#in the only two roles I've seen Jeremy Jordan play

[mushroomsfrogsetc]

Apparently,not only does James Monroe Iglehart (the voice actor for Lance in Tangled the Series)voice Zestial,but Jeremy Jordan voices Varian AND Lucifer!Seriously,am I the only one who found out from a google search,or is it THAT obvious?!

[karazor--el]

Supergirl's J'onn J'onzz Teases How Crisis Will Continue To Impact Season 5

"Crisis on Infinite Earths" changed everything for Supergirl. Now, she and her friends live on Earth-Prime alongside the Arrowverse's other heroes, but that's not all: Lex Luthor has written himself a new destiny, one that involves him owning the DEO. As a result, the Girl of Steel and her friends will need to make some drastic changes -- and deal with Winn Schott's evil doppelganger, on top of all that. According to Martian Manhunter actor David Harewood, his character J'onn J'onzz has a critical role to play in all of that.

Speaking to CBR, Harewood discussed his role in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and how he will continue to deal with the fallout of that in the back half of Supergirl Season 5. He teased a new base of operations for Team Supergirl, as well as an increased focus on J'onn's budding career as a private investigator. He also delved into the behind-the-scenes process of directing the episode, including what it was like to work with Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor and how he developed Winn's alter ego with Jeremy Jordan.

CBR: Let's start off with "Crisis on Infinite Earths," because you had a critical part to play in all that. Tell me a little about how you found about J'onn's role and the experience of filming that crossover.

David Harewood: Normally, I'm hardly in the crossover, so I normally go home and see my family and kids. [laughs] This season, I was specifically told that I would be having an integral role in the crossover. Going through all four of them -- I think Batwoman was the only show I wasn't in… it was pretty full-on, but I did get a heads up that I would be playing a pivotal role and filling in everyone with their memories. If not for J'onn, then a lot of people wouldn't have had the opportunity to do that. It's great that J'onn was able to utilize those specific capabilities in order to help everybody readjust and reconfigure their worldview, as it were.

Of all the shows, Supergirl seems to be the most impacted by "Crisis." How does J'onn continue to play a role in that moving forward?

We have to recognize a whole new threat, which is Lex Luthor, and act accordingly. Now that the DEO is very much in the hands of LuthorCorp, we see J'onn build a whole new space, which we call the Tower, which is a whole new space for the Super Friends to work out of. Going forward, that will be sort of the new DEO. It's a place for all the Super Friends to work out of. We'll see that space going forward, appearing more and more, becoming more and more a space for all of the Super Friends to work out of. That's going to fundamentally [sic] how you see that. J'onn very much embraces himself in this new world, in all of his guises, as not just a crime fighter but also as a detective. We do pick up a bit more on his private eye business.

How does J'onn's role as a private eye factor into the back half of Season 5?

Obviously, with all the big changes, with me appearing in the Martian Manhunter suit without the green digital makeup, it's been great really great to just take more ownership of the character. So I'm hoping, if I can, to bring in more of that flavor of the private detective whenever he's out in the world, questioning people. Now that J'onn has recovered from his father's passing, having successfully helped his brother, J'onn starts to embrace more of his Martian self and his Manhunter identity, so hopefully we'll see J'onn in different guises. I think we'll have a bit of shapeshifting going on. It's important to J'onn to go through that process as well, for J'onn to embrace more of his character in terms of him being a private detective who's out in the world, physically helping people and doing what he can to bring justice to the world.

Perhaps the craziest change is that Lex Luthor runs the DEO now. Have you gotten to share any scenes with Jon Cryer in this brave new world?

Not necessarily as an actor, but it was just fantastic to direct him. He's really, really awesome. The first time I've directed somebody who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! It was just awesome. I mean, he's so brilliant as Lex Luthor… It was great to be able to help him shape the performance through my particular episode, and it was really, really good fun to work with him. I haven't yet had the opportunity to work with him as an actor, but it's been really, really good fun to work with him as a director.

