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Saturday
06/01/2002 9:31:25pm |
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Name: |
Cory Patrick Vaughn |
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E-Mail: |
cpbaritenor@yahoo.com |
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Homepage Title: |
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Homepage URL: |
http:// |
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Where are you from?: |
Louisville, KY |
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Referred By: |
Just Surfed On In |
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Comments: |
Warner Bros, I appeal to
your sense of history. Forty years ago, you released one of the best
movie musicals ever, THE MUSIC MAN. You could have had bigger names, but
you went with the original, Robert Preston. It was the right move; a
legendary performance caught on film for a whole new generation.
Two years later, you released MY FAIR LADY and instantly started messing
it up. Cary Grant as Higgins; James Cagney as Dolittle? I'm sure it
seemed a compromise at the time to go with the original stars, Rex
Harrison and Stanley Holloway, but history has shown that again, you did
the right thing - albeit by accident. The performance that has gotten
the worst reputation over the years, in fact, was that of weepy, winey
(and yes, dubbed) Audrey Hepburn.
Now I understand you have purchased Andrew Lloyd Webber's PHANTOM OF THE
OPERA with the intention of placing Antonio Banderas in the title role.
I say, look to your laurels.
While I applaud Mr. Banderas' interest in pursuing his love of music and
the courage he showed in EVITA, I remind you that that film was not
successful and is all but forgotten now. I also saw Mr. Banderas perform
"The Phantom of the Opera" for Lord Lloyd Webber's fiftieth birthday
celebration. He cannot hit the high notes, nor pronounce the words
accurately. The only thing he has going for him as the Phantom is his
gaze, chilling at first, then tiresome in its monotony; and those lines
at the end were spoken with almost amateurish camp.
Not only would his appearance in PHANTOM alienate the film's target
audience, but the character's lack of screen time would make Banderas'
own body of fans feel cheated because they did not see enough of him!
And do you really think they want their hero rendered unrecognizable
under a ton of prosthetics and a mask?
If you feel a big name is necessary to the success of the film, the
logical thing to do would be to give the more visible roles of Christine
and Raoul to bigger stars. While I remain convinced that there is no
better Raoul than Michael Ball, recall that Ewan McGregor gave a
brilliant performance in last year's groundbreaking MOULIN ROUGE and his
enormous fanbase is already climbing the walls to hear his beautiful
voice again. For Christine, my personal choice would be Kelli Rabke of
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, LES MISERABLES, CHILDREN
OF EDEN, THE WIZARD OF OZ, etc. or Rebecca Luker of MUSIC MAN, THE
SECRET GARDEN, SHOWBOAT, THE SOUND OF MUSIC and yes, PHANTOM, but how
about Jean Louisa Kelly, of tv's YES, DEAR, who did her own effective
singing in MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS and THE FANTASTICKS? Then again, there was
nothing wrong with the idea of making it a vehicle for young Charlotte
Church. And although Sarah Brightman is visibly mature for Christine,
based on what I heard from recent albums and videos, it wouldn't be a
bad idea to give her a special appearance, in the spirit of the stage
production, as Carlotta!
As for the Phantom, I cannot tell you anything about Michael Crawford -
either his soaring singing voice or his utter authority in the role -
that you have not heard before, but look at Brando in THE GODFATHER and
Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, both of whom won Oscars for creating
legends of the cinema in limited screen time. Michael did the same
onstage again and again in PHANTOM, and I can guarantee you that you
will have another legendary performance to add to Warner Bros' treasure
chest if he is reinstated as your leading man. If not him, I suggest his
Australian counterpart, Anthony Warlow, or the current Phantom on the
National Tour, Ted Keegan, both of whom received raves.
Finally, I appeal to you, Andrew Lloyd Webber. You have given us some of
the greatest masterpieces of the musical stage in JESUS CHRIST
SUPERSTAR, EVITA and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Yet your works have never
been successful on film. Norman Jewison's filming of SUPERSTAR is
remarkable only for Carl Anderson's brilliant portrayal of Judas; Ted
Neeley is weak as Jesus, Yvonne Elliman annoying as Mary, the narrative
too abstract and your score (your best ever) was sliced. Alan Parker's
EVITA featured a miscast Madonna alongside an admittedly dynamic
Banderas and an excellent Jonathon Pryce, but the lip-synching was
embarassingly obvious and the best musical passages were transposed.
I've always thought, sir, that PHANTOM marked an objectionable turning
point in your career: over were the days of Andrew Lloyd Webber the
rule-breaker who gave us CATS and STARLIGHT EXPRESS, and here we were
introduced to Andrew Lloyd Webber the mainstream who dutifully churned
out the flops SUNSET BOULEVARD and ASPECTS OF LOVE. Despite my
criticisms I remain a great admirer of your work and the potential from
which it seems to have turned. Save yourself a great deal of time and
energy on transposing your entire score for a big-name; will you allow
your vision to become compromised? |
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