Originally Posted By ToonKirby He has publicly admitted it. When he was being interviewed around the time of "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory", he stated that he was at first worried that it would be a musical like the Gene Wilder version. And he was dubbed in "Cry Baby".
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Well, if that's true, then to have him play 'Sweeney Todd' in one of the most complicated musicals in modern musical theater -- he's officially an odd choice.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Why not choose someone who can actually sing? They did it in Dreamgirls. Not only did the girls sing their own stuff, but so did Eddie Murphy and Jaime Foxx. No dubbing. Just pure, beautiful singing from their actual pipes. Novel, no?
Originally Posted By threeundertwo Well, that's the dilemma. If it's Tim Burton doing it, he'll choose Johnny Depp whether or not he's appropriate for the part. It's up to us to decide if we want to see it or not. I passed on "Corpse Bride" - wasn't there some singing in that? If so, it was probably "dubbed". I think Johnny has enough fans who care more about his looks than his voice. That's the difference between seeing something like this on stage and on the screen, and why the theater isn't going to die any time soon. It takes a lot of real talent to act without close-ups and all the artificial tricks that can be done with a movie. There will always be people who appreciate that kind of talent.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I understand what you've written threeundertwo, but first and foremost, 'Sweeney Todd' is a musical. And I'm not some live theater purist, but I do get a bit cranky when people are cast in musicals who can't sing. Audrey Hepburn was dubbed as Eliza Dolittle for 'My Fair Lady' [she couldn't sing] when they could have easily given Julie Andrews the part. Natalie Wood was dubbed as Maria for 'West Side Story' -- [Wood could not sing either] but still, they could have chosen Carol Lawrence, who did the part on Broadway. I loved that Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zelweiger, Richard Gere, and the rest of the cast did their own singing in 'Chicago' -- they rocked it out. On the other hand, Ewen McGregor and Nicole Kidman did their own singing in 'Moulin Rouge' and I thought they were horrible. I don't think either of them can sing well enough. And yes, I know stunt people step in for actors who are doing action sequences and so forth, but I guess singing is different to me. Singing well is not something every actor can do, and to just say 'eh, dub him' when the movie is first and foremost a musical,....I don't know, it bugs me.
Originally Posted By threeundertwo And you have every right to be bugged. Here's the news: If ever Tim Burton does a movie again, Johnny Depp will star in it. Let's just hope his next project isn't a remake of "Annie."
Originally Posted By Tiggirl :ictures Johnny Depp in a red dress and a red wig:: ...interesting... ~Beth
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb 2/3 Corpse Bride was a very sweet movie. And all though there was singing it wasn't as intregal as in NBC. I totally agree with you about the singing Jim. Anyone see Singing in the Rain? lol Although I thought Kidman and McGregor did OK in Moulin Rouge. They weren't great, true. But I apreciated that they were clearly singing for themselves. I'd like to see Burton work with someone other than his Depp/Bonham-Carter/Elfman triumverate for once. (I LOVE Danny Elfman, btw).
Originally Posted By jasmine7 I'm hoping this film will be good as it's my favorite musical. This will either be awesome or a disaster, lol; I don't think there'll be much wiggle room on this one. Heh, Singin' in the Rain. . . "No, no, no!" "Yes, yes, yes!" "No, no, no!" "Yes, yes, yes!" Such a great movie and a hilarious scene.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <Anyone see Singing in the Rain?> Autopia Deb, Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds -- don't they all do their own singing?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Jim, I think they're referring to having Debbie Reynolds dub the Jean Hagen character.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Exactly Dabob! *Funny I sound like James Earl Jones, they really need to find someone else to do my ADR* ;-P
Originally Posted By ToonKirby What's ironic about "Singin' in the Rain" is that the story is about one actress (Debbie Reynolds) dubbing another (Jean Hagan), but in fact the actress doing the dubbing (Reynolds) was dubbed (by Betty Noyes). Another movie that did this was "You Light Up My Life". Didi Cohn, who is hired to dub an actress' singing voice for a movie, was in fact dubbed by Cassie Cisyk (not Debbie Boone as is often thought). It was a lot more common back in the Studio years for actors to have their singing dubbed. But now, post "Moulin Rouge!", "Chicago" and "Dreamgirls" (all of which made a big deal about how their casts did all their own singing), I'm not sure how well it would go down if "Sweeney" did it, especially considering how complex the score is.
Originally Posted By jasmine7 True that about Singin', Kirby. Also ironic is in the scene where Debbie Reynold's character is dubbing dialogue for Jean Hagen's character ("Our love will last until the stars turn cold."), it's actually Jean Hagen's voice doing the delivery that is supposed to be Debbie Reynold's. Studio execs didn't think Debbie's voice sounded cultured enough.
Originally Posted By ToonKirby Yeah, back in the Studio era, they sure messed with actors' performances (and, I'm sure, their heads) a lot.
Originally Posted By Pixie Glitter Johnny Depp was a professional musician at one point. Did he sing when he was in his band?
Originally Posted By kennect Now if only Vincent Price were still around...Would he have fit into this casting????
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I'm not sure if Price could sing, but assuming he could, he could certainly have done Judge Turpin. (Oh wait - just remembered him "singing" his number in The Great Mouse Detective. Kind of the Rex Harrison school of speak-singing.)
