Former Ameican Idol contestant Adam Lambert has slammed Les Misérables for using Hollywood actors for the musical, rather than actual singers. Adam took to his official Twitter account to say that he hates the fact that Hollywood musicals do not see the singing as a priority.
Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables poster
“Les Mis: Visually impressive w great Emotional performances. But the score suffered massively with great actors PRETENDING to be singers …it’s an opera. Hollywoods movie musicals treat the singing as the last priority. (Dreamgirls was good),” Adam wrote.
“Anne Hathaway as Fantine and [Aaron Tveit as] Enjolras were the exceptions for me,” he added. “Helena B Carter and Sacha B Cohen were great too.”
Scene from Les Misérables
“And I do think it was cool they were singing live- but with that cast, they should have studio recorded and sweetened the vocals. Eponine’s [Samantha Barks] voice was cool too…,” he continued. “I felt like I should ignore the vocals and focus on the emotional subtext- but the singing was so distracting at times it pulled me out. The industry will say 'these actors were so brave to attempt singing this score live' but why not cast actors who could actually sound good? Sorry for being so harsh but it’s so True!”
However, Adam Lambert soon backtracked when confronted by Evan Rachel Wood, who stated that the cast of Across the Universe sang live. He replied, “And that sounded Good!!! Ok yes, that’s another movie musical exception. That movie was on point. And U were stunning in it.”
What did you think about the singing in Les Misérables?
Les Misérables movie trailer
