Anne Hathaway Owes Me $14

[Gothampc]

Roo, LOL at that Youtube clip.

[Gothampc]

As Forbidden Broadway said: It's less miserable than other shows.

[sabrelady]

There are several actresses that could have blown Hathaway's performance right off the screen.


LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOL
a hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
e hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehhehehehehehhehehe

* stops bcoz can't...catch....breath.....*

[Jane2]

"There are several actresses that could have blown Hathaway's performance right off the screen."

Name a few. (I'm playing along)

[SporkGoddess]

Speaking of Forbidden Broadway, all I kept thinking of during "Bring Him Home" was "God It's High."

[iflip4musicals]

Roo that video is incredible!

[everythingtaboo]

Roo is my new favorite person.

[best12bars]

I posted it in the other thread, but his video really cracked me up.

Shared it on Facebook, too!

[Bettyboy72]

"See I didn't get that. I don't think she sustained the reflection long enough. All the lyrics about "I was young and unafraid, dream made, used, wasted, no ransom to be paid..." should all be reflection.

It's hard to reflect quietly when you sold your hair and teeth, have numerous STDs and some dude just busted a nut in you.

I think she handled the song well.

[best12bars]

What Bettyboy said.

[trentsketch]

I also think she totally overplayed the beginning of the song and had nowhere to go.

The problem, though, is the context of the song in the film. Moving it after Lovely Ladies makes a lot of sense in the narrative. It just kills the opportunity to do what others have done for years with the song. When the characters sings it after being fired, she has a chance for hope. She could never predict that she'd become a toothless, hairless whore. In the film, the only thing left is death. It's forces the song into a more morose place. Where do you find authentic levity in being a toothless, disease-ridden whore by the docks?

With all of that said, Hathaway did go straight for the tears. I don't know whose fault that is. Hooper's the one who thought a close-up was the right answer in the editing room for every solo (save On My Own and Empty Chairs at Empty Tables), but Hathaway's the one who put in gigantic pauses to cry some more in the middle of words and phrases in the second half of the song. I think there was room to play up the character as trapped in happier time at the beginning that would have made the ending more dynamic. It started at a 10/10 on the severely depressed scale and had nowhere to go when the song turns tragic.

[Auggie27]

The teeth. Those pulled teeth. I couldn't stop thinking about them, how could she?

[Gothampc]

trentsketch, thank you for your comment. I didn't think about the placement of the song, but you are right. I don't think the song is as effective when it comes after Lovely Ladies.

[Jane2]

So Goth, who are some of those other actresses who could blow Hathaway off the screen?

[FindingNamo]

I was going to pick that triple threat from SNL but then I remembered that was Anne Hathaway.

[OperaBwayLover]

*munches popcorn and watches/reads from the peanut gallery*

[Gothampc]

"So Goth, who are some of those other actresses who could blow Hathaway off the screen?"

Lea Michele

Sutton Foster

Katharine McPhee

The only actress I like in that list is Sutton Foster, but any one of the three would have known to hold the tears until "But there are dreams that can not be"

There's that musical bridge right before "I had a dream my life would be". That was put in there so Patti LuPone could catch her breath and summon the tears.

[SporkGoddess]

Katharine McPhee? Really?

[Gothampc]

I'm not a McPhee fan, but let's be honest, Fantine sings a power ballad and then dies. McPhee could have handled that.

[SporkGoddess]

Not with those dead eyes of hers, she couldn't.

[Gothampc]

"Not with those dead eyes of hers, she couldn't."

Because a hairless, toothless whore would have vibrant eyes?

[OperaBwayLover]

The problem with Lea Michele is she looks way too young to play Fantine, even though she's in her mid-twenties. Plus, diva behavior or not, I can't see her doing any of the stuff Hathaway did for the role- the drastic weight loss or haircut. Also, she closes her eyes way too much when she sings. I like my Fantines to keep their eyes open for the majority of their part. :-p

[Gothampc]

No, the problem with Lea Michele is that nobody would pay to drop their anchor in that harbor. Sort of like Barbra in Nuts.

[Gothampc]

"Speaking of Forbidden Broadway, all I kept thinking of during "Bring Him Home" was "God It's High."

I always liked "Rich folks pay twenty bucks a shirt...that has a starving pauper on it."

[goldenboy]

I'd like to get my 9 bucks back (went to a matinee)
I think its Mr. Hooper that owes me the 9!
Thought it was so dull. Left after one hour and 15 minutes.
Everyone seemed so ..well. miserable. Even Master of the House
was a downer. I know it was the French Revolution.. but you are telling me no one was happy?? Not even Marie Antoinette eating cake? Or 15 minutes with one of those whores??? And all this for a loaf of bread? Pleae!!!! Get over it. Awful musical. Not since Man of La Mancha.

[henrikegerman]

Goth, judging Hathaway's I Dreamed A Dream in the context of the show, I might agree with you that she began the song where it ends. But it comes in the movie at a very different point in her life than it does in the show. Unlike in the show, she has already been, not only fired, but totally debased. Given all of that, the beginning of the song is a very different moment than it usually is. Had Hathaway performed the start of the song as it usually performed it would have been a flat out lie. She performs it in reference to the moment before the song starts as that moment was conceived for the film. And she's quite brilliant.