his grief is quiet and understated, it’s still poignant.

The moment when Enjolras comforts Marius is understated yet touching too. Kevin’s Enjolras is clearly pained by Éponine’s death but seems at a loss for what to say or do for Marius. In the end, a silent shared arm-clasp is all that’s needed.

When Valjean arrives, the Amis take a fairly calm, wary yet respectful approach to interrogating him, lowering their guns as soon as they realize he’s not a real National Guardsman. I’m tempted to like this better than versions like the 2012 movie where they’re aggressive and almost ready to shoot him on sight, although the latter is valid too.

During the battle, I see another detail I remember reading about in reviews. When Kevin’s Enjolras kneels down to assist the student who’s been wounded by the sniper, only to be narrowly missed by another bullet from said sniper, he falls backward and sits paralyzed in shock, looking like “a frightened little blond boy” (as I remember one fan writing) until Valjean helps him up. I know that some fans can be touchy about Enjolras showing any weakness, but I personally don’t mind this detail. It’s only a brief moment, and like the above-mentioned moment with Marius, it’s a humanizing image that makes Enjolras believable not only as a staunch leader, but as a young man facing the threat of death for the first time. (Yes, I know Hugo’s Enjolras also fought in 1830, but the musical never mentions this.)

Besides, I love the way Grantaire snaps out of his motionless stupor to reach out to Enjolras when that brush with death occurs.

Stephen and Ivan are both excellent in the releasing scene. Stephen moves believably from rage and disgust at having Valjean as his executioner, to confusion when he’s freed, to smug disdain when he thinks he’s figured out Valjean’s motive, to a slow, speechless, dumbfounded exit, while by contrast Ivan’s Valjean remains staunchly calm, not losing his temper at Javert’s insults, but firmly committed to doing the right thing.

Moving on to “Drink With Me,” Trent’s Grantaire puts an interesting spin on his solo by addressing specific lines to specific individuals, to whom (if we know the Ami’s individual personalities in the novel) each line has the most meaning. “Can it be you fear to die?” he directs to Joly, the hypochondriac. “Will the world remember you when you fall?” is aimed at Feuilly, the orphan who has no family to remember him. And of course “Will your death be one more lie?” he addresses to Enjolras.

Then we have a beautiful Enjolras/Grantaire reconciliation, which unfortunately the cameraperson only shows us in part. Enjolras first stares at Grantaire, then angrily grabs his shoulder, with poor Grantaire shielding his face as if he expects to be hit. But then they gaze at each other, for a long time, and then finally, warmly clasp hands. It’s too bad that the cameraperson chooses to pan around the stage during their long shared gaze instead of showing us their expressions leading up to the hand-clasp. But I suppose the E/R relationship wasn’t quite at the fandom’s forefront in 2000 the way it is now (it was already a popular ship, if I remember correctly from my middle and high school days, but slightly less so than Éponine/Marius or Enjolras/female OCs).

Tim’s soft, sad delivery of Marius’s verse at the end is very touching and I like the consoling pat on the knee Trent’s Grantaire gives him before walking away

The ensemble work is excellent, as always.

“Bring Him Home,” “Dawn of Anguish,” “Second Attack (Death of Gavroche),” “The Final Battle,” “Dog Eats Dog”

Ivan’s “Bring Him Home” is beautiful.

I hope that someday, somehow I see a production of Les Mis that includes the “Drink With Me” reprise. It add so much more emotional weight than there is when the women simply hurry off and the battle commences. By the way, here’s a question for people who were fans before the cuts were made. Did the “Drink With Me” reprise always end with Enjolras and Marius clasping arms at the top of the barricade? Was this a universal part of Nunn and Caird’s staging? It’s a beautiful reinforcement of Enjolras and Marius’s friendship and Marius’s now-unwavering loyalty to his friends, but still, if I were to direct a new production, I’d be tempted to have Grantaire share that moment with Enjolras instead. I think it might be a better moment for their reconciliation than “Drink With Me.”

Christopher’s Gavroche is still less vivid than others I’ve seen, and the moment of his death looks slightly unconvincing (he breaks the fall with his hands a bit too obviously), but he still gives a solid performance overall.

To the very end, Kevin’s Enjolras is fully believable as the staunch, dignified, heroic leader, yet still a human being. His slow descent from the barricade after Gavroche’s death – the only movement onstage while everyone else is frozen in shock and grief – and seeming obliviousness to the offstage officer’s voice as he stands and ponders what’s happened and what’s to come is both poignant and true to the spirit of Hugo’s Enjolras. We can sense his pain, yet he faces it with stoic dignity and undying courage. His “Let others rise…” is powerful, even though he neither shouts nor goes for the high note on “…is free!”

And then there’s the heartbreaking moment after Marius falls, when Enjolras hurries to him, throws poor Grantaire aside, and tries vainly and irrationally to revive his seemingly dead friend before rushing off to his own death. Some might argue that this is out of character for Hugo’s Enjolras, and it’s definitely not realistic for the middle of a battle when, as Hugo repeatedly writes, you can’t stop for anything. But it’s moving, although I would have liked a more meaningful last interaction with Grantaire than just a quick glance.

The fall of the barricade and the tableau of Enjolras’s body on the barricade are epic and heartbreaking, as always. No other staging can surpass the original.

J.P.’s Thénardier definitely feels more alive in his sinister scenes than in the comedy scenes. I’m not quite sure why I always remembered him as being mainly a comic Thénardier. It was probably his looks, I’m sorry to say – it was too easy to mentally pigeonhole him as “the funny fat guy.” At any rate, his “Dog Eats Dog” is deliciously dark and mocking.

“The Sewers,” “Javert’s Suicide,” “Turning,” “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” “Every Day”

I remember one thing J.P.’s Thénardier used to do that annoyed fans back in the day was to silently break the fourth wall by visibly waiting for the audience to applaud after “Dog Eats Dog,” then shrug his shoulders when they didn’t. He did this the first time I saw the show. But thankfully he doesn’t do it here.

Kudos to Ivan for actually carrying Marius throughout the sewer sequence. We get none of the standard “Marius tries his best to look unconscious and disguise the fact that he’s actually walking while Valjean supports him” business seen in so many other performances.

Stephen gives a powerful rendition of “Javert’s Suicide,” both in his sumptuous voice and in his vivid rage and torment.

“Turning” is poignant, as it should be. The fact that the pregnant woman is played by a black actress instantly makes me think of the fandom’s widely-accepted headcanon of Musichetta as a woman of color – as far a my imagination is concerned, it’s her, and the unborn baby’s father was either Joly or Bossuet. I��ll also imagine that she’ll eventually meet Marius and Cosette and they’ll help to support her and provide for the baby.

Tim’s “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” is beautiful and moving. His warm, darkly-shaded voice is wonderfully suited to the music, and while his grief is subtly conveyed, it can still be deeply felt. This is a trend throughout this particular performance, I think: the story is told with as little sentimentality as the material allows, and the male characters in particular are all played with a stoicism not seen in other portrayals, but their emotions can still be felt no matter how quiet they are.

The uncut “Every Day” is gently and sweetly performed by Regan, Tim, and Ivan when he joins them. The ending is adorable, with Marius and Cosette holding hands and almost face-to-face when they notice Valjean watching them, and being the modest 19th century pair they are, quickly draw apart and try to look “seemly,” only for Valjean to lovingly rejoin their hands. Unfortunately, Regan goes a bit off-pitch on her final note, but that note tends to be a hit-or-miss one for most Cosettes.

“Valjean’s Confession,” “Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast”

Ivan and Tim are both spot-on in “Valjean’s Confession.” Ivan is more stoic than Hugo’s Valjean is in this scene, but this is true of his Valjean throughout, and as always, in his subtle way he still conveys his struggle and pain. I’ve heard other Valjeans be more forceful and demanding on “Promise me, M’sieur, Cosette will never know!” but the way Ivan’s voice becomes so soft and pleading instead is probably even more disarming to Marius.

Moving on to the wedding, it’s so nice to hear Marius’s exchange with the Thénardiers uncut. Éponine is remembered, her parents earn more hate with their cold, selfish response, and they build up their revelation about Valjean with just the right preamble to entice Marius – even if they do have to chase him around the ballroom to do it. I notice that Tim’s Marius tries to walk away before Thénardier brings up the “murder” (presumably he thinks they’re just going to reveal that Valjean is a convict, which he already knows), but a soon as Thénardier makes the murder claim, he becomes concerned and listens. This is different from Niklas Andersson’s London Marius in the same year (so far the only other video I’ve watched of the uncut scene), who stalked away in disgust after Thénardier made the murder claim, refusing to believe that Valjean could be a killer as well as a thief.

Regan’s Cosette looks appropriately startled and confused after Thénardier drags her into a wild spinning dance and then Marius punches him. I wonder if she recognized him in that moment?

J.P. and Aymee do a fine job with the Thénardiers’ final flourish. Just enough slapstick to get laughs (e.g. Aymee’s pantalette-flashing fall when she tries to curtsy, the business with the dropped silver later), but not enough to turn them into caricatures. “Beggars at the Feast” is just the right exuberant uplift (however cynical the lyrics) that we need before the finale.

Epilogue

As is characteristic of this cast, Valjean’s death and heavenward ascent are depicted calmly and gently, with tears and sentimentality kept to a minimum, but with genuine love and warmth in abundance. Ivan’s Valjean infuses his last moments with quiet dignity and tenderness, as well as beautiful soft singing, while Joan’s Fantine is appropriately angelic, and Regan’s Cosette, Tim’s Marius and Sutton’s Éponine beautifully round out the scene. The moment when Fantine kneels before Valjean and he reaches out to take her hand, only for Cosette to take her mother’s place for their last reunion, is very touching. So is the way Regan’s Cosette lingers over her father’s lifeless body, staring into his face in utter disbelief until finally Marius gently draws her away. The little hug she gives Marius near the end of the final chorus is also as sweet as can be (as I’ve mentioned before, they were a couple in real life at the time).

The final chorus is magnificent, as it always should be. An excellent end to an excellent performance.

#les mis #les miserables #performance review #bootleg #video #3rd national tour #us tour #act ii #los angeles #2000 #ivan rutherford #stephen bishop #sutton foster #tim howar #kevin earley #regan thiel #j.p. dougherty #aymee garcia #trent blanton #complete performance

[wornoutspines]

The Three Musketeers - Part 2: Milady (Movie Review) | Spectacular, Moving, yet no Real Ending

#LesTroisMousquetairesMilady delivers a richer and more powerful experience🌟 Eva Green shines, but the ending left me craving more closure! 🍿 #Milady #TheThreeMusketeers #MovieReview #MustWatch #EvaGreen

Earlier in the year the first part of the two-part film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas‘ 1844 novel The Three Musketeers amazed me. It was a proper blockbuster-style action-adventure film that kept that French movie feel. Martin Bourboulon (Eiffel) directed both and the cast remains the same with Ralph Amoussou (Split) and Camille Rutherford (Blue is the Warmest Colour) joining Vincent Cassel, Eva…

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#Action #Adventure #Alexandre de La Patellière #Alexandre Dumas #Alexis Michalik #Based on a book #Based on a novel #Book adaptation #Book to Film #Book to Movie #Camille Rutherford #Eric Ruf #eva green #François Civil #Gabriel Almaer #history #Ivan Franek #Jacob Fortune-Lloyd #Julien Frison #Les Trois mousquetaires #Les Trois Mousquetaires: Milady #Louis Garrel #Lyna Khoudri #Marc Barbé #Martin Bourboulon #Mathieu Delaporte #movie lovers #movie review #movies #Pascal Fonta

[camillekaze]

Idk man I’m not joking when I say I woke up and Dragon Age had me in a chokehold like I thought we were done

#my art #dragon age #commander cullen #cullen rutherford #what’s up my name is cam I’m 12 years old and I like wonderbread #sorry Ivan

[msweebyness]

Miraculous Barbie: Ondine’s Swan Lake

Please enjoy the second part of my Barbie movie adaptation series, with Ondine as the lead dancer! @imsparky2002 @artzychic27

"You're braver than you think."

CAST:

Ondine Rivas as Odette

Lê Chiến Kim as Prince Daniel

Missy Rutherford as Lila the Unicorn

Caline Bustier as The Fairy Queen

Gabriel Agreste as Rothbart

Lila Rossi as Odile

Denise Cabello as Carlita the Skunk

Simon O’Connor as Ivan the Porcupine

Anais Ackerman as Erasmus

Arturo Rivas as Odette’s Father

And so our story begins…

Long ago, in a faraway kingdom, in a peaceful village there lived a beautiful maiden. Her name was Ondine, and she was the daughter of the village baker. She was known through the village for her fiery red hair, gemlike teal eyes, and the fact that she was an exquisite dancer!

Ondine, however, was a sweet, quiet and rather shy girl, content to keep to herself and assist her father in the bakery, dancing around the kitchen with a smile on her face. She also happened to be quite athletic, loving to swim and run…but always by herself.

Her father, Arturo, sometimes worried about her and would suggest every now and again that she attend the dances that took place in the village. But Ondine would think of everyone there staring at her and she just couldn’t do it.

Not far away, in the palace of the kingdom in which this village laid, lived the energetic, adventurous, and rather strapping Prince Kim. He was always up for a challenge, loving to be told he couldn’t do something just to prove the person wrong. He loved to hunt and explore the wilderness around him…but not without reminders from his mother, Queen Mai, that he would soon need to choose someone to marry and rule by his side.

Back in the village, Ondine was content with her peaceful, quiet life…but that life was about to change. One fateful day, while Ondine was laying out the day’s inventory, she couldn’t believe her eyes when a unicorn ran right by the bakery’s window, chased by several villagers with weapons. Afraid they might hurt the beautiful creature, Ondine followed close behind.

