3: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
Ability to change body/appearance at will. for vain reasons but also i could be a dragon
16: Would you get a tattoo?
dude i’ve been wrestling with this question forever because i REALLY want one but you can’t have tattoos in the acting industry unless you’re ruby rose. so i think i might get one some where tiny where no one can see
27: What was the last book/movie that really impressed you?
movie would be black panther all the way. book probably the awakening by kate chopin
55: What is your favourite flower?
i’m a basic bitch i love me some res roses and white carnations
(Tagging everyone who liked or commented on my last post, except I think this one is actually longer so bless you if you're crazy enough to read this.)
tl;dr rachel liveblogs her love for jon robyns' marius and cries a lot mainly about jon robyns' marius
!!!! DREW SOUNDS SO FUCKING BORED AND IRRITATED READING MARIUS' LETTER. I'M ACTUALLY LAUGHING AND THIS IS NOT THE APPROPRIATE REACTION TO THIS SCENE. Oh wow that was the worst rendition of those lines that I've ever heard. Oh Drew. :( It's like - "*RESIGNED SIGH* Fuck man this Marius is fucking shit up, I should go deal with that... I guess..."
NANCY THOUGH! Her On My Own is making me cry. As in, actual tears in my eyes at "I love him, but every day I'm learning." I don't think this is Nancy at her best, there are certain things she does that I don't agree with and moments where she doesn't seem totally settled in, but... I think she just really understands Eponine and she knows where this song is coming from and there's so much more to her performance than lovesick teenage girl and ahhh SO GREAT.
David's "damn their warnings, damn their lies" is also making me cry.
Richard Woodford! LOOK AT HIM HE'S SO GREAT. I'm really happy I like his performance so much. :D
I love this Gavroche SO MUCH. Especially after listening to Maggie's Gavroche... ;) (In case you weren't following that liveblog of mine... I kind of cheered when he died.)
AW FUCK ALFOR. This is my favorite rendition of this song in the history of forever. I love how Jon starts to get up to go get help and she pulls him back down and I love how he's trying to look at her wound when she's singing her first lines and she just doesn't care about that at all because in this moment she's completely euphoric that she's in his arms and nothing else matters and obviously she's in pain but that's not what this moment is about at all, she's so desperate and happy and then Jon's sad smile during "and rain will make the flowers" and then that fucking kiss and I AM SO DONE. I DON'T EVEN LIKE THIS SONG THAT MUCH. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF UNRESOLVED JON AND NANCY FEELINGS.
I like Drew's "you are wrong and always have been wrong..." oh wait nope he just ruined it with the most unintentionally seductive "GO!" ever.
FUCKING FUCK THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING DRINK WITH ME IN THE HISTORY OF EVER JESUS CHRIST. I know everyone and their mother has seen this video because it has "the hug" but if you haven't, just... please? God these students are so fucking PERFECT and of course David and WHY CAN I NEVER REMEMBER THIS GRANTAIRE'S NAME IT'S AT THE TIP OF MY TONGUE FUCK well whatever HE'S SO FUCKING GOOD. The chemistry and trust and comradery that they have with each other is so palpable.
I feel like I saw a comment somewhere at some point saying that Drew's Valjean looks like a dead president and whoever said that... thank you for the most accurate physical description of anyone ever.
His Bring Him Home is.......
Well, moving on.
JON'S SUICIDAL MARIUS IS SO FUCKING PERFECT AND DAVID'S REACTION AND JUST EVERYTHING.
Aw. Crying over Gavroche, especially in that final moment after the last gunshot. :( This little guy is so talented.
FINAL BATTLE. There's literally nothing to be said about David that hasn't already been said, but I just... why can't everyone be David?! His "is free" was so full of... passion and determination even without the B flat (... but since David rocks the B flat I wish he had started doing it sooner! edit: he did do it sooner, just not in this bootleg! thanks maz :D) Oh and the barricade revolving to dead Enjolras is really hard to watch. :(
DAMN this bootleg is prejudiced against the Thenardiers!
RICHARD FUCKING WOODFORD
There was this one angle where it was dark and I couldn't really see well and it looked like Drew actually was carrying Jon, like, over his shoulders, and I laughed for about five minutes.
