done the progression of Les Mis productions the way he did.

Mackintosh produced the play, and it was a power house. Colm Wilkinson absolutely defined a role in a way that few have done on screen. The 10th anniversary concert was a hit, taking original cast members and putting them with stage stars from outside the West End.

25th Anniversary concert came and he wanted a deviation (he said he wanted to "keep it fresh"), and introduced a classically trained opera star rather than a Wilkinson clone.

The stage production and the anniversary concerts were for the music. Mackintosh admitted that with those it is impossible to get the emotion, feeling, and especially facial expressions that a real life situation or movie can provide.

Mackintosh used the same phrase ("keep it fresh") for the movie, with the sole intent of showing the intimate emotions and up close facial expressions. He also didn't want it to detract from the stage play. It was a conscious decision. And it was pretty great at doing what it was intended to do.

Said a different way, on the stage, voice is #1 priority. Fort the movie, it came in second (or 3rd in Crowe's case). I don't know why Mackintosh decided they needed star power for one of the more difficult and pivotal roles. They probably had enough star power without him.

But I thought Jackman carried the film. Eddy sounding like kermit, and Crowe being out classed were my only qualms about it.