The Platypus of Languages

Les Misérables has been drenched in the saliva of so much internet gossip for the past year that it was easily one of the most anticipated movies of 2012, especially for us musical theatre geeks. I spent quite a significant amount of time pouring over articles, getting casting information (anyone else remember Taylor Swift being offered the role of Éponine?), and feeling anxious when I learned that Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) would have the actors sing live. It almost became a bit more hype than I wanted, and I had to scale back on how much I read beforehand, or how many pictures I wanted to see of Anne Hathaway without hair. It turns out this sort of publicity is rather traditional for the story; Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, from which the 1980s stage musical is derived, was advertised in papers and discussed up to two years prior to publishing. Old habits die hard, I suppose.