BEST JAVERT'S SUICIDE GOD I'M SHAKING I WAS NOT EXPECTING TO BE THIS BLOWN AWAY BY RICHARD HOLY FUCKING FUCK (I'M WAY TOO TIRED TO GET MORE CREATIVE WITH MY EXPLETIVES SORRY)
Fluctuating between "I've seen better Turnings" and "actually that was really great" fuck it's done fuck we know what's coming next my body isn't ready
!!!
JON
MOTHERFUCKING
ROBYNS
I've seen this particular video of his Empty Chairs before but I still haven't cried this hard over Les Mis in a long time. Wow.
Do words even exist to explain how much I love Jon's Marius?! He's just... there's so much pain in the way he holds himself, there's so much weight in his still stillness, which, just watch him in Red and Black and watch the ways he interacts with the other students - he's so dynamic and incensed but here there's this awful and heartbreaking composure until he just breaks down at "don't ask me" and that's just ALL THIS SONG FUCKING NEEDS. I hate seeing it overacted or with a Marius who's wearing his heart on his sleeve because that's not who Marius is at all - he's still that young man struggling to be a part of so much that's bigger than himself and wanting to be stronger and more able to handle things than he is and this song isn't three minutes of MARIUS EMOTING TIME, he's hollow and broken and angry and jesus christ, jon.
I still like Leanne. Her voice is nice and she has wonderful high notes. She's just a very inoffensive and sweet Cosette but it works for me. At least she's not serial killer level smiley like Samantha Dorsey.
I AM LAUGHING SO HARD THROUGHOUT VALJEAN'S CONFESSION. I JUST... DREW IS SEVEN YEARS OLDER THAN JON...? And honestly since Jon's Marius is so weary and broken down at this point and Drew's Valjean is just... the exact same, I'd almost guess Jon was older if he had the wig, so the line "not another word, MY SON" sent me into a sort of hysteric fit wow this was unexpected OKAY MOVING ON
I love Jimmy Johnstone so much! And Jackie Marks. It's just so nice to see Thenardiers whose performance is so strong due to the fact that they're NOT just being complete clowns the whole time.
I think Drew does come off as sufficiently old in the finale in the way that he holds himself (considering that he's... what, just barely over 30 at this point?) But there was literally NONE OF THIS in his performance until this very moment. He was still completely composed and youthful during Valjean's confession... did he seriously age this much in a fucking week?! I mean, he still comes off as way too young but that's not his fault because he IS way too young. The second he stands up, though... nope, any and all weakness and fragility is lost and he looks like a cologne model or something.
I love Allyson and Leanne in the finale, a lot.
UNASHAMEDLY SOBBING THROUGH THE DYHTPS REPRISE FUCKING HELL
Overall thoughts: I STILL CAN'T BRING MYSELF TO HATE DREW EVEN THOUGH HE HAS NOT GIVEN ME A SINGLE REASON TO LIKE HIM. I've always felt this way about his Valjean... ah well. Richard was one of the unexpected highlights of this video, for me! WOW. Allyson was nothing special, Leanne was... also kind of nothing special but I still like her a lot, David was BRILLIANT even though his performance only got stronger with time, I think, the same exact thing goes for Nancy, and Jon is the best Marius forever and always all other Marii can go home.
itsbetterthananopera said: I’m liking this now and I’m going to respond when I’ve actually watched it :) Hopefully tomorrow :)
YAY :)
ruemondetour said: Here’s a phonetic emotional translation of your review (just because it was the vibe I got while reading it hehe): “meh yeah what hmm ASHFKSLJ JON NANCY ASHFJFLSJFHSKA haha David ahh meh yeah what hmm yay.” Oh gosh I can’t wait for Act 2.
Okay, I'm going to liveblog again... except just keep it all in one post this time, aren't I considerate. (Watching this, for reference.) Remember, this is a liveblog, not a summary. It's long. Act 1:
Drew's convict Valjean is too... confident, too contained. There's nothing at stake for him, there's nothing raw and desperate and animalistic about his actions. It's... it's not like it looks too rehearsed. I think he commits to what he's doing but what he's doing is wrong.