But the unicorn was clever and escaped her pursuers several times, even using a stray ax to cut a rope around her neck short. She then proceeded to take off into the forest, with Ondine being compelled to follow her, partly because of the rope still around her neck, which could cause trouble.

Ondine followed the unicorn to an old fallen tree that led into a waterfall, and rushed to help her when she slipped. But the unicorn got back up and slipped through a passageway behind the falls that she opened with her horn, giving the redhead a look that said “Well, are you coming?” Hesitantly, the girl followed just as the passage slipped closed again. She emerges from the stone tunnel in a clearing in the midst of a gorgeous and lush forest, by a crystalline pond.

Ondine heard alarmed winnying and came upon the unicorn once more, and sure enough, the rope still tied around her neck had gotten stuck in some tree roots. Spotting Ondine, the unicorn asked in perfect English if the girl planned to just stand there gawking or help her, shocking Ondine. But nonetheless, she went to look for something sharp to cut the rope.

Ondine comes across an ancient tree, and sees something shimmering in its trunk. She gets closer and sees that it’s a beautiful crystal, which she goes to pull out to cut the rope. She is able to pull it out easily, to the surprise of her unseen observers, a skunk named Denise, a porcupine named Simon, and the Fairy Queen, Caline.

Ondine returns to the unicorn, who is shocked to see her holding the crystal, as the fairy queen and the animals approach. Ondine apologizes and tries to return it, but Caline tells her the crystal belongs to her now and that they’ve been waiting for her for a long time. She also thanks her for helping the young unicorn, whose name is revealed to be Missy. She then scolds Missy, reminding her that she knows better than to venture into the realm of humans, as a creature from the Enchanted Forest can be killed by one. Missy apologizes but states she had thought she might be able to find something to defeat someone she calls “Bird Brain”.

Caline then goes on to explain to Ondine the importance of the crystal she holds. She tells her how, many years ago, her cousin Gabriel had lived peacefully in the Enchanted Forest with her and the other magical creatures. But when the time came for her uncle to choose his successor as the ruler of the forest, he had chosen Caline over Gabriel. Furious, Gabriel left the forest...only to return years later with his daughter, Lila, in tow, now a master of dark magic. He began taking over parts of the forest, with Caline's attempts to force him to leave proving futile. Many of the Forest's bravest elves, including Simon and Denise, banded together to try and confront him, but were transformed into common forest animals and forced to build his new, dark palace.

Caline then tells Ondine that as the one who freed the crystal from the tree, she is destined to overcome Gabriel's dark powers and save the forest from certain destruction. But the very thought of taking on a dark sorcerer and being responsible for saving an entire realm, and summarily letting all those people down, terrifies Ondine and she wants to return to the village, sure that this must be a mistake, disheartening the Enchanted Forest creatures. But Missy can sense that the Fairy Queen sees something special in the redhead, and decides to go after her.

As they are walking back towards the entrance, Missy gives Ondine a very...eccentric and unusual pep talk, but some of her words are solid, and she assures Ondine that she can tell the girl is a lot braver than she believes herself to be. But at that moment, two enormous, dark birds swoop down from the sky, before transforming and revealing themselves to be Gabriel and Lila.

The two mock Ondine about how she could possibly be the hero of the forest, before Gabriel asks Lila if she would like a new feather pillow. He then uses his dark magic to transform Ondine into a swan!

Before he can do any more damage, Missy rams him with her horn, allowing Ondine to fly away. She meets again with Caline, who presents her with a crown that contains the magic crystal, which will protect her from Gabriel's dark sorcery. It's then that Gabriel reappears, confronting Caline and demanding she hand over the magic crystal, but the Fairy Queen refuses. Gabriel tries to attack Ondine with his magic once more, but the crystal serves as a barrier. Frustrated, he retakes his bird form and flies away with Lila, who complains she didn't get her feather pillow.

Ondine asks Caline if she can change her back into a human, but sadly the Fairy Queen's powers are not strong enough to do so. Like with Simon, Denise and the other elves who were able to escape Gabriel's palace, Caline is able to change her back into a human, but only until the sunrise. At daybreak, she will change back into a swan, the same as the elves transform back into animals.

Ondine resolved that there must be some way to defeat Gabriel, and Caline tells her that the answer lays in the Book of Forest Lore, which can only be opened by the bearer of the crystal. Missy volunteers to take her to the book, which Caline explains is guarded by an…eccentric troll named Anais. She gives the two a magical leaf to serve as a key to the book’s vault and sends them on their way.

Meanwhile, in the palace, Kim is supposed to be preparing for the ball his mother has arranged, inviting eligible young ladies from all across the kingdom, while all he hopes is that maybe he can at least form something of a real connection with one of them. He also knows that the best season for hunting will soon pass...

Back in the Enchanted Forest, Ondine and Missy reach the entrance to the forest vault, and use the leaf-key to enter. They enter the massive library, and are greeted by Anais, who is excited to have some company for the first time in ages. Unfortunately, the library is quite messy, and the three spend all night searching for the Book of Forest Lore, and Ondine changes back into a swan at daybreak.

In Gabriel's dark palace, Lila complains that she has nothing to wear, even as she combs through her scores of jewelry and dresses. As Gabriel paces the room deep in thought, she asks why he can't simply destroy Ondine, seeing as 'any old human could do it!' Gabriel then realizes that now that Ondine is a creature of the Enchanted Forest, not even the crystal’s magic can protect her from a human! And so he puts a plan into action…

The next evening, when Kim is out riding and hunting in the woods, he’s led by the biggest eagle he’s ever seen into the Enchanted Forest, when he spies a gorgeous swan flying through the air, though he doesn’t see the eagle pursuing it. But as he readies to take the shot…he can’t, mesmerized by the lovely creature. And it’s a good thing, because as the swan lands, the sun begins to set, and the bird transforms into the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen in his life. He approaches her, surprising Ondine, who asks how he got into the forest, adding a hasty “your highness” to the question. Kim is surprised she knows who he is, and Ondine explains that she lives in the village. Well, she did, before, you know…

Angry that his plan failed, Gabriel swoops down as Ondine is explaining everything that’s happened to her to Kim. The prince angrily calls Gabriel out for trying to use him to kill the girl, to which Gabriel scoffs and goes to attack him with magic, but Ondine steps up to shield him with the crystal. Gabriel goes to attack again, but is distracted by a screeching Lila, who is in the midst of being bombarded by some of Denise’s skunk friends.

Ondine and Kim begin talking and a crush is quick to develop on both sides as she shows him around the Enchanted Forest. He comes to see her for the next few nights, the two discovering they have quite a bit in common, such as a love for athletics and similar, goofy senses of humor. On one night he comes to visit, the elves even set up a romantic picnic for them, leaving both flustered. On this night, he asks her to come to back to the palace with him, where she’ll be protected from Gabriel, but Ondine explains that she has to help the creatures of the Enchanted Forest. He understands, but invites her to attend the royal ball in a few days, to which she agrees. Before he leaves, Ondine asks him to tell her father that she’s alright, and he promises to do so.

Kim arrives at the bakery, but finds Arturo isn’t there. The local cobbler explains that the man is out looking for his daughter, and Kim asks the man to send the baker to the palace once he returns, and the cobbler agrees.

Back in the forest, Anais has finally located the Book of Forest Lore, and brings it to Caline and Ondine. Reading it, they discover that the bearer of the crystal can defeat any evil magic when joined with one they truly love, and who loves them in return. The Enchanted Forest creatures rejoice at this, as everyone could see the sparks flying between Ondine and the prince. However, the book also says that if the one the bearer loves swears love to another, the crystal’s power will be lost.

And so the magical creatures prepare Ondine for the ball so as to ensure Kim will pledge his love to her. Ondine doubts this will happen, as Kim is the prince while she is a mere baker’s daughter, but Caline reassures her that she is beautiful inside and out, and gifts her a gorgeous dress for the ball (Odette’s Ballgown). Ondine is also nervous because she has never danced at a royal ball, and a few of the elves demonstrate, with Simon doing a lively river dance and Denise a vivacious salsa number. Ondine herself performs a gorgeous ballet dance with all the elves, that they all assure her will be perfect!

However, just after this, Gabriel swoops down and abducts Anais, carrying them away to his castle, along with the Book of Forest Lore. Having used too much of her magical powers, Caline is unable to stop him. Having transformed back with the sunrise, Ondine, Missy, the elves and the Fairy Queen make their way to Gabriel’s castle to rescue Anais.

Reading the Book of Forest Lore, Gabriel discovers the crystal’s weakness, and devises a plan to trick Kim into professing his love to Lila in place of Ondine, by way of a magical necklace that disguises his daughter as the one the prince truly loves, i.e. the redhead. Anais angrily declares that his plan won’t work, prompting Gabriel to transform it into an inchworm.

Outside the dark palace, Ondine and her companions devise a plan to rescue Anais. Ondine flies to the entrance near the roof, with Missy and the enchanted elves providing cover and diversion for her. There are a few close calls, but she manages to get in and save the transformed Anais, who explains Gabriel’s plan to everyone. Ondine resolves that she must go now, regardless of the dangers, if she’s to have a hope of saving everyone. If Kim sees her as a swan, he’ll realize he’s been tricked, and they’ll still have a chance! With that, Ondine leaves for the palace.

That afternoon, Kim is waiting for Ondine at the ball, his parents eager to meet the girl that’s captured their adventurous son’s heart. It’s then that Gabriel, having spelled himself to look like Arturo, arrives with the disguised Lila, and sure enough, Kim sees Ondine in her place when he looks at her, and takes her to meet his parents. Lila is a surprisingly good actress, and is able to imitate Ondine quite convincingly.

With that, Kim takes to the dance floor with Lila, with Ondine, in her swan form, having just arrived. She desperately tries to get the prince’s attention, but Gabriel uses his magic to shut the windows, keeping her from entering.

Overhearing Kim ask the disguised Lila if she would consider being his bride, Gabriel approaches the two and asks the prince if he truly loves her. Believing the girl he speaks of to be Ondine, he answers wholeheartedly that he does. Outside the ballroom, the real Ondine collapses as the crystal is stripped of its power. It’s then that Gabriel removes the enchantments on himself and Lila, revealing the horrible truth. Kim demands to know what he did to Ondine, with Gabriel sneeringly answering that he himself doomed the girl when he swore his love to Lila, who mockingly asks when they should have the wedding, before leaving with her father.

As the sun sets, the unconscious Ondine returns to her human form, Gabriel stealing the crown from her cold forehead and presenting it to an eager Lila after he removes the crystal. He affixes the crystal to his collar and prepares to destroy Ondine. Only for Lila to call out for him just in time to dodge a strike from the prince’s sword. Gabriel shatters Kim’s sword with his magic and mocks the boy as the Enchanted Forest denizens arrive, pulled in a coach by Missy. Caline assures the distraught unicorn and elves that Ondine is still alive, sending her magic sprites to retrieve the girl as Kim distracts Gabriel.

Gabriel fires a spell at the prince, who ducks behind Lila, causing it to hit her by mistake, transforming her into a pig! Lila begins to throw a fit, but Gabriel leaves to pursue the coach with Ondine, telling Lila to be quiet for the first time in her life. They flee for the Enchanted Forest, but Gabriel crashes the coach. He demands they hand Ondine over to him, but Missy, Denise and Simon step up to shield her. Caline tells him to leave Ondine alone, as it’s her that his fight is with. Gabriel agrees and the two engage in a battle of magic, which ends when he transforms the Fairy Queen into a mouse! Missy and the two elves try to fight back, but he easily repels them.

Just as Gabriel is again about to blast the sleeping Ondine with his magic, an arrow stops him in his tracks. As the dark sorcerer prepares to deal with Kim once and for all, Ondine awakens and sees the prince in danger. She rushes to help him, drawing Gabriel’s attention, and Gabriel sends his dark magic towards her, only for Kim to try and shield her, knowing she no longer has the protection of the crystal, sending them both to the ground, their hands clasped together.

As Gabriel prepares to destroy them, the crystal around his neck begins to glow brightly, the same color as when it was used by Ondine before, revealing that its power isn’t gone, reawakened by the love between the swan maiden and the prince and their sacrifice for one another. Gabriel is overwhelmed by the magic of love within the crystal, and loses his dark powers. His castle crumbles and all of his evil spells are undone. The elves regain their original forms, along with the Fairy Queen. Life and light returns to the entire Enchanted Forest, as Ondine and Kim awaken in each other’s arms, the curse on the girl lifted. Relieved that their ordeal is finally over, the two share a kiss.

Two years later, the entire village is celebrating the two’s engagement in the Enchanted Forest, and Arturo asks the prince a very important question: How many layers for the wedding cake?

And they all lived happily ever after! (Except for Gabriel and Lila, who spent the rest of their lives as cuckoo clock birds!)

Spread your wings and fly! Leave your thoughts in the comments and reblogs, and watch for the next installment!