So this is the second episode of Supergirl you've directed. How was your experience different this time around?

It was a much bigger episode. I was really challenged with it. The first time I directed, it was more of a smaller piece, with not too much special effects, but this one was huge and [had] lots of special effects. So I really had to be on my toes and rely very much on the wizards down in LA for some of the special effects…There's obviously still large pieces of it that I haven't seen completed -- I haven't seen half the technical stuff being done. I've seen a little bit, but I haven't seen some of the technically wizardry, so I'm really looking forward to that on Sunday, seeing it all put together.

This was also the first time I directed myself. I was actually in scenes and directing the scenes, I did ask Caity Lotz -- because Caity Lotz had done it before, had directed herself -- so I asked her while doing the crossover. I also asked one of the other actors on The Flash for his advice, because Tom Cavanagh, he's directed a few episodes and has also been in the episodes. I listened to what they told me.

It was easier for me to sort of split myself between being a director and an actor. On the days I was directing, I very much came in as an actor, so that mentally I was prepared to be in the scenes as well as directing them. It was a little nerve wracking, actually, because some days I suddenly found myself being very nervous. So it was important to me to make sure I knew my lines on those days, because trying to split your concentration wasn't easy at first. It became easier as the week went on.

I'm really looking forward to doing it again. I'm sure it won't be as discombobulating next time, being in the scene that you're actually directing.

Jeremy Jordan has finally returned! How was it to have him back on set? Can you give us a little tease about what this evil version of Winn is like?

Well, he comes back in another guise! Once I knew we were playing two roles, straightaway I was talking to Jeremy about it. We'd been talking to him about ideas; I had been talking to him about ideas, about the character, for at least three weeks, even before we had the script. Once we had the script, I was very much calling him every night, just talking about the character. We'd come up with something that's fun.

He plays two roles on the show, the one being Toyman and the one being our Winn. We wanted to make a distinctive difference between the two. Once you see it, I think you can see there is a distinctive difference in terms of the performance, but I was really looking forward to working with him because he's such a fantastic actor. Having the ability to work with him up close in Season 3, I was able to see just how he approached his work, and it's always a pleasure watching him work, so being in a position where I could direct him was very, very exciting for me. We had a lot of fun.

Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.

CBR.

[mygreatadventurehasbegun]

So....I've been thinking about movie musicals these past couple days.

And particularly, their casting....

Now, I am a Broadway girl and I love the old movie musicals.  So, I am all about casting musical theatre actors over big name Hollywood stars.  Not that some people can't surprise you!  But I thought it would be interesting to go through the modern movie musicals and look at their casting....and I'm going to rank them from best to worst.  Two little things to note: I am only looking at the casting and how well the main actors do with their roles, so I'm not judging on how good/bad a movie is.  And this is all my opinion!  Feel free to go out there and make your own lists!

1. The Last Five Years

IMO, this is the best movie musical I've seen made in this century.  They did everything right.  Cast two actors who have strong singing backgrounds.  Anna Kendrick has sort of been known as the "singing actress" these past few years, and the director took advantage of that.  A big name actress with a strong voice to star in his musical.  And Jeremy Jordan is practically worshipped on Broadway....Newsies was such a huge hit and his voice is massive!  The one problem with this movie?  NO ONE SAW IT.  It had a very limited release and didn't even make $1 million at the box office.  But it's on Netflix!  Go watch it!

2. Chicago

The movie musical that really kicked off this new trend!  And the only one to win Best Picture!  Really the only one to get a large number of nominations.  Everything that followed would maybe get 2 or 3, if they were lucky.  In terms of the cast, the only ones I personally don't care for are Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere.  Now, they don't sound bad at all, this is more of a personal preference.  I can't tell if that's what Richard Gere actually sounds like or if he was doing a send up of 30s style singers.  And Renee Zellweger just sounds....ok to me.  But, I can't really get mad at the movie for this.  Broadway is guilty of this, too!  If you're a Hollywood actor and you want to star in a musical and your musical talents are so-so, you can either play Roxie or Billy in Chicago!  They've been doing it for years!  But if you want to play Velma, Mama or Amos, you need some pipes...and the movie definitely has that!  Catharine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and John C. Reilly are all excellent singers!  CZJ has a background in musical theatre but the other two don't (that I know of), but they both proved them selves to be very strong, musically.

