According to broadwayworld.com, the casting for the movie version of Les Miserables is about wrapped up.
Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls) is being offered the role of Cosette, while…and I can’t believe I have to say this…
TAYLOR SWIFT is being offered the role of Eponine!
Man, I was worried this would happen. As I stated in my earlier post about this, it’s just NOT RIGHT. I am a fan of Taylor’s, but…we’re talking BROADWAY songs here! And not just Broadway songs, one of THE BEST songs in all of Broadway (On My Own)! And when someone like LEA MICHELE is in the running? COME ON!
But I DO understand why they would choose Taylor over Lea. Just based on the amount of FANS Taylor would attract can outshadow the level of vocal ability/talent for the role (Not only does Taylor not have the best voice, but she doesn’t have much acting experience either!). 
Although this IS a movie, so the vocals in the movie can definitely be “PERFECTED.” But STILL!
I’m so sad about this…
There’s been rumors floating around for quite a while…but it’s now official. Darren Criss will be doing a 3-week stint on Broadway!
Darren will be replacing Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe in Broadway’s How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at the Al Herschfield Theater from January 3-22, 2012.
Altho I’ve heard great things about Daniel in the role, I think Darren will do a great job! He’s perfect for Broadway ’cause he’s totally a triple threat — singing, dancing and acting. And I believe I read that this stint won’t interfere with his role on Glee (now that he’s a series regular).
Good for him! I do think this stint will bring in a more varied audience too…Darren is SO popular with all the Gleeks, I’m SURE a lot of them will go see this show JUST for Darren.
There has been so much talk about Lea Michele & Jonathan Groff being in Broadway’s Spring Awakening before doing Glee…Jonathan actually got nominated for a Tony for his performance in the show, and the show won Best Musical that year as well.
Anyway, thought you might want a little taste of Lea & Jonathan from the show. This is a performance that the cast did for the Tony Awards the year it was nominated. The clip starts off “all Lea,” with her singing one of the signature numbers from the show, “Mama Who Bore Me.” Lea’s pretty flawless…just love her voice. 
Jonathan gets a little solo later in the video.
I haven’t seen the show, but I have listened to the soundtrack. The music was written by Duncan Sheik, for those of you who know him from his pop solo days. The soundtrack’s a bit…different…but there are a few numbers that are quite oustanding (all of them featuring Lea of course ). The show got a lot of raves for its boldness and creativity, which you can actually pick out just from the musical numbers alone.
Here’s the video…Enjoy!
Here’s a short video interview with Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff talking about the transition from Broadway (they were the two lead stars in Spring Awakening) to Glee:
This is actually kind of an older video clip, but I never posted it. I feel it warrants being posted…as it’s QUITE AWESOME.
Lea Michele sang “On My Own” from Les Miserables at the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Dinner back in October. This is the same song that Rachel videotapes herself singing in the pilot of Glee. In my opinion, “On My Own” is one of the BEST Broadway solo songs…love it!
The performance was pretty much perfect…Lea’s voice is just amazing.
According to Idina Menzel’s husband, Taye Diggs (Private Practice), Idina Menzel (Wicked, Enchanted) would LOVE to be cast as Rachel’s (Lea Michele) biological mother on Glee.
HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE?!
First of all, they are both Broadway stars…I mean, HELLO…Rachel sang (awesomely BTW) “Defying Gravity,” which was Idina’s biggest (and best) number from Wicked. If that’s not already comparing, I don’t know what is…
Secondly…Umm…how much do they already LOOK ALIKE?! They totally could be related! Perfect casting!
OK, I’m jumping ahead because it’s not even a reality yet. But the fact that it’s out there…totally COULD HAPPEN.
TPTB need to MAKE THIS HAPPEN! If Lea & Idina could do a duet together on the show…I WOULD DIE. THAT WOULD BE SOOOO AWESOME!
Taye Diggs (Private Practice) and Idina Menzel (Private Practice, Enchanted, Broadway’s Wicked) are now parents to a baby boy!
People has reported that WALKER NATHANIEL DIGGS was born yesterday and is the first child for both.
Congrats to them!
Broadway really is popular with former American Idols…Now Syesha Mercado (came in 3rd on Season 7 (David Cook won)) has caught the bug. Syesha will be starring in Dreamgirls on Broadway…She’ll be playing the role of “Deena,” the role Beyonce played in the movie version.
I always said when she was on AI that she should really pursue the theatre/Broadway route…She matched it so well…her more “theatrical” numbers she did on Idol worked well for her. Good Luck to her! Hope she does well!
Most of you who know me know I’m a pretty big musical theater fan. Probably a big reason I was such an Adam Lambert fan. 
But anywho…The annual Tony Awards aired on CBS tonight. I watched most of the show, and usually every year the show is known for their live musical numbers. Most of the time, when I watch a performance from a show I don’t know…it’s hard to get into. Hard to relate to a show from just one number…
Tonight was an exception.
There was a performance by the cast of a new musical, Next To Normal. The show is about a woman dealing with depression and how it affects her family and how they deal with everything. Can you believe they made that storyline into a musical?! I couldn’t believe it either. But the performace…Wow.
I loved it so I had to post about it. Watch the video here. If you like musicals, you’d really appreciate it…It’s very worth watching! Very moving and emotional. Their voices blended so well with each other. Even if you’re not a huge musical fan, give it a try! The music they used in the background was so interesting…Didn’t necessarily match the whole premise but yet it worked. Hard to explain unless you watch it. I was really impressed at how much I liked it.
The woman in the performace, Alice Ripley, actually won the Tony tonight for Lead Actress in a Musical! She was awesome, and she has a great voice! The two men in the performance (especially the young guy) also had really great voices. Loved when they sang together. I’m actually really interested in this musical now…Gonna read up more on it and maybe even buy the soundtrack.
I’ve never been as impacted by an “unknown” performance like that in a long time…Just gave me more validation as to why I love Broadway.
Diana DeGarmo (Runner-Up on Season 3 with Fantasia) and Anthony Federov (4th on Season 4 with Carrie) are starring together in the Lyric Theatre’s 2009 summer season’s production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in Oklahoma City. Pretty cool that 2 idols are in it. Broadway shows/musicals are very popular with former idols. Those gigs work pretty well for them:
CLAY (Season 2): Spamalot!
FANTASIA (Season 3): The Color Purple
DIANA (Season 3): West Side Story, Hairspray and now Joseph…
CONSTANTINE (Season 4): Rock of Ages (he got a Tony nomination for this role this year…first idol to get a Tony nomination)
TAYLOR (Season 5): Grease