#miraculous ladybug #Miraculous Barbie #barbie of swan lake #swan lake #Ondine Rivas #le chien kim #Kimdine #Youtube

[smash-or-pass-otome]

Tags and Links A-M (In Progress)

Some might still be missing cause I just went down the Smash or Pass tag on here and there's some i forgot to tag

Also I put links for the Lovebrush guys cause I didn't want to list each version

If any links don't work please let me know. I tested some but not all

The * is just me marking where I stopped when making the list

Alice in the Country of Hearts

Elliot March

Amnesia Memories

Kent

Arcana

Asra

Julian

Lucio

Muriel

Nadia

Portia

Arcana Twilight

Sirius

Ayakashi Romance Reborn

Kuya

Toichiro Yuri

Yakumo Koizumi

Backstage Pass

Adam Eaton

John Brandon

Matthew Partridge

Baldur's Gate 2

Anomen Delyrn

Birushana

Minamoto Yoritomo

Blind Griffin

Alexei

Emilio

Giovanni

Blooming Panic

Quest

XYX

Boyfriend Dungeon

Sunder

Bustafellows

Crow "Scarecrow" Miller

Helvetica Orsted

Limbo Fitzgerald

Mozu Shepherd

Shu Lyn O'Keefe

Cafe Enchante

Canus Espada

Ignis Carbunculus

Il Fado de Rie

Kaoru Rindo

Misyr Rex

Charade Maniacs

Akase Kyoya

Futami Ryouichi

Iochi Mizuki

Mamoru Chigasaki

Cinderella Phenomenon

Karma

City of Love Paris

Louise Paquier

Cloud Meadow

Kreyton

Code Realize

Impey Barbicane

Saint Germain

Collar X Malice

Takeru Sasazuka

Court of Darkness

Fenn Luxure

Cupid Parasite

Alan Melville

Gill Lovecraft

Raul Aconite

Ryuki F Keisaiin

Shelby Snail

Cute Demon Crashers

Akki

Kael

Mirari

Dangerous Fellows

Lawrence

Zion

A Date With Death

Grim Reaper

Demonheart

Raze

Sir Brash

Xan'ari

Devil butler with Black Cat

Berrien Cliane

Devil Kiss

Cain

Dragon Age Origins

Zevran

Dragon Age 2

Fenris

Dragon Age Inquisition

Cullen Rutherford

Eldarya

Leiftan

Error 143

Micah Yujin

Even If Tempest

Tyril I Lister

The Fate of Wonderland

White

Fire Emblem Fates

Kaze

Saizo

Fire Emblem Three Houses

Claude Von Riegan

Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Edelgard Von Hresvelg

Felix Fraldarius

Mercedes von Martritz

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4

Hiiragi

Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town

Cliff

Gray

Hatoful Boyfriend

Kazuaki Nanaki

Shuu Iwamine

Havenless

Noah

Hustle Cat

Grave Serling

I was a Teenage Exocolonist

Marzipan

Ikemen Sengoku

Masamune Date

Sasuke Sarutobi

Ikemen Vampire

Arthur Conan Doyle

Kamigami no Asobi

Anubis Ma'at

Loki Laevatein

Kissed by the Baddest Bidder

Mamoru Kishi

Shuichi Hishikura

Knights of the Old Republic

Carth Onasi

Love Spell Written in the Stars

Enix Gray

Florian Atlas

Jamie Niro

Marcello DiNucci

Lovebrush Chronicles

Ayn Alwyn

Cael Anselm

Clarence Clayden

Lars Rorschach

LoveLink

Blake Bailey

Lover Pretend

Asagi Eiichiro

Kamikubo Kazuma

Makino Harumi

Sena Yukito

Riku Nishijima

LoveUnholyc

Leo

Lullaby of Demonia

Ifrit

Max Gentleman Sexy Business

Samuel Finch

Sinterklaas

Vicki Lestrange

Vlad Nibblesome

MeChat

Wu Xiang

Metro PD: Close To You

Katsuyuki Kyobashi

Monster Prom

Damien Lavey

Moonlight Lovers

Aaron

Beliath

Ethan

Ivan

Neil

Raphael

Vladimir

Mr Love Queen's Choice

Gavin

Kiro

Lucien

Victor

My Candy Love University Life

Castiel

Mystic Messenger

Jumin Han

Saeyoung Choi

Yoosung Kim

Zen

#tags #links #tag list #otome #smash or pass

[psalm22-6]

Source: the Bay Area Reporter, 20 July 2000

There was a time when the future of the musical theater looked like Les Miserables. Now it‘s starting to look like nostalgia. 

This standard bearer for the humorless quasi-operatic epic is back in San Francisco after a seven-year hiatus, like a visit from an old friend who isn’t quite as fascinating as you once thought. The touring production at the Curran Theatre is a perfectly respectable affair, but emotional connections have given way to cordial appreciations.

Victor Hugo’s sprawling novel is recounted in the broadest of strokes, like a phonebook sized issue of the old Classics Illustrated Comics. But watching how the musical manages to coherently communicate such an expanse of storytelling becomes part of the entertainment. 

Originally created as an outdoor spectacle for a Paris sports arena, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil’s sung-through adaptation of Hugo was massaged into a more traditional theatrical format by directors John Caird and Trevor Nunn. Even if the ubiquitous turntable and the other devices they employed are beginning to seem a little yellowed at the edges, the economy and grace with which the story is told remains an impressive sight. 

The backbone of the show is Schonberg’s music that manages to lace battle hymns, lullabies, and personal anthems with a contemporary edge that doesn’t sound anachronistic. The music sounds important, but possesses a repetitive simplicity that makes it accessible in the moment and less interesting in the long run. The English lyrics that Herbert Kretzmer based on Boublil’s French originals can fall into simplistic rhymes and unexpected phrases like “What’s up?” but they fill the large emotional outlines set by the music. This is not a stripped-down production at the Curran, but a faithful replica of what’s been playing on Broadway for 14 years. The cast is a spirited, talented group that shows few signs of road fatigue. The sound, though, was often out of balance at a performance well into the Curran run. Ivan Rutherford as the noble Jean Valjean, Graham Rowat (subbing for Stephen Bishop) as the obsessed Inspector Javert, Joan Almedilla as the godforsaken Fantine, Aymee Garcia and JP. Dougherty as the comically sinister Thernadiers, and Diana Kaarina as their pitiful daughter Eponine all impressively inhabit their characters. But as the young hero Marius, Tim Howar can get lost in the crowd, and as his beloved Cosette, Regan Thiel comes up short with a lightweight voice and personality. Like all successes, Les Miserables was in sync with its times. But classics are in sync with all times. Victor Hugo’s novel is a classic. Its musical counterpart seems increasingly unlikely to become one as well. Les Miserables will run at the Curran Theatre through Sept. 16. Tickets are $17-$77. Call 512-7770.

#les miserables #lm musical

[imsparky2002]

Batraculous - The Squads

These 4 squads of teen bat-heroes all work together to fight crime in their city. Here are the squads. Their batcaves are in the 4 corners of Paris. They have secret passageways and tunnels so they can all travel to each other's batcaves.

North Faction

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Adrien Agreste

Alya Cesaire

Nino Lahiffe

Nathaniel Kurtzberg

Max Kante

Kim Le Chien

Alix Kubdel

Juleka Couffaine

Rose Lavillant

Ivan Bruel

Mylene Haprele

Sabrina Raincomprix

Chloe Bourgeois

Luka Couffaine

Kagami Tsurugi

-

South Faction

Marc Anciel

Aurore Beaureal

Mireille Caquet

Zoe Lee

Jean Duparc

Cosette Bellamy

Denise Cabello

Simon O’Connor

Ismael Prisk

Reshma Leghari

Lacey Greene

Ondine Philippe

-

East Faction

Austin Armbruster

Austin Boulet

Austin Quinlan

Austin Tomassian

Lotta Jameson

Kendra Anne Gunderson

DJ Detweiler

Austin Spinelli

Gia Griswald

Victoria LaSelle

Gerald Grundler

Mindy Blumberg

Rochelle Weems

Mason Ewing

Marcelle Anciel

Beck King

-

West Faction

Ayesha Reynolds

Dorothy “Dot” Waverly

Petra Markov

Roxanne “Roxie” Richter

Anthony Mathis

Eri Tanaka

Candace Fletcher

Soo-Yeon Park

Margo Jorgensen

Staci Kwan

Parker Beauregaurd

Brecken Sutcliffe

Agnes “Aggie” Findlay

Mona Truffaut

Genevieve “Evie” Balthazar

Eloise Matuidi

Anais Ackerman

Jesse Ortega

Missy Rutherford

As always, @artzychic27 @msweebyness

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #batman #batman au #akuma class #science kids #recess kids #theater kids

[gadgetsforusesblog]

Click to read Golden Knights acquire Ivan Barbashev from Blues: What the forward brings to Vegas

By Jeremy Rutherford, Jesse Granger and Eric Duhatschek The St. Louis Blues have traded Ivan Barbashev to the Golden Knights, Vegas announced on Sunday. Forward Zach Dean will head to St. Louis as part of the deal. Here’s what you need to know: Barbashev, 27, has 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 59 games this season. He played his entire seven-year career with the Blues after they selected…

View On WordPress

[our-flag-means-death-ao3feed]

make me love myself (so that i can love you)

by fluffy_miracle

Stede is an alpha who is looking for an assistant. Mary is a beta who is looking for someone to catch her husband's interest so he will realize just how unhappy they are. And Ed is an omega looking for a job with some secrets of his own.

No one gets quite what they want, but they all get what they need.

Words: 6158, Chapters: 3/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Stede Bonnet, Mary Allamby Bonnet, Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Rutherford, Alma Bonnet, Louis Bonnet, Israel Hands, Fang (Our Flag Means Death), Ivan (Our Flag Means Death)

Relationships: Blackbeard | Edward Teach/Stede Bonnet, Mary Allamby Bonnet/Doug, Mary Allamby Bonnet/Stede Bonnet

Additional Tags: Robbery, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Stede Bonnet, Omega Blackbeard | Edward Teach, Beta Mary, no honor among thieves eh, Blackbeard | Edward Teach Fancies a Fine Fabric, Blackbeard | Edward Teach Needs a Hug, Past Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Trauma ofc, Trauma, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Stabbing, Blood and Injury, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Ed kind of hates being an omega, Stede doesn't think he's a real alpha even though he is, Autism Spectrum, Rich Stede Bonnet, Socioeconomic Differences, Live in assistant, Career Change, Ed is hired as Stede's assistant but Mary has other plans, Cheating, Divorce, eventual Stede/ Ed, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Happy Ending, Special Interests, Research, Botany, Nesting, making a nest

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/41138115

#Our flag means death #ofmd

[ukropstales]

Headless Horseman Cullen for Halloween

#dragon age #cullen rutherford #halloween #headless horseman #ivan bilibin style

[miserablesme]

The Les Miserables Changelog Part 3: 1987 Broadway Production

Hello, everyone! This is the latest edition in my attempt to chronicle all of the musical and lyrical changes which the show Les Miserables has undergone over the years. This time, we're going through all the changes between the musical as it existed on the West End around 1985-1986 and the revised libretto for the 1987 Broadway production.

In some ways, this is a much easier changelog to compile than the last two simply because it is much easier to find audio evidence of the show from this era than from its pre-1987 self. We have a full soundboard of the original Broadway cast as well as a very good quality bootleg of the very first Broadway preview, as well as several audios from the next few years which use exactly the same script. We also have an officially released Symphonic Soundtrack which almost (but not quite) follows this version of the libretto exactly. So no more relying on unclear bootlegs and speculation to figure out what was changed when!

Having said that, the changes in this production were MASSIVE. It's almost certainly the most extensive edit the show's libretto has received to this day. As such, this will be a very long edition of this blog. So make sure you have a bit of time on your hands before reading it! With all that cleared up, let's begin.

The first change literally can be heard as soon as the musical begins. The pre-Broadway show opens up with the same recurring motif also heard, for instance, at the openings of "At the End of the Day" and "One Day More". This music then transitioned to the instrumentals to the opening "Work Song". The post-Broadway libretto cuts right to the chase, with the opening instrumentals to the "Work Song" starting right up without any preamble.

One interesting little non-scripted change occurs later in the "Work Song", but only in American productions. For whatever reason, every American Javert from the original Broadway cast until the first Broadway revival sang "And I am Javert" instead of "And I'm Javert", for reasons that honestly baffle me. Again, the libretto retained the original contraption as far as I'm aware, and the West End production as well as later UK and Australian tours still used it as well.

The next change happens while Valjean is on parole. After Valjean pleads against the farmer underpaying him, this was the farmer's original response:

Do you believe

A yellow ticket of leave

Allows a criminal like you to earn full screw?

Since Broadway, his response is instead as follows:

You broke the law

It's there for people to see

Why should you get the same as honest men like me?

I much prefer this revised version. Though the information is essentially the same, it feels more dramatic, as well as feeling less awkward now that it is in the form of separate sentences as opposed to a single sentence spoken in three lines with pauses in between. Moreover, the phrase "honest men like me" as used here provides interesting foreshadowing for its more well-known usage in "Master of the House". One could spend quite some time analysing the implications of this recurring description, but this blog is long enough as it is so now isn't the time!

In the same number, originally the innkeeper's wife had the following remark:

My rooms are full

And I've no supper to spare

I'd like to help you really, all I want is to be fair

Since Broadway, her line has been slightly modified:

My rooms are full

And I've no supper to spare

I'd like to help a stranger, all we want is to be fair

I suppose "I'd like to help a stranger" sounds less slang-y than "help you really". Presumably this is why it was changed. I find the change of subject from singular to plural far more interesting. My hypothesis is that the writers wanted to make it clear than this is a communal grudge, not a personal one. Everyone around sees it as perfectly fair to deny shelter to a former convict, not just this one individual. I definitely prefer the revised line, but evidently the producers of the West End production didn't; that production held on to the original lyrics for more than a decade after they were originally revised! More on that in a later edition of this blog...

A more minor change can be heard during "At the End of the Day". Originally, Valjean asks the factor workers "What is this shouting all about?" The Broadway script changes this to "What is this fighting all about?" Much less trivial implications now. I'm curious as to whether or not a staging change may have accompanied this. Usually the two workers get into quite a bit of physical scuffle by this point, far beyond the realm of shouting. Did the original pre-Broadway production use more subdued choreography?