3. Rent

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of the movie Rent!  It's really not very good....BUT I'm looking at the cast as a whole.  And they cast 6 of the 8 original cast members in their original roles....about 10 years too late...But they still all sound good!  And Tracie Thoms as Joanne was terrific!  I'm not a huge fan of Rosario Dawson as Mimi, but she does a passable job.  I feel like if they had cast the original cast members in a movie version of Rent in the late 90s (with a stronger director), it would've been fantastic!

4. Sweeney Todd

This is one of those more obvious "cast a big name actor in the title role despite his lack of training" examples.  But funnily enough, this one actually kind of worked for me!  Now, I would never cast Johnny Depp in a stage musical (especially this one), but his singing actually kind of works for me!  It's not perfect, by any stretch, but it works for the kind of movie Tim Burton made.  I think Depp's voice fits better for songs like "My Friends"....something a little lower and more melodic vs. "Epiphany", which is so manic, he sometimes has trouble keeping up.  I love that they cast three unknowns in the roles of Johanna, Antony and Toby!  Even though Toby is supposed to be a young man in his late teens who's just a little slow, I wasn't too upset that they cast a kid in the role.   And his voice is one of the best ones in the entire movie!  Alan Rickman is, of course, wonderful...and his deep baritone suits the Judge perfectly.  The only let down for me was Helena Bonham Carter.  Her voice just isn't strong enough for the role.  It needs more of a brash sound, not the soft, almost sweet sound she has.  She's not a bad singer, really, but she needs a role that suits her voice!  Listen to her sing in Corpse Bride, it works there!

5. Into the Woods

I had a tough time deciding between this and Sweeney for the 4 and 5 slots.  I think Sweeney ranked a touch higher because there were less characters, honestly.  Because Into the Woods is a big ensemble piece and sadly, I can barely remember most of the ensemble.  This movie has a decent mix of film and theatre actors....Another movie with Anna Kendrick, though I don't think she works as well here as she does in TL5Y.  Her voice is very contemporary sounding and Cinderella needs a "fairy tale" soprano.  Someone who can trill with ease (after all, she does talk to birds).  All in all, everyone was pretty much....fine....the only slightly negative things I'll say is that Chris Pine's voice was only ok, for me, but the entire "Agony" number was so hilarious I kind of give it a pass!  And I wish they had cast Jack a little older.  I know the kid was coming off of Les Mis and people recognized him, but this score does not suit a boy's voice.  Jack is written for a young man in his late teens playing a younger boy.  But the score is written for a young man....who's voice has changed...and I think when a younger boy tries to sing "Giants in the Sky", it doesn't work...during that number, it kept feeling like he was shouting at me!  Honestly, the only thing I really remember about this movie is Meryl Streep singing "Last Midnight"...because she's the best!

6.  Les Miserables

This one is probably the biggest example of "stunt casting" out of this entire list.  And the results were mixed....some great, some good, some....really not good at all...The great was, of course, Anne Hathaway.  She pretty much walked away with the movie.  A decade from now, she's going to be what people remember.  Hugh Jackman was great, as well...both he and Anne Hathaway come from a musical theatre background, they just focus on film acting.  If I were casting a stage production of Les Mis, I wouldn't cast Hugh Jackman as Valjean.  His voice just doesn't quite suit the role at times...his tone is very bright and kind of all sounds the same no matter what he sings, while I imagine Valjean needing a very rich sound and it needs to be versatile...able to go from a huge belt to a quit whisper.  Other good voices were Samantha Barks and Aaron Tveit as Eponine and Enjolras.  At the time, they were the two "theater kids"....not really known for any film or TV work.  Eddie Redmayne was.....eh....ok, I guess.  But he's a good actor and can at least act his way through a song.  Amanda Seyfried was pretty painful, unfortunately.  She can sing and she might be able to hit higher notes, but I couldn't hear anything she sang over an E....partly due to the terrible sound mixing, thanks to this "singing live" gimmick.  But she wasn't right vocally for the part.  It almost would've been easier to cast  a "name" as Eponine and a "theater kid" as Cosette.  At least we would've had a strong soprano!  And Russel Crowe was just painful....I'm sorry...but no.  Javert has some of the best songs in the entire piece and they're just wasted.

