1 Response to “Les Misbarack”

1. 1 Maven Nov 8th, 2008 at 4:11 pm

   Absolutely delicious, the more so as we now know that things did NOT go down the same way in the campaign as in the musical!

   There were a number of recordings to choose from, but my hunch is that Ultimate Improv went for the Complete Symphonic Recording *because* it featured Gary Morris (American country & western singer) rather than Colm Wilkinson (Anglo-Irish with an overtly non-American accent). They didn’t want the introductory shock of “WTF? What’s that Brit doing in Obama HQ?” :D :D :D

   By fortune this also netted them some of the strongest supporting players ever: not only Michael Ball as Marius (who got onto most of the recordings because he was that good), but also the definitive Javert (Philip Quast, on this and the Tenth Anniversary Concert) and Enjolras (Anthony Warlow, this recording ONLY), with the added bonus of the wickedly funny duo of Barry James and Gay Soper as the Thenardiers (also this recording ONLY). (The guy who comes barging in with the very intense rallying call to the barricades - that’s Enjolras, sung by Anthony Warlow. Kudos to the lip-syncher who made his actions live up to that!)

   The funniest thing is that when this clip was originally cut, back around mid-September, not even they know just how greedy and grasping and venal Ms. Palin is - and therefore how dead-on perfect it was portraying her as the greedy and grasping and venal Mme. Thenardier! (It’s actually both Thenardiers singing at that point in the Complete Symphonic Recording, but Gay Soper so completely drowns out Barry James that it doesn’t matter.)

   The damn thing’s given me a hellacious earworm *and* mindworm - I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind for three solid days! :D

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