"The Runaway Cart" has some noticeable differences. After Valjean asks the townspeople for help, the original response was sung by the entire ensemble, and went as follows:

(SOLO)

Don't go near him, Monsieur Mayor

There's nothing at all you can do

(ENSEMBLE)

The old man is a goner for sure

Leave him alone

The Broadway libretto revised this into a sequence sung by one individual at a time with the following lyrics:

Don't go near him, Monsieur Mayor

The load is as heavy as hell

The old man is a goner for sure

It will kill you as well

A female ensemble member sung "The old man is a goner for sure" while a male member sung the rest. I sort of like it better as an ensemble piece (something that would be largely brought back in later years, as I'll soon discuss) although I think it's cool that it rhymes now. Having said that, I'm fairly confident that no one in the real world has ever actually used the phrase "Heavy as hell"!

An official change in the libretto occurred in "Who Am I?" but listeners to the original Broadway cast would not have heard it. While the pre-Broadway show had Valjean refer to "This innocent who bears my face", the revised libretto instead refers to "This innocent who wears my face". Perhaps a means of avoiding repetition, given that the word "bear" is used again later in the number? Regardless, Colm Wilkinson didn't actually bother to adapt to this change! He still sings "This innocent who bears my face" in the Broadway production (as well as the tenth anniversary concert; not until his 1998 stint in Toronto did he ever start singing the revised lyrics). Since every future Valjean (except Ivan Rutherford for some reason) sings "wears", I still see it as appropriate to mention here.

At the end of the song, Valjean's "You know where to find me!", used on and off in the Barbican previews before becoming a settled part of the production by the final pre-Broadway libretto, is once again removed for the Broadway show. However, the West End production would keep it for a few years - more on that later...

Just listening to the original Broadway cast, one might think Javert's "Dare you talk to me of crime?" becomes "Dare you speak to me of crime?" However, this seems to be a Terrence Mann-exclusive change. Every Javert after him reverts to the original lyrics (as did Terrence himself when he returned to the musical fifteen years later). I'm still making note of the change here for the sake of clarification.

An instrumental change occurs between "Castle on a Cloud" and "Master of the House". Mme. Thenardier's "You heard me ask for something and I never ask twice" was original followed by three bars of notes, then by six more bars of notes that are identical to each other. After the Broadway production, however, those six bars of notes grow increasingly more dramatic as they go on.

A very slight change happens during the preamble to "Master of the House". Originally one of the guests proclaims "Hell, what a wine" while the revised libretto instead has him claim "God, what a wine". Definitely more natural in my opinion, though not a huge difference by any means.

A few subtle differences exist in the "Waltz of Treachery" number. First off, Thenardier originally asks "Have we done for your child what is best?" The Broadway libretto changes "your child" to "her child". I personally like the original lyric better, as it goes back to the idea established earlier that Valjean is metaphorically bargaining through the spirit of Fantine. It's definitely not a difference that makes or breaks the number, though.

Towards the end of the song comes another change that cannot actually be heard by listening to the original Broadway cast. In the pre-Broadway show, Valjean used the line "Let us seek out a friendlier sky", while the revised libretto has him say "Let us seek out some friendlier sky". However, Colm Wilkinson once again doesn't bother to adapt to the change, and unlike the "Who Am I?" change he wouldn't learn it over time either. He continues to sing "a friendlier sky" throughout his on-and-off performances as Valjean, right up to and including his 2002 run in Shanghai!

After the bulk of the number comes a more significant change. Prior to the Broadway production, as was discussed in the last entry, the "Waltz of Treachery" was followed by about forty-five seconds of vamping and then this exchange in the tune of "Castle on a Cloud":

(LITTLE COSETTE)

We're going home right now, monsieur

What is your name

(VALJEAN)

Now my dear

I've names enough, I've got names to spare

But where I go, you always will be there

Nor will you be afraid again

There is a sun that's shining yet

(LITTLE COSETTE)

I'm going to call you my Papa

(VALJEAN)

I'm going to call you my Cosette

The Broadway libretto replaced it with just under twenty seconds of vamping, followed by a sequence in the tune of the "Waltz of Treachery":

(VALJEAN)

Come Cosette

Come my dear

From now on I will always be here

Where I go

You will be

(LITTLE COSETTE)

Will there be children

And castles to see?

(VALJEAN)

Yes, Cosette

Yes it's true

There's a castle just waiting for you

This is followed by another fifteen or so seconds of vamping, and then the humming duet between Cosette and Valjean carries on as before.

Arguably the biggest change in the entire edited libretto happens now. Whereas the number was originally directly followed by "Stars", things have been moved around so that it instead transitions directly into "Look Down". "Look Down" itself receives a lot of adjustments. First off, the number began in the pre-Broadway musical with a bar of music that was then repeated. The Broadway version only plays the bar of music once, and the sung part happens immediately afterwards.

Gavroche's verse receives some lyrical updates. Originally it used the following lines:

This is my school, my high society

From St. Denis to St Michel

We live on crumbs of humble piety

Tough on the teeth, but what the hell?

If you're poor, if you're free

Follow me, follow me!

The Broadway production rewrote that sequence a little:

This is my school, my high society

Here in the slums of St Michel

We live on crumbs of humble piety

Tough on the teeth, but what the hell?

Think you're poor? Think you're free?

Follow me, follow me!

Better lines in my humble opinion; "slums" conveys the poverty of Gavroche's community much more effectively than the original line, and phrasing the "poor" and "free" lines as questions is more dramatic than their original statement form.

The old beggar woman's original "You give 'em all the pox" becomes the less grammatically accurate "Give 'em all the pox" for Broadway, though I have no idea if the original "You" was part of the libretto or simply an improvisation. Since seemingly all actresses used that line for the first few years of the West End production, it strikes me as warranting a mention.

Right after this comes another change. In the pre-Broadway show, the argument between the beggar woman and the prostitute was followed by an exchange by a few individual beggars. All of the following lines were said by one person at a time, the first three being said by female beggars and the last one by a male beggar:

When's it gonna end?

When're we gonna live?

Something's gotta happen, dearie

Something's gotta give

The Broadway libretto changes this to an ensemble piece performed by all the beggars simultaneously:

When's it gonna end?

When're we gonna live?

Something's gotta happen now or

Something's gotta give

I really like the switch to a group effort, as it really emphasizes that the beggars are a community sharing the burden of poverty. It really feels like an epidemic to an extent that it doesn't when it's just a small conversation. Evidently the producers of the West End show didn't agree with me though, as they held onto the original sequence for more than a decade after the official change, and by that point it had already been largely reverted worldwide! More on that in a later blog...

Originally, the exposition about General Lamarque was given by a few random students (supposedly not specified in the libretto, but in practice portrayed as Combeferre and Feuilly). Some ensemble dialogue between beggars was put in between. Feuilly sings over the end of the ensemble's lines - but many have speculated that this was not intended by the writers, as the background music sounds super out of sync with his singing! Here's how the scene went:

(COMBEFERRE)

As for the leaders of the land

As for the swells who run this show

Only one man and that's Lamarque

Speaks for the people here below

(BEGGARS)

Something for a meal

Something for a doss

Something in the name of Him who died upon the cross

On the cross, come across

On the cross, come across, come across

(FEUILLY)

Lamarque is ill and fading fast

Won't last the week out, so they say

With all the anger in the land

How long before the judgement day?

Before we cut the fat ones down to size?

Before the barricades arise?

Fortunately, the writers of the Broadway libretto had the sense to change the purveyors of the message into people actually relevant to the show's plot, namely Marius and Enjolras. Moreover, the beggars' dialog was rewritten into a sequence that feels far less clunky to me. The background music was fixed to account for the solo singing (now done by Marius) overlapping the beggars' lines, so it is now perfectly in sync. Here's the edited exchange:

(ENJOLRAS)

Where are the leaders of the land?

Where are the swells who run this show?

(MARIUS)

Only one man and that's Lamarque

Speaks for the people here below

(BEGGARS)

See our children fed

Help us in our shame

Something for a crust of bread in Holy Jesus' name

(SOLO BEGGAR)

In the Lord's holy name

(BEGGARS)

In His name, in His name, in His name

(MARIUS)

Lamarque is ill and fading fast

Won't last the week out, so they say

(ENJOLRAS)

With all the anger in the land

How long before the judgement day?

Before we cut the fat ones down to size?

Before the barricades arise?

Much better in my opinion! It should be noted that David Bryant instead sings "these people here below", but as far as I can tell every future Marius (or later Enjolras - more on that later) sings "the people, which is the actually phrasing in the libretto.

One final change in Look Down: Gavroche now says that all of Thenardier's family is "on the make", as opposed to the original "on the take". A rather pointless change in my book, though it certainly doesn't hurt anything.

"The Robbery" is another heavily edited number. Thenardier's line after acknowledging Brujon, Babet, and Claquesous was originally as follows:

You Montparnasse, watch for the p'lice

With Eponine, take care

You've got all the hash, I've got all the cash

The Broadway show rewrote those lines into their still-current form:

You Montparnasse, watch for the law

With Eponine, take care

You turn on the tears, no mistakes my dears!

This changed lyric more naturally transitions the scene into the gang's actual plan, though the original is an interesting continuation of Gavroche's recollection of Thenardier once running a hash house.

Mme. Thenardier's response is also altered from the original lyrics:

Here come a student from our street

One of 'Ponine's peculiar gents

Our Eponine would kiss his feet

She never showed a bit of sense

Into the current ones:

These bloody students on our street

Here they come slumming once again

Our Eponine would kiss their feet

She never showed a scrap of brain

It's interesting how the edit shifts the focus from Marius in particular to the students in general. It seems that Mme. Thenardier is less aware of the specifics of her daughter's personal life now, something that makes sense for her character.

After Mme. Thenardier's "You'll be in the clear", there was originally just eighteen seconds of a musical motif (the same one which opens "At the End of the Day" and "One Day More") followed by Thenardier's speech. Since Broadway, it's instead been followed by a few more lines of dialogue:

(MARIUS)

Who is that man

(EPONINE)

Leave me alone!

(MARIUS)

Why is here?

Hey Eponine!

Only now does the musical motif play. But instead of staying silent upon seeing Cosette, Marius now sings "I didn't see you there, forgive me..." Interestingly, in this video of a 1987 performance of the original West End production, Marius just stops without bumping into Cosette as he usually does. This makes me wonder whether or not the bumping was added into the Broadway version, and the lyric was added to accomodate for the blocking change. Of course, this is all speculation; I have no way to know for sure.

Thenardier's con job is also quite a bit different post-Broadway. Originally it used the following lyrics:

How you do? Spare a sou

God will see all the good that you do

Look monsieur, lost a leg

Hero of Waterloo now has to beg

Wait a bit, know that face...

The Broadway libretto edited it into its current form:

Please monsieur, come this way

Here's a child that ain't eaten today

Save a life, spare a sou

God rewards all the good that you do

Wait a bit, know that face...

It's interesting how Thenardier's facade shifts in focus from his own supposed hardship to that of an alleged child. I suppose the latter would be a good bit more effective in convincing passersby to donate!

During "Javert's Intervention", Thenardier now says "It was me that told you so, as opposed to the original "Wot told you so"; however, this seems to be a regional choice to account for a lack of Cockney accent, not an official libretto change. British productions retain the original "Wot".

“The Robbery” ends quite differently. Its pre-Broadway form had Gavroche’s remarks directly follow Javert’s “Clear this garbage off the street!” However, now Javert’s line is instead followed by some instrumentals to a slower version of the same tune as, for instance, “Honest work/Just reward/That’s the way to please the lord” and “He will bend/He will break/This time there is no mistake”.

After these instrumentals come the “Stars” number, now in a much more natural location given that Javert now has a logical reason to be thinking about Valjean!

The number itself is mostly the same, up until the final segment. After Javert’s “Those who falter and those who fall must pay the price”, he originally had the following lyrics:

Scarce to be counted

Changing the chaos

To order and light

You are the sentinels

Silent and sure

Keeping watch in the night

Keeping watch in the night

The post-Broadway show replaced this with a much more climactic remark:

Lord let me find him

That I may see him

Safe behind bars

I will never rest ‘til then

This I swear

This is swear by the stars

WOW, what an improvement! Now the stars are tied much better to Valjean himself, and Javert’s motivation is much clearer!

Now that “Stars” is over, we finally get Gavroche's remarks. The lyrics are the same; however, instead of the tempo progressively getting faster as it goes along, it now gets progressively slower. Interestingly the audio of the first preview has Gavroche saying "mother dear" instead of "auntie dear", but it's back to the original line by the second known original Broadway cast audio. Both audio feature Braden Danner; whether the "mother dear" was a choice on his part or a director's, a flub, or a libretto change that was later reverted is unknown.

"Eponine's Errand" has some significant changes. First off, the original libretto gave Marius and Eponine this exchange:

(MARIUS)

Did you see that lovely girl

(EPONINE)

A lovely two-a-penny thing

The Broadway libretto edited it a little:

(MARIUS)

Eponine, who was that girl?

(EPONINE)

Some bourgeois two-a-penny thing

Marius' request has also been changed from its original lyrics:

Eponine, do this for me

But careful how you go

Your father mustn't know

He'll strike another blow

'Ponine, I'm lost until she's found

Into some far clearer and more direct instructions:

Eponine, do this for me

Discover where she lives

But careful how you go

Don't let your father know

'Ponine, I'm lost until she's found

And yes, the line was "your father" right from day one. Michael Ball flubs it as "her father" on the complete symphonic recording, leading many to assume that was the original lyric which was changed later. But I'm not aware of a single live performance to use that lyric (which doesn't make a lot of sense anyway).

Another side note: Some Marius actors have very slightly changed the third line to "Be careful how you go" or "But careful as you go", though neither lyric is the standard.

Post-Broadway, as the instrumentals to "Red and Black" play, a student (I'm not sure which one) now shouts Enjolras' name before the singing begins.

During "Red and Black", Michael Maguire changes the original "It is easy to sit here and swat 'em like flies" to "Oh, it's easy to sit here and swat 'em like flies". However, this is an individual choice of the actor, not an official libretto change. Every future Enjolras I'm aware of (except Ramin Karimloo for some reason) uses the original line.

