i don't know if or how this will affect your opinion of her, but lea salonga was also the singing voice of jasmine in the first aladdin film, and the singing voice of mulan. (and on another disney-related note, the woman who plays cosette was the singing voice of pocahontas.)

personally, i think all of the 10th anniversary cast members are the best i've heard in their roles (and i've heard at least three different casts), but as i said before - each to their own. we all just have different tastes, and i think we learnt from any dream will do that we don't tend to agree when it comes to musical theatre.

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i totally understand what you mean - when you're used to hearing something sung one way, it can jarr when you hear it sung slightly differently.

however, i have to say that i prefer the film cast of POTO, despite having heard the original cast first. but then, i never did like michael crawford or sarah brightman.

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yeah, i know what you mean about characters, too. i've seen billy elliot the musical twice now, and i much preferred the first kid i saw playing billy, and i think that has a lot to do with the fact that the way he played the part was much closer to the way jamie bell played it in the film. i really respect the other kid for taking the character in a new direction, and he was great in his own way, but to me jamie is billy, so i naturally preferred the kid who reminded me more of him.

it's been about six and a half years since i saw les mis on stage, so i can't remember everything about it perfectly, but i don't believe anything was added. the show makes several leaps in time and place, so often the starts of songs do need to be quite explanatory anyway.

there were some bits left out thought - the odd line here and there. like there's a short scene in which you see little eponine being mean to little cosette while she's still living with the thenardiers. and before "a little fall of rain", marius opens eponine's coat and sees she's covered in blood and cries "oh my god, it's everywhere!" (i distinctly remember that line because i had to try so hard not to laugh at it - the guy playing marius was fantastic, but the way he delivered that line was awful). and of course the concert misses all the physical stuff, like valjean hitting javert round the head with a shair at the end of "the confrontation"; and gavroche's death (you see him dead on the barricade in one of the weird inserted shots, but you actually see him die in the show - it was so sad).

thinking of gavroche...don't you think the kid who played him at the 10th anniversary concert was brilliant? his confidence is just incredible, and he's a very charismatic performer. i think little cosette is great too. she might not be the best young singer i've heard, but she's a true professional - i've always been very impressed by the way her performance doesn't falter, despite the fact that a bang from off stage makes her jump.

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