The soundtrack has been uploaded on YouTube by Disney. I wish Gaston had a deeper voice, but at least Luke Evans can sing.
I'm nervous about trying out this soundtrack lol.
From what I've gathered reading reviews, Luke Evans seems like a divisive choice: maybe Disney felt he's fitting for a modern take on the character given his theatrical repertoire?
I'm sad because I really feel
Brandon Jovanovich could have made a perfect Gaston. A tad aged maybe but c'mon: that voice, that build, that cleft chin!
Everyone else has been perfectly cast, except Emma Watson as Belle. Why? Sure, she looks the part. Hopefully her acting in this movie is good, because her singing sure ain't. She is more auto-tuned than Britney Spears. Yikes! Honestly, she ruins every single song she's in.
I don't have faith that Emma Watson can make this part work from any angle: it sounds like they've scripted the role in an even more saintly light than her animated counterpart. If her skills as an actor are to be admired, first they have to be put on display, and this role is not playing to a single one of her strengths.
The thing is, her lacking musical chops notwithstanding, I can see
why they tapped her. The role of Belle is desperately in need of an update and Watson has a way of engaging her parts which could be considered energizing and directive. I'm just sorry this production might actually fail to deliver on that because it's the only rationalization for this remake in my mind.
Everyone else can sing but her, which is a bit surprising since per tradition it's almost always the Disney princess who has the best voice of them all.
There's a reason the part of "lead soprano" is esteemed throughout musical theater. People go to (i.e. pay to attend) musicals to hear the music rendered with aplomb and to be moved by it in turn. Taking these kinds of short-cuts and copping out of that contract between entertainer and audience really goes against the spirit of the thing imo.
(And now it makes sense why the casting call for the live action Aladdin film specifically states the actors need to be able to sing)
So I had to actually Google this to reassure myself they were specifying the call to Middle Eastern/Arab actors. We live in a sad world.
I love the Dutch Belle from the original movie:
Such a lovely voice (even better than Paige O'Hara's).
Beautiful rendition! She really sores through the heavier bits of the score. Nothing beats the warmth and punch of O'Hara's Belle for me but I love hearing different approaches to the same material. Literally
every ensemble piece in Japan's
Beauty and the Beast sparkles and resonates in a special way I just can't put my finger on. Part of it is the pure, frenetic energy of the adapted lyrics, I think. x'D
I wish they could have gotten someone like that to do the singing parts and just have Emma Watson pretend to be the one singing. I mean, it's not like this is a movie version of the Broadway edition.
If not that, they could have just allowed her to use her natural voice and let the performance stand as is, so that we could at least be permitted to honor her commitment. As it stands, they've signaled a vote of no confidence in their
leading lady. It's shameful.