An actual libretto change occurs soon afterwards. After Marius' entrance, Grantaire originally asks, "Marius, what's wrong with you today?" The post-Broadway show changes this to "Marius, you're late. What's wrong today?" This makes it much clearer why Grantaire might suspect something is wrong.

Soon afterwards, Grantaire's original line "We talk of battles to be won, and here he comes like Don Juan" is slightly tweaked to "You talk of battles to be won". This is a little more appropriate, since Grantaire isn't actually doing a lot of talking!

After "Red and Black", Gavroche's part is very slightly changed. First off, American performances for a few years would have Gavroche whistle right before everyone quiets down, though I have no idea if this was in the libretto or not.

Secondly, Gavroche's original remark, "It's General Lamarque! He's dead!" is shortened to just "General Lamarque is dead!"

In another contender for the biggest change in the entire edit, the entire "I Saw Him Once" number is totally removed. I have mixed feelings about this. It does give Cosette, a frustratingly underwritten character, some additional content. However, stylistically it's not all that much like any other number in the musical, and it doesn't really add enough information to the show to warrant a whole song. So I say with regret that it was probably for the best to delete the number.

To compensate for the lost number, "In My Life" is lengthened to include the establishing character moments that "I Saw Him Once" originally did. Originally it opened as follows:

(COSETTE)

Dearest papa, can I tell him of this?

How can I tell him the things that I feel?

How could he understand?

(VALJEAN)

Dear Cosette, you're such a lonely child...

The post-Broadway opener is instead as follows:

(COSETTE)

How strange, this feeling that my life's begun at last

This change, can people really fall in love so fast?

What's the matter with you Cosette?

Have you been to much on your own?

So many things unclear

So many things unknown

In my life

There are so many questions and answers

That somehow seem wrong

In my life

There are times when I catch in the silence

The sigh of a faraway song

And it sings of a world that I long to see

Out of reach, just a whisper away, waiting for me

Does he know I'm alive? Do I know if he's real?

Does he see what I see? Does he feel what I feel?

In my life

I'm no longer alone

Now the love in my life is so near

Find me now, find me here

(VALJEAN)

Dear Cosette, you're such a lonely child...

After Valjean gives Cosette his cryptic defense of his secrecy, Cosette had a remark that is sadly incredibly hard to understand in the quality of the recordings we have. It apparently went something like this:

There are voices I hear

That come into my mind

Full of noise, full of fear

When the noise was unkind

In my life

I'm no longer afraid

And I yearn for the truth that you know

Of the years, years ago

Her post-Broadway response is much shorter:

In my life

I'm no longer a child

And I yearn for the truth that you know

Of the years, years ago

Shorter, but just as effective in my book. Plus, the use of the word "child" nicely ties into Valjean's initial remark that Cosette is "such a lonely child", as well as Cosette's frustration that he still sees her as "a child who is lost in the woods".

The next number, "A Heart Full of Love", also has a LOT of rewritten lyrics. First of all, after Marius' "I do not even know your name", these are his original lyrics:

Dear mademoiselle

I am lost in your spell

The Broadway production changed the lyrics into:

Dear mademoiselle

Won't you say? Will you tell?

I suppose this fits a little better with his remark about not knowing Cosette's name.

After Marius and Cosette finally learn each other's names (an important step in a relationship if you ask me!) this was their original way of showing their affection:

(MARIUS)

Cosette, your name is like a song

(COSETTE)

My song is you

(MARIUS)

Is it true?

(COSETTE)

Yes, it's true

The Broadway production rewrote it into the following:

(MARIUS)

Cosette, I don't know what to say

(COSETTE)

Then make no sound

(MARIUS)

I am lost

(COSETTE)

I am found

In my opinion, the rewrite captures the slight awkwardness of young love much better, as well as making a lot more sense!

Immediately afterwards, this is the original exchange:

(MARIUS and COSETTE)

A heart full of love

A heart full of you

(MARIUS)

The words are foolish but they're true

Cosette, Cosette

What were we dreaming when we met?

(COSETTE)

I can sing

(MARIUS)

Dear Cosette

(COSETTE)

A heart full of love...

The Broadway libretto redoes the scene as the following:

(MARIUS)

A heart full of love

(COSETTE)

A night bright as day

(MARIUS)

And you must never go away

Cosette, Cosette

(COSETTE)

This is a chain we'll never break

(MARIUS)

Do I dream?

(COSETTE)

I'm awake

(MARIUS)

A heart full of love...

Almost a totally different scene! The post-Broadway variant is better structured, but I do like the original too.

As the trio of Marius, Cosette, and Eponine exchanges inner monologues, Marius originally has the line "I saw her waiting and I knew". The Broadway libretto changed this to "A single look and then I knew". I kind of prefer the original, as it implies a little more than something as trivial as a cursory glance.

In the closing lyrical overlap of the song, Cosette originally sings "Waiting for you", but post-Broadway she sings "I knew it too". Then, she originally sings "At your call" but post-Broadway she sings "Every day".

During the opening to "The Attack on Rue Plumet", Montparnasse refers to Valjean as "the one that got away the other day" as opposed to his original "the bloke wot got away the other day". However, this is another regional change made for the sake of making sense outside of a cockney accent. The official libretto still had the original lyrics.

A tiny change occurs during Thenardier and Eponine's fight. Claquesous originally thinks it's a palaver and an absolute treat "to watch a cat and its father" picking a bone in the street. The Broadway libretto changed this to "see a cat and a father". Why exactly the writers felt the need to make such a miniscule edit is mystifying to me, but it certainly doesn't hurt anything.

Another change occurs later in the number, after Eponine's scream. Originally this was Thenardier's reaction:

Make for the sewers, don't wait around

Leave her to me, go underground

You wait my girl, you'll rue this night

I'll make you scream, you'll scream alright!

These lines were mixed up a bit for the Broadway libretto:

You wait my girl, you'll rue this night

I'll make you scream, you'll scream alright!

Leave her to me, don't wait around

Make for the sewers, go underground

The post-Broadway variation arguably is a bit less climactic due to it not ending on a threat. However, the original climax isn't all that appropriate since Eponine and Thenardier never actually interact at any later point in the musical. I like that the post-Broadway version ends on something that's actually relevant to the remainder of the show (namely, that Thenardier will be in the sewers). Evidently the West End producers didn't agree with me; this is another line in which the original was kept there for more than a decade (at which point a rewrite closer to the original was already being used worldwide)!

In "One Day More", Javert's "One day more to revolution" is slightly changed to "One more day to revolution". However, the number is otherwise unchanged.

And that's it for Act One! The opening barricade scene to act two has a small change. Grantaire's pre-Broadway "Some will bark, some will bite" was changed to "Dogs will bark, fleas will bite". Makes a lot more sense in my opinion!

The opening to "On My Own" is changed as well. Originally it was performed as follows:

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 'cause I was told to

The Broadway version rewrote it into the following:

And now I'm alone again

Nowhere to turn, no one to go to

Without a home, without a friend

Without a face to say hello to

A huge improvement in my book. It actually rhymes now, and is far less likely to be misconstrued as ungrateful.

After receiving a massive overhaul not that long before, "Little People" was slightly tweaked for the Broadway show. The pre-Broadway version had this ending:

So never kick a dog

Because he’s just a pup

You’d better run for cover when the pup grows up!

Another line (taken from the original longer version of "Little People" as well as all versions of its reprise) was added for the post-Broadway show:

So never kick a dog

Because he’s just a pup

We'll fight like twenty armies and we won't give up

So you’d better run for cover when the pup grows up!

Grantaire's line afterwards is literally reversed in meaning from the original "Better far to die a schoolboy than a policeman and a spy!" into "What's the difference? Die a schoolboy, die a policeman, die a spy!" This post-Broadway lyric fits better into Grantaire's cynical personality.

A very subtle edit is made in "Little Fall of Rain" (to the point that I only just realized its existence by reading an old internet forum!) Pre-Broadway, Marius asks Eponine "Did you see my beloved?" The tense is changed from past to present perfect for the Broadway libretto, so that he now sings "Have you seen my beloved?"

"Drink with Me" receives quite a bit of editing. The opening few lines are originally all sung by Grantaire:

Drink with me to days gone by

Sing with me the songs we knew

Here's to pretty girls who went to our heads

Here's to witty girls who went to our beds

Here's to them and here's to you

Now, those lyrics are split between various students:

(FEUILLY)

Drink with me to days gone by

Sing with me the songs we knew

(PROUVAIRE)

Here's to pretty girls who went to our heads

(JOLY)

Here's to witty girls who went to our beds

(ALL STUDENTS)

Here's to them and here's to you

A far more touching scene now that it entails an entire group of friends reminiscing about their lives, as opposed to the thoughts of one heavily drunk individual.

Originally this was followed by a segment by the male ensemble:

Drink with me to days gone by

To the life that used to be

At the shrine of friendship never say die

Let the wine of friendship never run dry

Then, this was followed by the same lyrics, but sung by the male and female ensembles overlapping. The Broadway libretto removes that and replaces it with an all-new segment with Grantaire. It's much more cynical and philosophical than his original lines:

Drink with me to days gone by

Can it be you fear to die?

Will the world remember you when you fall?

Could it be your death means nothing at all?

Is you life just one more lie?

The lyrics from the pre-Broadway show, in their male-and-female overlapping form, are played afterwards.

The next change occurs during the Second Attack. Pre-Broadway, this was how the opening lyrics went:

(ENJOLRAS)

How do we stand, Feuilly make your report

(FEUILLY)

We've guns enough but bullets running short

(MARIUS)

Let me go into the street

There are bodies all around

Ammunition to be had

Lots of bullets to be found

Some very small edits were made for Broadway:

(ENJOLRAS)

How do we stand, Feuilly make your report

(FEUILLY)

We've guns enough but ammunition short

(MARIUS)

I will go into the street

There are bodies all around

Ammunition to be had

Lots of bullets to be found

The following exchange also is a bit edited. Here's how it went pre-Broadway:

(ENJOLRAS)

I can't let you go, it's too much of a chance

(MARIUS)

And the same can be said for any man here

(VALJEAN)

Let me go in his place, he's no more than a boy

I am old and alone and have nothing to fear

Post-Broadway, it instead goes as follows:

(ENJOLRAS)

I can't let you go, it's too much of a chance

(MARIUS)

And the same is true for any man here

(VALJEAN)

Let me go, he's no more than a boy

I am old, I have nothing to fear

Finally, Gavroche's final lines are as follows pre-Broadway:

So never kick a dog

Because he’s just a pup

You’d better run for cover when the pup grows up

And we’ll fight like twenty armies and we won’t give…

A small edit is made for the Broadway production, so that the latter two lines are reversed:

So never kick a dog

Because he’s just a pup

We’ll fight like twenty armies and we won’t give up

So you’d better run for cover when the pup grows...

I'd say this is an improvement, since Gavroche's death is all the more impactful when his literal last unfinished words are about growing up.

Not long afterwards comes the Final Battle. Leading up to Enjolras' climactic moment, the original lines went as follows:

(ENJOLRAS)

Come on my friends, though we stand here alone

Let us go to our deaths with our face to our foes

(COMBEFERRE)

Let 'em pay for each death with a death of their own

(COURFEYRAC)

If they get me, by God, they will pay through the nose

(ENJOLRAS)

Let others rise to take our place

Until the earth is free

The sequence was edited for Broadway, giving a bit more breathing space:

(ENJOLRAS)

Let us die facing our foes

Make them bleed while they can

(COMBEFERRE)

Make them pay through the nose

(COURFEYRAC)

Make them pay for every man

(ENJOLRAS)

Let others rise to take our place

Until the earth is free

"Dog Eats Dog" is a very heavily-edited number. First off, the vamping at the beginning originally lasts about 30 seconds. By Broadway, it has been reduced to about nineteen seconds.

After Thenardier's "As a service to the town" line, he originally sung the following lines:

It's a world where the dogs eat the dogs

And the worst is as good as the best

It's a stinking great sewer that's crawling with rats

And one rat is as good as the rest

I raise my eyes to see the heavens

And only the moon looks down

That entire sequence was cut for Broadway.

Soon afterwards, Thenardier originally proclaims "Here's a little toy". The Broadway edit changes it to "Here's another toy", perhaps to make it seem less repetitive after his "pretty little thing" line.

The exact same lines from after "As a service to the town" are repeated in the pre-Broadway number after Thenardier's "When the gutters run with blood" line, with one more line added afterwards:

It's a world where the dogs eat the dogs

And the worst is as good as the best

It's a stinking great sewer that's crawling with rats

And one rat is as good as the rest

I raise my eyes to see the heavens

And only the moon looks down

The harvest moon shines down

Unlike the first instance of those lines, they aren't completely excised for Broadway. They are, however, significantly rewritten:

It's a world where the dogs eat the dogs

And they kill for the bones in the street

And God in His heavens, He don't interfere

'Cause He's dead as the stiffs at my feet

I raise my eyes to see the heavens

And only the moon looks down

The harvest moon shines down

I really like how the edited version focuses more on godlessness than on how gross the sewer is. Not that a lack of a god is inherently sinister; I am quite agnostic myself and I think the unbreakable connection between religion and morality alleged by some is ridiculous. But it is blatantly obvious that Thenardier sees no reason to be moral provided no one will punish him.

As a side note, the 1985 London official soundtrack oddly uses this variant, yet the 1986 bootleg audio I have uses the original. Perhaps the original was experimented with, reverted, and later put in again? Who knows...

After the number, Thenardier now shouts Valjean's name.

