The film has smashed box-office records and
won countless awards. But Les Misérables is now becoming an enduring
pop phenomenon, too.
Thanks to a deluxe version of the album — with 22 tracks spread across two CDs — Les Mis is set to stay in the upper reaches of the album chart three months after it became the first soundtrack to hit number one since Evita, 15 years ago.
Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has his own theory as to the soundtrack’s success — and it’s all down to SuBo (who doesn’t even appear in the film)
One day more: Les Mis stays at the top of the album charts
‘The
touchpaper was lit four years ago by Susan Boyle,’ the theatre
impresario tells me. ‘When she sang I Dreamed A Dream on Britain’s Got
Talent, it crossed a boundary.
A tune that had been lurking there for years started connecting with people in a non-theatrical way.
‘Instead of appealing to people who like musicals, it appealed to people who just like good music.’
Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has his own theory as to the soundtrack¿s success ¿ and it¿s all down to SuBo
The
decision to record actors singing live on location for the movie was
inspired. The cast could have mimed to pre-recorded tapes, but the
result would have sounded staid. Instead, the live takes capture the
spontaneity of the story and have a raw, emotional drive that might have
been missing.
‘It’s like hearing a Beatles album,’ says Mackintosh, warming to his subject. ‘When The Beatles launched into a song, there was a great immediacy. My father was a jazz musician. He had lots of 78rpm records from the Thirties and Forties, and it felt the same listening to them.
‘You don’t get that rawness, that emotional connection, when you are listening to clean, highly polished pop songs recorded in a studio. I couldn’t have imagined doing Les Misérables on film any other way.’
The extended version works as a stand-alone album partly on the back of Claude-Michel Schonberg’s powerful, operatic score.
But its appeal is also built on outstanding vocals, with the deluxe version adding some extended choruses. It is Hugh Jackman who sets the tone: he is full-throated on Valjean’s Soliloquy, holding a single high note for ten seconds, and tender and reflective on Suddenly.
So, where does Les Mis go next? With a DVD out in May, and ten new stage productions opening around the world, the story is set to run and run.
‘We’ve been fine-tuning it for 30 years,’ says Mackintosh. ‘And we’ll never let it become a museum piece. Les Mis has become a complete brand. That’s never happened with a show before.’
Thanks to a deluxe version of the album — with 22 tracks spread across two CDs — Les Mis is set to stay in the upper reaches of the album chart three months after it became the first soundtrack to hit number one since Evita, 15 years ago.
Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has his own theory as to the soundtrack’s success — and it’s all down to SuBo (who doesn’t even appear in the film)
One day more: Les Mis stays at the top of the album chartsA tune that had been lurking there for years started connecting with people in a non-theatrical way.
‘Instead of appealing to people who like musicals, it appealed to people who just like good music.’
Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has his own theory as to the soundtrack¿s success ¿ and it¿s all down to SuBo‘It’s like hearing a Beatles album,’ says Mackintosh, warming to his subject. ‘When The Beatles launched into a song, there was a great immediacy. My father was a jazz musician. He had lots of 78rpm records from the Thirties and Forties, and it felt the same listening to them.
‘You don’t get that rawness, that emotional connection, when you are listening to clean, highly polished pop songs recorded in a studio. I couldn’t have imagined doing Les Misérables on film any other way.’
The extended version works as a stand-alone album partly on the back of Claude-Michel Schonberg’s powerful, operatic score.
But its appeal is also built on outstanding vocals, with the deluxe version adding some extended choruses. It is Hugh Jackman who sets the tone: he is full-throated on Valjean’s Soliloquy, holding a single high note for ten seconds, and tender and reflective on Suddenly.
So, where does Les Mis go next? With a DVD out in May, and ten new stage productions opening around the world, the story is set to run and run.
‘We’ve been fine-tuning it for 30 years,’ says Mackintosh. ‘And we’ll never let it become a museum piece. Les Mis has become a complete brand. That’s never happened with a show before.’