I love his voice though, I really do. "Took my flight" jesus.
Very interesting "I am reaching but I fall"... I think I like it.
THIS ENSEMBLE THOUGH. !!! I've had chills throughout all of ATEOTD.
Drew's just too young for this role.
I've seen and heard much stronger IDADs... but I like Allyson Brown? I think? I think it may be a case of "I want to like her more than I do."
Just a random comment about Les Mis in general, but one of my favorite lines in the whole show is "god I'm weary, sick enough to drop. Belly burns like fire, will the bleeding ever stop?" "Cheer up, deary, show an 'appy face, plenty more like you dear if you can't keep up the pace." "Only joking, deary knows her place."
So far I'm impressed with Richard Woodford. He's great vocally and his acting seems pretty solid.
Allyson's "You let your foreman send me away" was quite impressive but otherwise she's just been pretty... lackluster throughout Lovely Ladies and Fantine's Arrest. Where's the fight in her? I don't hear or see any passion even when she's singing about Cosette. :/
HA Drew's "thank you!" after "this time there is no mistake" had me cracking up. He sounds so chipper!
So far Drew's not giving me much to be enthusiastic about... literally I can't think of one thing to praise other than his voice, but I still find him really likeable for some reason...?! (I've always felt this way watching Drew as Valjean bootlegs. I don't understand it.)
"I am warning you Javert!" DAMN BOY CAN SING
Oh my GOD the way he just twirled that broken chair piece before walking toward Fantine was so fucking sassy.
I LOVE (!) Jimmy Johnstone and Jackie Marks. They're probably my favorite Thenardier duo. I normally wouldn't mind if a recording skips over MOTH but I'd love to see them do their thing.
HA the delightfully awkward pause before "ONE THING MORE, ONE SMALL DOUBT". Awww bless, little Cosette's curtsy! I'm dying.
AWWWWW YISSSSSS LOOK DOWN. This video's on youtube! <3
With the right ensemble this song is fucking EPIC. God and I love that Gavroche so much! I always forget what his name is.
JON. DAVID. NANCY. KILLIAN. I'M TEARING UP.
God Jon and Nancy have the fucking BEST Marius/Eponine interactions fuckkkk. I love how much she physically touches him, but it's not in a romantic way at all - you can tell that her Eponine idolizes him, and he's kind of indulgent toward her but you can also see that she's throwing herself at him, she's not holding anything back, but that doesn't even register for him, she's just kind of a background thought.
JON PUNCHING KILLIAN IS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO LES MIS
(okay not really)
Wow, I love Richard Woodford...! What a beautiful Stars.
God I fucking love Nancy in Eponine's Errand. "No I don't want your money, sir!" Perfect. Hee, and Jon's giddy "I'M LOST UNTIL SHE'S FOUND!" makes me smile.
Hahaha his "a ghost, maybe!" makes me laugh, it's literally like... "GUYS GUYS ACTUALLY SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GHOST GUYS MAYBE THAT EXPLAINS IT GUYS TAKE ME SERIOUSLY"
I just... love him in this whole song. He's so delightfully self-righteous in a really naive way, he's youthful but in a way where it's like... he doesn't WANT to be as young as he is. (How old is Jon in this, anyway? 2008, so... 24 or 25? I think that's a good age to play Marius... I hate the trend of casting Marius so young, ugh.) I don't even know. He's honestly just my perfect book Marius.
Daaaaavid. So spectacular. And ALL of the amis! This DYHTPS is perfect. :')
OH MY GOD Leanne's giggle in the beginning of IML. I like Leanne a lot :) She's not very... animated or passionate, though... like mother like daughter?
I LOVE Nancy in the Plumet attack, she seriously goes batshit. Why is it so hard for so many Eponines to play the role like they were actually raised in the streets?! Sigh. This cast.
BEST. ONE DAY MORE. EVER. God I love these people so much.
... sorry friends, I have to do Act 2 tomorrow night. :( I really need to go to bed earlier than I did last night. THIS IS SO GREAT THOUGH I JUST WANT TO KEEP WATCHING FOREVER SIGH