The encounter in the sewers between Valjean and Javert originally ended as follows, with Javert's first two lines here in a tune not heard anywhere else in the musical to my recollection:

(VALJEAN)

Come, time is running short

(JAVERT)

Go take him, I'll be waiting at the door

I've never met a man like you before

A man such as you

The sequence was extended for the Broadway libretto, to the tune of "Look Down" and the "Work Song":

(VALJEAN)

Come, time is running short

Look down, Javert

He's standing in his grave

(VALJEAN - simultaneously with the next two lines)

Give way, Javert

There is a life to save

(JAVERT - simultaneously with the previous two lines)

Take him, Valjean

Before I change my mind

(JAVERT)

I will be waiting, 24601

A slight change can be heard in "Every Day". Originally Marius sings that he and Cosette will "remember that night and the song that we sang". The Broadway libretto edited this into the decidedly less medium-aware "remember that night and the vow that we made".

"Valjean's Confession" has been reworked to the point that it can scarcely even be considered the same song. After Valjean's "There's something now that must be done", this was how the song went:

(VALJEAN)

Monsieur, I cannot stay a night beneath your roof

I am a convict, sir, my body bears the proof

My name is Jean Valjean

I never told Cosette, I bear this guilt alone

And this I swear to you, her innocence is real

Her love is true

Our love, our life, are now her own

And I must face the years alone

(MARIUS)

I do not understand what's the sense of it all?

Is the world upside down?

Will the universe fall?

If it's true what you say, and Cosette doesn't know

Why confess it to me?

Why confess it at all?

What forces you to speak after all?

(VALJEAN)

You and Cosette must be free of reproach

It is not your affair

There is a darkness that's over my life

It's the cross I must bear

It's for Cosette this must be faced

If I am found, she is disgraced

(MARIUS)

What can I do that would turn you from this...

After the Broadway rewrite, Valjean's "There's something now that must be done" is followed by this:

(VALJEAN)

You've spoken from the heart, and I must do the same

There is a story, sir, of slavery and shame

That you alone must know

I never told Cosette, she had enough of tears

She's never known the truth, the story you must hear

Of years ago

There lived a man whose name was Jean Valjean

He stole some bread to save his sister's son

For nineteen winters served his time

In sweat he washed away his crime

Years ago

He broke parole and lived a life apart

How could he tell Cosette and break her heart?

It's for Cosette this must be faced

If he is caught she is disgraced

The time is come to journey on

And from this day he must be gone

Who am I?

Who am I?

(MARIUS)

You're Jean Valjean

What can I do that will turn you from this...

The few lines afterwards are the same, but as you can see not much else in the song is! Even the tune diverges a lot between the two variants. I'm very conflicted about which one I prefer. I gravitate towards the final one, though it's nice that the original actually tried to address to confusing notion that Valjean wants to tell his son-in-law of his past yet not his own daughter.

"Beggars at the Feast" originally ended with a solo for Thenardier:

(THENARDIER and MME. THENARDIER)

We know where the wind is blowing

Money is the stuff we smell

(THENARDIER)

And when I'm rich as Croesus

Jesus, won't I see you all in Hell!

The Broadway libretto switched this to a group line:

(THENARDIER and MME. THENARDIER)

We know where the wind is blowing

Money is the stuff we smell

And when we're rich as Croesus

Jesus, won't we see you all in Hell!

I much prefer the revised version, as the two Thenardiers clearly are in this act together. It seems more appropriate to let them both have the last laugh.

A small change occurs in the Epilogue. Pre-Broadway, Fantine sings "You raised my child with love". However, post-Broadway, she instead sings "You raised my child in love".

Another change occurs later in the epilogue. In the pre-Broadway show, Cosette tells Valjean that "It's too soon to ever say goodbye". The post-Broadway libretto instead has her sing "It's too soon, too soon to say goodbye". Repetitive as it may be, I prefer it over the original because the original awkwardly combines language clearly denoting the moment with language implying eternality.

Phew, we're finally at the end! Rest assured this is almost certainly the longest changelog you'll ever be forced to endure. I'm fairly sure it's complete, but this particular rewrite was so extensive it's not impossible that I missed something. Please feel free to let me know if that is the case.

As a side note, both for this project and my own enjoyment, I want as complete a collection of Les Miserables audios as possible. I already have most of what’s commonly circulated, but if you have any audios or videos you know are rare, or some audios that you haven't traded in a few years, I’d love it if you DMed me!

Until the turntable puts me at the forefront again, good-bye…

#les miserables #les mis #changelog #les mis changelog #marius #valjean #cosette #javert #eponine #enjolras #thenardier #1985 #1987 #broadway #part 3 #long post #the les miserables changelog

[cometomecosette]

Video Revew: Les Misérables, 3rd National Tour, 2000, Act I (long)

In honor of Barricade Day, I’ve decided to re-share the review I wrote some time ago of an outstanding complete Les Mis performance from yesteryear. The multi-part upload I originally reviewed has been taken down, but the whole performance can still be seen on YouTube in a single video here.

This performance by the US 3rd National Tour (a.k.a. the Marius Company) was filmed at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, February 7, 2000.

Main Cast

Jean Valjean: Ivan Rutherford

Javert: Stephen Bishop

Fantine: Joan Almedilla

Thénardier: J.P. Dougherty

Mme. Thénardier: Aymee Garcia

Marius: Tim Howar

Enjolras: Kevin Earley

Éponine: Sutton Foster

Cosette: Regan Thiel

Grantaire/Bamatabois: Trent Blanton

Young Cosette: Stephanie Mieko Cohen

Gavroche: Christopher Carlson

“Work Song,” “On Parole,” “Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven,” “Valjean’s Soliloquy”

Ivan Rutherford’s Valjean lives up to all my positive memories of the three times I saw him onstage. His voice is excellent for the role: bright, rich and mellow, yet with a hint of grit that suits the convict, and effortlessly capable of both sweetness and power. Acting-wise, he’s subtler than some other convict-Valjeans, but still portrays a fully realized, nuanced and engaging character. Other actors are more aggressive to Javert and more visibly ecstatic on “Freedom is mine…” but Ivan’s portrayal seems a bit truer to Hugo’s Valjean, who was always a quiet, self-contained man and whose hardening from his years in prison makes him even less inclined to show emotion. Yet his anger becomes clear with his increasingly fearsome responses when others reject him. The growing darkness in him is evident when he shouts at the innkeeper’s wife, especially with how delicate, polite and frightened she’s portrayed as being. Then at the Bishop’s house we see him disturbingly become “a thief in the night,” as he plots the theft of the silver in a sneering, calculating tone, and then bows his head before the Bishop in feigned abject gratitude, only to steal the silver with a sneaky, quietly growled “…flight!” rather than a wild shout. The theft definitely feels like a premeditated, malevolent act rather than an impulsive, desperate one. Yet he still conveys sympathy-earning vulnerability too, with the abject, beaten dog-like fear he shows when the Bishop first approaches him and when he thinks he’s about to be sent back to the galleys. And at the end, he gives us a truly impassioned Soliloquy, full of rage, anguish, confusion, and ultimate determination to change.

Stephen Bishop was my first Javert and his performance here is exactly the way I remember him. Tall and imposing, with a rich, robust baritone voice, and just the right attitude of dignified condescension. Well I remember his snide, disdainful “No” in response to Valjean’s ‘Yes, it means I’m free!” I remember that Arlene C. Harris, the author of the Les Misérables sequel series Pont-au-Change, wrote in her review of this cast that his Javert was too smug, too much like ‘Gaston (from Beauty and the Beast) in a police uniform,” and I’ll admit I can see a little of that here. But at the same time, he’s very professional and avoids needless aggression. He’s the only Javert I’ve seen so far who doesn’t intimidate Valjean with his nightstick on “Do not forget me, 20601!” and despite his disdain, he hands Valjean his yellow passport in a civil way, not playing the games with it (e.g. smacking it against his chest, pulling it out of his reach at first, or dropping it for him to pick up) that other actors do.

The Bishop has a very nice voice and gentle, serene bearing, though he doesn’t make as strong an impression as some others.

The 3rd National Tour was always known for its outstanding ensemble and they do indeed seem excellent so far. One thing that stands out for me, though, is their subtlety. They don’t do too much shouting when Valjean turns aggressive, nor treat him with too much physical brutality. Compared to some other productions in more recent years, the crowd scenes are definitely understated here. But it works: sometimes less is more. That said, the warders in Toulon have a more brutal edge than in some other productions, noticing every time a convict stops working and either kicking him or shoving him with a gun butt. Even later performances in this same tour toned that business down.

If I’m not mistaken, the short and stocky yet gorgeous-voiced convict who sings “The sun is strong…” is Randal Keith, who at the time would have been understudying Valjean, but later became the final Valjean of both this tour and the original Broadway production, as well as the first Valjean I ever saw in 2001.

“At the End of the Day,” “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Lovely Ladies”

Joan Almedilla was my first Fantine, and while she’ll never be my favorite in the role, I do like her. In its lower and middle registers, her voice is warm, sweet, and excellently suited to the role. Unfortunately, when she belts in the upper register, her tone becomes nasal and strident, and this annoying quality becomes more pronounced as Fantine falls into poverty and disgrace. Still, her Fantine is solidly sung and effectively acted. After a soft-spoken, frightened factory scene, she vividly depicts Fantine’s tragic transformation, infusing “I Dreamed a Dream” with raw anguish and desperation, and then endures her slow degradation through “Lovely Ladies” until it culminates in her pitifully gagging from the strong drink the ladies give her and desperately stumbling into her laughing client’s arms, the re-emerging to sing a truly fierce, bitter final verse, her former ladylike manner gone. My only quibble about her acting is that, apart from holding her chest/stomach as if in pain (although that’s something, at least), she doesn’t do much to convey her declining health.

I like the way she kisses her locket after “He filled my days with endless wonder.” It shows that the locket was a gift from Tholomyes and makes the fact that she still wears it symbolize her dream that someday he’ll come back to her, which she renounces once and for all when she sells it.

Ivan’s Valjean has excellent new dignity in his brief appearance as Monsieur Madeleine.

The ensemble work is once again outstanding. The Foreman is just as imposing and nasty as he should be, while the Factory Girl is excellent in her initial feigned friendliness as she first peers at Fantine’s letter and in her true venom as she reveals her secret. The poor sick whore in “Lovely Ladies” seems genuinely agonized and the Pimp is a nasty piece of work, grabbing her by the hair to force her to keep selling.

You’ll notice a certain tall, thin young woman whom the camera subtly yet repeatedly focuses on, particularly during “Old men, young men, take ‘em as they come…” where she’s the fierce-looking whore in yellow striking an animalistic pose on the ground. That’s a pre-stardom Sutton Foster, whom we’ll see later in this performance as Éponine.

“Fantine’s Arrest,” “The Runaway Cart,” “Who Am ?” Joan’s Fantine is still compelling, even though her voice still tends to sound nasal. Her fear of Bamatabois and her screams of pain as he abuses her are heartrending, as are her pleas to Javert and her anguish over Cosette, but she also shows spirit and ferocity when she fights Bamatabois off and in her furious “M’sieur, don’t mock me now, I pray!” Yet again, though, she doesn’t make any real attempt to seem sick until she faints as the constables pick her up. Although I notice that just before that happens, she reaches out her hand – possibly implying that she’s already slipped into delirium and seeing Cosette. Trent’s Bamatabois is excellently nasty. The way he erotically strokes Fantine’s arm but then roughly yanks her to him makes it clear why she wants to escape, and his subsequent throwing her around and grabbing her by the hair is brutal.Stephen’s Javert still sings with a handsome, imposing baritone voice and cuts an appropriately stern, stolid figure. Ivan’s Valjean is dignified and generally reserved at this point, but still believable. It’s interesting that on “…that I am not your man?” he holds out his hands for Javert to handcuff then and there if he sees fit. His “Who Am I?” is excellently sung and conveys his inner turmoil subtly yet convincingly. By the way, is it just me, or does he look a little bit like Ernest Hemingway? Of course this is irrelevant to his portrayal of Valjean, but I just happened to notice it.

“Fantine’s Death,” “Confrontation,” “Castle on a Cloud”

Joan’s Fantine is poignant to the end. I like that she doesn’t lie still at the beginning, but turns feebly yet restlessly from side to side: it enhances our sense of her pain and delirium. Her deathbed desperation to ensure Cosette’s future is vivid and moving.

Ivan and Stephen’s “Confrontation” is very effective, with both initially remaining calm and dignified, but the tension on both sides gradually growing until it literally bursts when Valjean smashes the chair. They both sing outstandingly too. I also like the way Valjean’s threatening Javert with the chair leg is handled – instead of being intimidated, Javert just points his nightstick right back at Valjean, and for a moment they stand frozen in “Who will strike first?” tension. But then Valjean lowers the chair leg as if he suddenly feels ashamed of himself and is now choosing to be the bigger man and avoid needless violence. Unfortunately, though, Javert won’t let him avoid necessary violence.

The video skips ahead to “Castle on a Cloud” just as Valjean and Javert start to fight, so we don’t see Valjean knock Javert out and escape, or the scene change where our last sight of Fantine’s body is juxtaposed with out first sight of Young Cosette. I’m not sure if this is a technological error or if the filmmaker did it on purpose to make the scene change more cinematic. It looks more like the latter, though.

Stephanie Mieko Cohen’s Young Cosette is an appropriately sweet, delicate waif with an adorable little voice.

Aymee Garcia is a physically and vocally imposing Mme. Thénardier whose bullying of Cosette and cooing over Young Éponine are spot-on. I’m glad she was my first. (This is a recurring theme in this performance – by the time I first saw the show in 2001, the tour had a new Valjean, Marius, Éponine, Cosette and Enjolras, but Javert, Fantine and both Thénardiers were the same.)

“Master of the House,” “Well Scene” and “The Bargain/Waltz of Treachery”

Now we reach the Thénardiers’ Act I comedy showcase scenes with the first Thénardiers I ever saw.

