I Dreamed a Dream

Nick Jonas has just dropped another bombshell on his unsuspecting fandom.  He’s been hinting at something big in his twitter lately, and now we know what it is.  According to the Daily Mail, Nick is going to be taking the role of Marius for a three week London run of Les Miserables.

Say what? 

Actually, this casting is not as “out there” as it may seem.  As anyone who knows Nick’s story knows, he played Gavroche (the spunky urchin) in Les Miserables for 9 months in 2003, among several other Broadway roles.  So Nicholas is not without theatre credentials.

I, however, have misgivings.  First, the role of Marius is light-years away from the role of Gavroche in terms of size and need for vocal prowess.  Marius is the Romantic Lead, and the Tenor. It’s a Big Role, and a tough one, and quite frankly, I’m not completely sure young Nick has the vocal chops.  And not only that, performing multiple shows a week is an exhausting grind, and Nick’s health can sometimes be precarious. Granted, Marius isn’t on stage for the first 1/3 of the show, but once he shows up, the story largely revolves around him.

 I’m figuring that Nick probably won’t carry all the performances.  In other words, he’ll have an understudy who’ll handle the low-profile shows, and he’ll basically play the weekends.  But even so, it will be a tour de force for Nick. 

Tour de force in more ways than one, because I think there are other, even bigger things afoot.  I’m going to go out on a limb and hypothesize that taking on this role at this time is something of an audition for Nick.  Or perhaps I should say a rehearsal, because I think that he’s being strongly considered to play Marius in the movie version that’s mentioned in the last paragraph of the Mail piece.  If he shows that he can cut it on stage, he’d be sitting pretty for the movie.  He’s already a Big Star, which will be something that the people shelling out the financing for the film will want to see.  And he’s the right age to play the role in a film, which 95% of the actors who have played the part on stage aren’t. 

And finally, I think he’s almost ideally suited to play Marius on film. Any vocal weakness can easily be compensated for, and he looks really perfect for the part.  Plus, and most importantly, Nick occupies that Magic Age of Dewy Youth and he’s got a built-in fan base smack in the middle of the tween/teen demographic.  And in case you hadn’t heard, movie-makers crave this ticket buying demographic even more than Edward Cullen craves hemoglobin.

All things considered, I’m going to be following this whole story avidly to see how it “plays” (get it?) out.  And I’ll certainly stand corrected if we’re seeing someone else on screen when the Les Miserables film project gets off the ground, if it ever does.  There are always lots of casting fake-outs before any big film is green-lighted.  You may not know it, but Once Upon A Time, Antonio Banderas was going to play The Phantom of the Opera.

True Story.

*Edit*:  In honor of Nick’s advent as Marius, my hubby, (cooldad) has been wearing my Mickey Mouse ears around the house all morning (mind you, they cover not even 1/3 of his head).  And the brilliance of Nick’s inclusion in the Les Miz pantheon has inspired us to round out what Cameron Mackintosh has already begun. Submitted for your consideration, our Les Miserables Disney Channel Dream Cast:

Character	Voice	Actor
Jean Valjean	tenor	Billy Ray Cyrus (he’s already got the mullet!)
Inspector Javert	baritone	Phil Lewis (Moseby, The Suite Life on Deck)
Marius	tenor	Nick Jonas
Thénardier	baritone	Brian Stepanek (Arwin, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)
Fantine	mezzo-soprano	Miley Cyrus
Éponine	mezzo-soprano/belt	Demi Lovato
Cosette	soprano	Double-cast:  Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez (a common practice, leaving both free to pursue other projects!)
Enjolras	baritone	Double-cast:  Zac Efron and Joe Jonas
Madame Thénardier	mezzo-soprano	Brenda Song
Gavroche	boy soprano	Moises Arias

Appearing as various convicts, students, revolutionaries, low-lifes, prostitutes and other Miserable Ones (this is a translation, not a commentary!):  Jason Dolley, Jason Earles, David Henrie, Kevin Jonas, Sterling Knight, Mitchell Musso, Emily Osment, Debby Ryan, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, and Tiffany Thornton.

I Can. Not. Wait.

*Edit #2*, 5/29/10 – This just in:  I have a line on Nick’s costar.  The role of Cosette will be played by Lucie Jones, a 19-year old X-Factor (think American Idol with UK dialects) finalist.  Interestingly, she has an amazing voice, but not a true Soprano one, much more of a mezzo/belt voice, a la Demi Lovato (she even sang This Is Me one week on the show). 

Apparently, she auditioned for the role of Eponine, but in the end Cameron Mackintosh decided against her, I’m guessing because she doesn’t have the right personality for the role (not enough fire).  Instead, he has cast her as Cosette.

This is actually really good news for Nick Jonas.  Lucie Jones is a lucky girl who came from obscurity in Cardiff, Wales, to fame only recently.   Of the two of them, he will be the professional.  Her pop-style voice should mesh much more nicely with his than if he was singing with some highly trained Soprano.  And, given both their vocal ranges, I’m suspecting there might even be some discreet key lowering, which will benefit both of them.

And what a beautiful pair they will make on stage! The paparazzi will have a field day with this co-starring, methinks!

[Via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36656133@N06/3516246668/ (photo) and TheXFactorUK (video)]

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