7. The Producers

This was another tough choice....which was worse: Les Mis or The Producers?  I decided to rank Producers lower for one simple reason.  You got Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick to reprise their roles from a massively successful musical.  They are two HUGE Broadway stars and you ruin what they had on stage.  I know I wasn't going to talk about the film, but I kind of need to for this one.  Because the filmmaking is what made them bad.  Susan Stroman (who directed them on Broadway) pretty much directed them like they were still onstage.  And the whole thing is just awkward.  Nathan Lane is practically the king of Broadway, he can do anything....and he is finally in a movie musical and it's this trainwreck?!  To top it off, Uma Thurman is singing a song in a lower key than the original stage show and she still is flat on some notes.  Will Ferrell is fine, but he is good at being over the top onscreen and that's what this character needed.  And his voice words for the character, so he gets a pass.  And the tenor for "Springtime" has the best voice in the entire movie.

8. The Phantom of the Opera

Only good voice in the entire movie is Patrick Wilson.  And he's the only one with a Broadway resume.  Gerad Butler growls and scoops his way through the score....And Emmy Rossum was only 16 when she played Christine and her voice was NOT developed enough.  It's very thin and weak.  I think it's one of the reasons that this is at the bottom.  The actors not only have to have strong vocal technique, but they need to be able to sing opera and sing it WELL.  And Rossum and Butler were pretty much unknowns anyway, so you could have gotten ANYONE Andy Lloyd!  The only other good thing this movie did was dub Minnie Driver.  She was their biggest name, and while she's a singer, she's not an operatic soprano, so they dubbed her.  A practice that I sometimes wish they would bring back....if your lead actor can't handle the vocals: dub 'em, don't auto tune 'em!

A couple thoughts on movie musicals I haven't seen:

Dishonorable mention:

Pierce Brosnen in Mamma Mia!  Never saw it, but I've seen (and heard) enough to know that whoever though that he was a good choice needs a good beating!

Honorable mentions:

James Marsden in Hairspray.  I want him to be in another musical!  His voice is fantastic and fit the show perfectly!  I loved listening to him sing in this and Enchanted.  If he were ten years younger, I'd have voted for him to play the Beast this year! 

Sarah Ferguson (Fergie) in Nine.  Nine is one of my favorite musicals and I was so mad about the casting and how many songs they cut that I refused to go see it.  But I have seen Be Italian and Fergie knocks it out of the park!  She's not a musical theater singer, but she vocally trained and she kills it as Sereghina. 

So, I know this was a loooong post....but have we noticed a trend?  Most of the time, the best musical performances come from people with at least some kind of prior training.  Now, I know there is more that goes into making a great movie musical.  You can have very strong talent, but if the director's shit, their talent won't save them (Hi, Producers).  And there are always surprises, like John C. Reilly or James Marsden....but the best way to make a successful musical is to have a team that can really pull it off!

And let's look briefly at the old MGM musicals.  There was no auto tune back then.  They didn't use dance doubles.  Most of the time, if you couldn't sing and dance, you weren't cast in musicals.  There were times when they tried to make non-singers sing and those projects weren't successful...maybe they just had a faster learning curve back then....and if an actor couldn't handle the vocals, the studio dubbed their voices.  Because they knew that it was better to have a dubbed voice than to have a musical performance that wasn't as near to perfection as possible. 

OK, I think I've gone on long enough.  If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!