By this performance, J.P. Dougherty had been playing Thénardier in this tour for over ten years and he would stay another two years before finally leaving. I remember from the reviews I read as a new fan that many tour followers were thoroughly sick of his performance by the end of his run. Fortunately, I only saw him in the role once, so I can still appreciate what he does with the role. I’ll admit that compared to other Thénardiers he’s a bit lacking in energy (maybe back in 1989 and ‘90 he would have had more), but he still manages to be funny and colorful without overacting – at least apart from his goofy high-pitched wail after “Like our own, M’sieur!”

As for another complaint that reviewers sometimes aimed at his Thénardier, that he was too comic and lacking in evil vibes, I don’t think that’s a problem so far. While of course Thénardier needs to become more sinister in the later Paris scenes, I think a genuinely amiable facade is entirely fitting at first. To a lesser extent the same is true for his wife. We should believe that Fantine could have trusted this couple to take care of her precious daughter, even if we can see how slimy they really are.

Aymee’s Mme. Thénardier is excellent. Brash, crude and funny, with a big, rich, attention-grabbing voice.

Ivan’s Valjean continues to make a great impression. He knows full well that the Thénardiers are conning him and offers excellent annoyed expressions and deadpan line delivery, as well as a flash of his temper when he slams the money onto the table after Mme. T.’s verse. Yet he’s so tender and sings so sweetly with little Cosette, and his big, hearty laugh and beaming smile as he spins her around at the end is infectious. He’s truly ecstatic to become her father.

It’s nice to hear the complete preamble to “Master of the House,” especially the subsequently-cut lines about Thénardier at Waterloo.

“Look Down,” “The Robbery,” “Stars,” “Éponine’s Errand”

Comparing this video to a video I shared in the past of the same year’s London cast performing “Look Down” and “The Robbery,” I can definitely see the ways in which the London production was subtly darker and more intense than the US tour. The beggars here don’t seem as harsh or as quick to turn on each other, the pimp doesn’t abuse the prostitute when he breaks up her fight with the old beggar woman, Éponine’s entrance has her cheerfully palling around with Gavroche instead of fighting off Montparnasse’s advances (although she and Montparnasse do have such a moment off to the side later), and Marius only jostles Cosette when he bumps into her, whereas in London he knocked her down. Not that this production feels tame in any way; it doesn’t. But there’s still a clear difference.

Christopher Carlson’s Gavroche is fine, but he doesn’t have quite as much character in his voice as I’d like to hear. He sings strongly and acts well enough, but he’s just a little bit nondescript.

Kevin Earley’s Enjolras commands instant attention with his rich, powerful baritone voice. His tone is slightly reminiscent of Michael Maguire, but decidedly less trumpeting and more elegant. Between his singing, his dignified ardor, and (on a shallower note) his good looks and Hugo-accurate curly blond hair, he definitely makes a strong first impression.

I like the touch of his giving a coin to a beggar woman on the bridge. It shows that Enjolras is no poseur or detached idealist, but striving to help the poor here and now as well as fighting for a better future for them.

Eighteen years before his controversial Phantom of the Opera, Tim Howar makes a likeable first impression as Marius, with his darkly shaded, gentle yet rich voice, and his warm interactions with Éponine and newfound passion for Cosette. The fact that he’s a fairly short man alongside a 5′9″ Éponine lets them add some fresh humor to their exchange in “The Robbery,” with her holding his book high above her head, out of his reach, until he makes her let it go by tickling her stomach, and to “Éponine’s Errand,” when he kneels before her to beg her to find Cosette, only for her to effortlessly and unsentimentally yank him to his feet. Of course Hugo’s class-conscious Marius and Éponine would never be so physically forward with each other, but in the musical it’s endearing.

This brings us to the person who, for many viewers, is undoubtedly this video’s raison d’etre: Sutton Foster as Éponine. Right away it’s no surprise that of all the cast members here, she’s become the biggest star. First of all, there’s her gorgeous voice. Then there’s her fully believable acting. Her Éponine is a true street urchin: tough, scrappy, intelligent, cheeky and playful, yet with brooding moments when she’s alone, and with (thus far) subtle hints of pathos yet not a trace of syrup. I like that she seems to deliver “Little he knows, little he sees” with a bittersweet smile: she wishes he returned her love, but is still happy just to know him and be his friend. The real angst will only come when he falls in love with someone else.

J.P. and Aymee still do a good job as the Thénardiers, although some of the others in other videos I’ve shared of this scene have been more distinctive.

Even though it doesn’t get a closeup, I notice one detail that I remember reading about in reviews of this cast. Regan Thiel’s Cosette doesn’t passively let Marius shield her from Montparnasse during the robbery, but struggles to break free from his protective arms and run back to her imperiled father. At one point she has both her feet kicking in the air!

Last but far from least, Stephen’s Javert is still as stern, imposing, driven and rich-voiced as ever. The dark lighting in “Stars” unfortunately makes him hard to see on camera during his own solo, but we can hear him perfectly well, and his sumptuous, impassioned baritone gives us a magnificent rendition of the song.

“The ABC Café/Red and Black,” “Do You Hear the People Sing?” “In My Life”

Whenever Kevin’s Enjolras and Ben Davis’s Feuilly are in the same shot, I can’t help but think “Look, twins!” If I hadn’t already known that Ben was Kevin’s understudy, I would have probably guessed it from their similar curly blond hair. Since the actor playing Joly also looks similar to Tim’s Marius, whom he would have understudied, I assume whoever chose this cast had firm ideas of what they wanted both Enjolras and Marius to look like.

Kevin is a natual-born Enjolras. Idealistic, dignified yet passionate, stern yet devoted to his friends, handsome and Antinous-like in appearance, and with a gorgeous baritone voice. His sound combines some of the earthy power of Michael Maguire’s with some of the elegance of Anthony Warlow’s, so if you’ve always thought your ideal Enjolras would combine the traits of both, look no further. I also notice that as he goes around the café and sings, he touches his friends more than any other Enjolras I can remember. So many shoulder pats! It’s a small detail, but it does enhance the sense of intimacy between Enjolras and his friends, making him more than just an aloof idealist without detracting from his dignity.

Trent Blanton’s Grantaire is deliciously wild. The audience gives him a good laugh, and rightfully so, when he opts to perch on the back of Marius’s chair and drape his whole body over Marius on “I am agog, I am aghast…” Then we get the infamous “Don Juan” business, first with the rolled-up paper, then with the wine bottle, both of which are snatched away in turn by an embarrassed, indignant Marius while all his friends applaud.

Tim’s Marius is endearingly earnest and serious about his new passion in “Red and Black,” and then overwhelmed with joy when Cosette is finally within his sight. A bit too much so, as when Éponine is taking a moment to look at her former foster-sister through the gate, he inconsiderately grabs her and pulls her out of the way so he can gaze at Cosette himself. As Hugo said, love makes a man forget both to be evil and to be good. At least he means well, as a moment later he pours out his gratitude to Éponine and gleefully spins her around.

As far as I know, Regan was the first blonde Cosette in a replica production. I can only assume that a brown wig wouldn’t have suited her complexion. It’s a little bit strange to see her after both Fantine and Young Cosette were not only both brunette, but both Asian. Still, she does a fine job in the role. Her voice is a sweet, pretty soprano, although her vibrato is slightly heavy and her high notes are ever-so-slightly strident, and she fully inhabits the character, portraying her with a gentle, earnest demeanor, yet with spirit too, brimming with yearning and excitement for her new love, and convincingly angry and frustrated on “In my life, I’m no longer a child…” yet without being bratty.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: I don’t care much for the way Ivan angrily grabs Cosette’s shoulders on “You will learn!” His Valjean always did this no matter when or where he performed the role. Still, it is clear how deeply he cares for her, and the warm, earnest way he grasps her hand on “There are words that are better unheard…” shows that he doesn’t want just to shut her down, but to make her understand that his secrets are for her own good. The shoulder-grab is just a burst of desperation when she persists.

Sutton’s Éponine is beautifully poignant in her few lines, and the ensemble work is excellent, as always.

“A Heart Full of Love,” “Attack on Rue Plumet,” “One Day More”

I remember from the reviews I read as a middle schooler that Tim and Regan’s Marius and Cosette were a much-beloved pairing. Not least because they were dating in real life, although it didn’t last long after they left the show. (Tim’s eventual first wife was another beloved Les Mis alumna – Ruthie Henshall.) At any rate, they offer a lovely rendition of their romantic duet: gentle, earnest, full of sweet disbelief and subtle rapture, and beautifully sung.

Sutton’s Éponine is touching in her quiet heartache,then beautifully fierce and powerful as she defends the Rue Plumet house from her father and the gang. I love the way she leaps onto Thénardier’s back to stop him from reaching the gate, and her raw, screechy scream is an epic moment.

It’s nice to see Éponine’s subsequently-cut exchange with Montparnasse. It’s certainly a good character moment for this Montparnasse (Matt Clemens, I think), who seemingly considers it perfectly normal to grope Éponine with his knife to her throat while talking about a completely different subject.

J.P. does an excellent job of shedding the amiable facade of his earlier scenes and showing us Thénardier’s ruthlessness. At first he plays the affectionate father he always has on “Éponine, get on home…” but when Éponine rebels, he shows his true colors as he yanks her away from the gate by her belt and snarls “Don’t interfere!” and then in the horrifying moment when he slaps her to the ground.

Kudos to Ivan for how panicked he sounds on “My God, Cosette! I heard a cry in the dark!” That’s the true voice of a father who thinks his child is in danger!

Unless I’m mistaken, Brujon is Randal Keith – my first Valjean a year after this performance. I think he’s also the unnamed student who carries Gavroche on his shoulder in “One Day More” (let’s say it’s Bahorel, though he wouldn’t have been credited as such).

“One Day More” is exhilarating, just as it should be.

#les mis #les miserables #performance review #bootleg #video #us tour #3rd national tour #musical #act i #2000 #los angeles #ivan rutherford #stephen bishop #joan almedilla #j.p. dougherty #aymee garcia #kevin earley #tim howar #sutton foster #regan thiel #trent blanton #complete performance

[msweebyness]

Class of Heroes(&General): My OC’s

A while back, I was looking through some old stuff of mine and found two of my favorite OC’s. I’ve decided to incorporate them into Class of Heroes, and have permission from Sparky to add them to Class of Villainy. (@imsparky2002 @artzychic27)

Jesse Ortega:

Appearance: A boy of Latino descent, average height, grey eyes with a ghost eye and shaggy brown hair styled in a short mullet. Very casual style, jeans and hoodies with a T-shirt for some play.

Personality: Part of the theatre group at DuPont, typically working as a stage manager. Generally very nice…if more than a little neurotic. He has a need for things to go right, often spiraling when they don’t. A longtime friend of Mylene’s with a crush on her, though he respects her relationship with Ivan. He also has trouble trusting and connecting with people, due to the abuse he suffered from his father.

Class of Heroes: Prince Florian. A prince from a kingdom that neighbors Mylene’s, met her when they were young and fell for her. Was disappointed when he arrived at DuPont and found she was already in love, but is content to be her friend.

Class of Villainy: An eel-hybrid who has known Mylensula since he was a child, due to their parents’ friendship. Has a huge crush on her, though he keeps it a secret out of fear of what the boogieman may do to him!

Missy Rutherford:

Appearance: On the shorter side, tanned Caucasian skin, chin-length dirty blonde hair with bangs that she clips back. Narrow hazel eyes, has a chip in one of her front teeth from a diving accident. Slight punk style, chains and a few spikes, but with bright colors.

Personality: Ondine’s best friend since childhood, on the swim team with her. Has a bit of a chip on her shoulder, always has a sarcastic comment ready. She doesn’t warm up to people quickly, and is quite protective of Ondine. It took her a while to accept Kim, though she still busts his balls whenever possible.

Class of Heroes: Flounder. AriOndine’s best friend, a guppy with an attitude. Not as fearful as Flounder, and is quite protective of her. Still tries to help her as much as possible, though she can’t leave the water.

Class of Villainy: LeOnDine’s best friend, a Tiger Shark hybrid, though their relationship has taken a tense turn recently. Firmly on the heroes side, despite her intimidating appearance, she hates Kimton’s guts and the feeling is mutual. Wishes LeOnDine would wake up and realize she can do better!

#miraculous ladybug #class of heroes #class of villainy #mlb ocs

[recentanimenews]

Star Trek: Lower Decks – 08 – Out of the Space Loop

Hoo boy, this was one extra-stuffed, extra-caffeinated episode of Lower Decks! We begin by being thrown into an unknown situation with the core quartet: a sinister dungeon, then an alien trial on K’Tuevon Prime in which they are apparently being forced to testify against the senior staff.

One by one, they must speak into a Horn of Truth about the events of a specific stardate, starting with Mariner, who regales the court of a day when she and Boimler are late for bridge duty and have no idea what’s going on, only that the aliens they’re dealing with consider gratitude an insult.

Unsatisfied with her testimony, the aliens suspend Mariner over a vat of eels. Rutherford is next, and one would think his cybernetically-enhanced memory would be perfect, that is not the case as on that particular stardate his implants were undergoing constant system updates that caused multiple blackouts.

Everytime he comes to, it’s in a totally different situation. One minute he’s in a Cerritos corridor, then on a stolan Vulcan warp shuttle, then a kind of starship museum, then in outer space clinging to the hull of a cloaked Romulan Bird-of-Prey, and finally at a Gorn wedding.

Needless to say, Rutherford gets suspended over the eels along with Mariner, and it’s up to Tendi to tell her story. She was the assigned cleaner of the conference room when Ransom and a team of handpicked commandoes are briefed on a top secret mission. Ransom wrongly assumes Tendi is a cleaner cleaner, as in part of their covert operation.

The op unfolds as follows: they use the stolen Bird-of Prey acquired by Rutherford & Co. to slip past Warbird patrols, transport down to Romulus, and retrieve a secret “package”. Tendi shows off some Trek Fu on some Romulan guards, and the team manages to get out without detection.

Having failed to get what he wants, the alien consigns Tendi to the vat and all three are dumped in. That’s when Boimler saves them by telling the court that they are Lower Decks, the senior officers almost never fill them in on what’s going on, so they truthfully don’t have the info he wants.

Boimler goes even further to state that oftentimes even the senior staff doesn’t know what’s going on, such as whenever Q(!) shows up. But that’s okay, part of Starfleet’s mission of exploration is facing the unknown and…muddling through.

But it turns out this isn’t an alien trial at all…but a party, held by Magistrate Klar to honor the senior staff for rescuing him from Romulan captivity. As is the case with all Lower Decks episodes, it’s a subversion of the old Trek trope. Back on the Cerritos, Freeman promises to do a better job of briefing the Lower Decks, but as Mariner aptly puts it, “knowing things means more work”, so it’s probably better to keep things need-to-know!

So yeah, there was a lot going on this week—almost too much for 24 minutes—but it was still a hell of a fun ride, and the trial/party conceit held together all the loosely connected vignettes well enough.

Stray Observations:

The design of the “party silo” is heavily influenced by the Klingon courtroom in Star Trek VI.

There’s a mention of Roga Danar, a supersoldier from the TNG episode “The Hunted.”

Mariner warns Boimler if they wash out of Starfleet they’ll end up on Earth where all there is to do is drink wine (at Chateau Picard) and eat soul food (at Sisko’s dad’s New Orleans bistro).

Boimler suggests a Crazy Ivan, which is really more of a Submarine thing.

Shaxs warns about a Denobulan parasite that infects the peen from the same planet as Dr. Phlox on Star Trek Enterprise.

Tons of Trek ship references this week. The Vulcan museum contains Starfleet shuttles from both TOS and TNG, the Vulcan ship from First Contact, the timeship Aeon from the 29th century, a Klingon battlecruiser, a yellow Work Bee, a Ferengi shuttle, and a Jem’hadar attack ship.

The shuttle they use to airdrop into the museum is a Vulcan Warp Shuttle of the exact kind that transported Spock to the Enterprise in The Motion Picture.

Rutherford is asked to distract the guards with the “fan dance”, last performed on screen by Uhura on Nimbus III in Star Trek V. He really should be nude when he’s doing it.

The eels in the vat sound just like the Ceti Eels Khan uses to control minds in The Wrath of Khan.

Dr. Crusher’s ghost lamp pertains to the very bad TNG episode “Sub Rosa”.

Q shows up! Voiced by the inimitable John de Lancie. Love how he adds a little more floridness to his animated Q.

Klar is voiced by another Trek guest star, Kurtwood Smith. Known primarily for That 70s Show, he was the Federation President in Star Trek VI and Annorax in “Year of Hell”, my personal favorite Voyager two-parter. If he was going to yell “DUMBASS!” in a Trek episode, this would have been it. Alas…

When the guy tells Klar he only paid for the party silo for 22 minutes, exactly 22 minutes of time had passed in the episode.

By: sesameacrylic

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

[wutbju]

Dr. L. Vern Hoyt, 83, passed away October 7, 2020. Congratulations, Dad, you have finally exceeded your doctorate degree. Well done thou good and faithful servant! A native of Sturgis, Michigan, Dr. Hoyt was the son of the late Dick and Myrtle Hoyt. A U.S. Army veteran, he worked as a school administrator in Michigan and North Carolina before becoming a proud member of the team at Bob Jones University Press. Dr. Hoyt was a member of Trinity Bible Church. Surviving are his wife of sixty years, Marlean Hoyt of the home; one son, Jeff Hoyt (Dorcas) of Moore; two daughters, Jodi Retherford (John) of Lyman and Cathi Griffith of Greenville; two brothers, Carl and Jim Hoyt (Mary) both of California; two sisters, Mary MacPherson of North Carolina and Jane Sherburn (Ivan) of Illinois; ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by one daughter, Cheryl Horn. Funeral services will be held at 12:00 noon Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at Trinity Bible Church, 205 N Suber Road, Greer, SC 29651, conducted by Dr. Greg Mazak. Private burial services will be held at M.J. Dolly Cooper Veterans Cemetery in Anderson, SC with military honors. Visitation will be held prior to the service, 10:30 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. Tuesday at the church. The family respectfully requests memorials be made to The Wilds Christian Camp, 3201 Rutherford Rd, Taylors, SC 29687.

#Bob Jones University #Obituary #BJU Alumni Association #BJU Hall of Fame #Vern Hoyt #BJU Press Representative #The WILDS #Trinity Bible Church #Greg Mazak

[tasksweekly]

[TASK 182: NAURU]

In celebration of January 31st being Nauruan Independence Day, here’s a masterlist below compiled of over 140+ Nauruan faceclaims categorised by gender with their occupation and ethnicity denoted if there was a reliable source. If you want an extra challenge use random.org to pick a random number! Of course everything listed below are just suggestions and you can pick whichever faceclaim or whichever project you desire.

Any questions can be sent here and all tutorials have been linked below the cut for ease of access! REMEMBER to tag your resources with #TASKSWEEKLY and we will reblog them onto the main! This task can be tagged with whatever you want but if you want us to see it please be sure that our tag is the first five tags, @ mention us or send us a messaging linking us to your post!

THE TASK - scroll down for FC’s!

STEP 1: Decide on a FC you wish to create resources for! You can always do more than one but who are you starting with? There are links to masterlists you can use in order to find them and if you want help, just send us a message and we can pick one for you at random!

STEP 2: Pick what you want to create! You can obviously do more than one thing, but what do you want to start off with? Screencaps, RP icons, GIF packs, masterlists, PNG’s, fancasts, alternative FC’s - LITERALLY anything you desire!

STEP 3: Look back on tasks that we have created previously for tutorials on the thing you are creating unless you have whatever it is you are doing mastered - then of course feel free to just get on and do it. :)

STEP 4: Upload and tag with #TASKSWEEKLY! If you didn’t use your own screencaps/images make sure to credit where you got them from as we will not reblog packs which do not credit caps or original gifs from the original maker.

THINGS YOU CAN MAKE FOR THIS TASK -  examples are linked!

Stumped for ideas? Maybe make a masterlist or graphic of your favourite faceclaims. A masterlist of names. Plot ideas or screencaps from a music video preformed by an artist. Masterlist of quotes and lyrics that can be used for starters, thread titles or tags. Guides on culture and customs.

Screencaps

RP icons [of all sizes]

Gif Pack [maybe gif icons if you wish]

PNG packs

Manips

Dash Icons

Character Aesthetics

PSD’s

XCF’s

Graphic Templates - can be chara header, promo, border or background PSD’s!

FC Masterlists - underused, with resources, without resources!

FC Help - could be related, family templates, alternatives.

Written Guides.

and whatever else you can think of / make!

MASTERLIST!

F:

Joanne Gobure (1982) Nauruan - poet.

Millenia Finch (1999) Nauruan - model and Miss Nauru 2019.

F - Athletes:

Denise Ephraim (1971) Nauruan - sprinter.

Janice Degia (1974) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Sheeva Peo (1976) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Trudy Duburiya (1976) Nauruan - sprinter.

Wenona Steven (1978) Nauruan - sprinter.

Reanna Solomon (1981) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Mary Diringa (1983) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Angelita Detudamo (1986) Nauruan - tennis player.

Sheba Deireragea (1986) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Olympia Zacharias (1986) Nauruan - sprinter.

Suzanne Hiram (1987) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Arrora Depaune (1988) Nauruan - high jumper.

Nina Grundler (1989) Nauruan - hamer thrower, discus thrower, and shot putter.

Rosa Mystique Jones (1990) Nauruan - sprinter and discus thrower.

Lovelite Detenamo (1993) Nauruan - sprinter.

Thrixeena Akua (1994) Nauruan - sprinter.

Lanja Fritz (1995) Nauruan - sprinter.

Faylani Grundler (1998) Nauruan - long-distance runner.

Liebon Akua (1998) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Charisma Amoe-Tarrant (1999) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Chanana Jeremiah (2000) Nauruan - shot putter and discus thrower.

Melanie Ribauw (2001) Nauruan - long-distance runner.

Ricci Daniel (2002) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Maximina Uepa (2002) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Juliet Uera (?) Nauruan - sprinter.

Belista Hartmann (?) Nauruan - medium-distance runner.

Micheala Detenamo (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Ebonette Deigaeruk (?) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Febony Detenamo (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Madrina Denuga (?) Nauruan - javelin thrower.

Damaris Porte (?) Nauruan - medium-distance runner.

Hanna Olsson (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Bianca Ika (?) Nauruan - long-distance runner.

Janet Hubert (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

M:

Cramer Cain (?) Nauruan - actor.

M - Athletes:

Joske Teabuge (1960) Nauruan - sprinter.

Rick Hiram (1965) Nauruan - sprinter.

Gerard Garabwan (1971) Nauruan - weightlifter.

David Temaki (1974) Nauruan - long-distance runner and medium-distance runner.

Fredrick Canon (1976) Nauruan - sprinter.

Tryson Duburiya (1976) Nauruan - sprinter.

Fine Olsson (1977) Nauruan - javelin thrower.

Cherico Detenamo (1978) Nauruan - sprinter.

Rodin Thoma (1979) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Edouwe Appin (1979) Nauruan - sprinter.

Isca Kam (1980) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Paner Baguga (1980) Nauruan - footballer and tennis player.

Robertson Temaki (1980) Nauruan - sprinter.

Mati Fusi (1982) Nauruan - footballer.

Jeremiah Rutherford (1982) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Marcus Cook (1982) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Renos Doweiya (1983) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Sled Dowabobo (1983) Nauruan - judoka.

Willen Dageago (1983) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Lad Agege (1984) Nauruan - boxer.

Yukio Peter (1984) Nauruan - weightlifter.

JJ Capelle / Jay Jay Capelle (1984) Nauruan - sprinter.

Bremner Adumur (1984) Nauruan - long-distance runner and medium-distance runner.

Quaski Itaia (1984) Nauruan - sprinter.

Ika Aliklik (1985) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Deamo Baguga (1986) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Jake Ageidu (1986) Nauruan - boxer.

Itte Detenamo (1986) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Joseph Deireragea (1988) Nauruan - boxer.

Ovini Uera (1988) Nauruan - judoka.

Colan Caleb (1989) Nauruan - boxer.

Magnum Deraudag (1989) Nauruan - triple jumper.

Val-John Starr (1989) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Maverik Kun (1989) Nauruan - wrestler.

Alopua Petoa (1990) Nauruan - footballer.

Dagiero Dagiero (1991) Nauruan - sprinter.

DJ Maaki (1992) Nauruan - boxer.

Lowe Bingham (1994) Nauruan - wrestler.

Elson Brechtefeld (1994) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Dysard Dageago (1994) Nauruan - sprinter.

Tom-Jaye Waibeiya (1995) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Yachen Cook (1996) Nauruan - boxer.

Rayvon Dekarube (1998) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Jonah Harris (1999) Nauruan - sprinter.

Larko Doguape (2000) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Christon Amram (2000) Nauruan - boxer.

Ezekiel Moses (2001) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Daiziel Detudamo (?) Nauruan - wrestler.

Karl Tabwia (?) Nauruan - long-distance runner.

Alfonse Deireragea (?) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Gemeneo Joramm (?) Nauruan - medium-distance runner.

Chris Rangidimi (?) Nauruan - weightlifter.

Ace Capelle (?) Nauruan - sprinter.

Tony Bowditch (?) Nauruan - long-distance runner and medium-distance runner.

Cazaly Jeremiah (?) Nauruan - weightlifter and rugby player.

Gerard Jones (?) Nauruan - hammer thrower, discus thrower, and weightlifter.

Felix Kepae (?) Nauruan - weightlifter and rugby player.

Eodogi Dekarube (?) Nauruan - volleyball player.

Karl Hartman (?) Nauruan - long-distance runner.

Zumi Doguape (?) Nauruan - volleyball player.

Ai Temaki (?) Nauruan - hurdler.

Kaairo Tiaon (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Jencke Jeremiah (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Marcus Detenamo (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Niga Haulangi (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Morrison Depaune (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Heine Kanimea (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Gavrick Mwareow (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Martin Detenamo (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Rotui Star (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

David Vorbach (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Kingson Akibwib (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Fallon Natano (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Dick Royce (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Richart Daoe (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Johnson Hiram (?) Nauruan - basketball player.

Rasmussen Dowabobo (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Abraham Eroni Itsimaera (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Charles Dagiaro (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Damon Ivorab Adeang (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Sherlock Denuga (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Zac Temaki / Zechariah Temaki (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Chamrock Agir (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Zacharias Detenamo (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Turner Peter Thoma (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Lloyd Mark Dero Vunipola (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Dean Kepae (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Kristidas Merike / Kristides Menke (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Ashly Scott Dagan Kaierua (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Junior Agiangang (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Vito Denuga / Denuga Vito (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Geronimo Ivan Daniel (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Jake Debao (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Romanus Hartman (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Myer Temaki (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Elkodawn Dagiaro (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Dunstall Harris (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Fulton Hogan Amram (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Kingstone Ika (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Lockett Mau (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Johnson Scotty (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Kane Solomon (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Otto Adam (?) Nauruan - rugby player.

Problematic:

Quincy Detenamo (1979) Nauruan - weightlifter. - Convicted of the murder of a sex worker.

#nauruan fc #pacific islander fc #poc fc #underused fc #fc list #task: 182 #task: nauru