Little Voice is a British musical made in the late 1990s. On the whole, it would be exaggeration to say that it took the box office by storm. However, it nonetheless managed to make a positive impression on a lot of critics as well as other people out there. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Little Voice:
1. Based On a Play
Little Voice was based on a play called The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. The first production of the play started up in June of 1992 at the Royal National Theatre in London, England. Since that time, there have been other productions in both the United Kingdom and other countries, which should make it clear that it has managed to find a considerable measure of success.
2. Jim Cartwright
Jim Cartwright is the man who wrote The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. In short, Cartwright is a dramatist who has produced a fair number of plays over the course of his decades-long career. Said plays include a number that have managed to make it on to either the TV screen or the movie screen. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that Cartwright has worked on other projects that weren’t based on his plays, which speaks of considerable breadth on his part.
3. Directed By Mark Herman
The movie was directed by Mark Herman, who has at various points in time, taken up the positions of movie director, movie producer, and screenwriter. Generally speaking, Herman is best-known for doing the movie adaptation of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which is a historical tragedy set during the Second World War. Based on the name, interested individuals should have no problems guessing that it has to do with the extermination camps ran by the Nazis.
4. Filmed in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
In any case, Little Voice was filmed in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. For those who are curious, Scarborough is a town that can be found on the North Sea coast, boasting an economy founded upon tourism as well as fishing and other economic sectors. The site has been settled for a very long time, but its location means that it has been subjected to attacks on multiple occasions in the past. For example, one of the settlements was destroyed by the combined force of Tostig Godwinson and Harald Hardrada who challenged Harold Godwinson for the rule of Anglo-Saxon England. Likewise, another of the settlement was burned by the Scots in 1318.
5. Set in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
The choice of filming location was no coincidence, seeing as how the movie was set in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Curiously, this was a minor change from the source material, which never specified a town but instead mentioned it being somewhere in North England. With that said, Scarborough is perfectly suitable for this, seeing as how it is located in said region.
6. The Name of the Movie Is the Nickname of the Protagonist
Little Voice is both the name of the movie and the nickname of the protagonist. In short, the true name of the protagonist is Laura Hoff. However, she has a very reticent nature, with the result that she is nicknamed Little Voice by the people around her. Unsurprisingly, Laura isn’t too fond of the less than flattering nickname, which is used to excellent symbolic effect towards the end of the movie when she rejects it in an affirmation of her actual name.
7. The Protagonist Is In a Bad Family Situation
At the start of the movie, Laura is in a very bad family situation. Her father is dead, which is a huge blow because her father was a major source of strength for her in her personal life. Meanwhile, her mother Mari’s domineering attitude means that much of Laura’s reticent nature is the product of their interaction. Even worse, Mari’s latest boyfriend Ray is a manager who wants to exploit Laura because he sees her as his chance for true success.
8. Laura’s Source of Strength Is Music
Since the death of her father, Laura’s source of strength has been music. In fact, she spends much of her time hiding in her bedroom where she listens to singers such as Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey. Moreover, Laura isn’t just fond of listening to their music, she is also fond of emulating these singers’ voices. It is her remarkable mimicry that makes Ray interested in capitalizing on her talent with the full support of her mother Mari.
9. The Actress Did All of the Mimicry
Finding a suitable actress must have been a serious challenge because of the need to mimick such a wide range of singers. However, it is important to note that the people behind the casting process succeeded, as shown by the fact that the actress Jane Horrocks who played Laura was the one who performed all of the mimicry. In other words, Horrocks wasn’t just a good singer, she was also a good singer who was capable of emulating everyone from Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey to Marilyn Monroe and Billie Holiday.
10. Has a Satisfying Ending
On the whole, Little Voice has a satisfying ending. Laura doesn’t become some kind of star, but that is perfectly OK because she was never interested in becoming a star in the first place. However, Laura does manage to find a measure of strength in herself, which is what enables her to confront her mother before walking away from the whole situation. As for Ray, well, suffice to say that there is a song in which he sings about the ruin of his career, having completely and utterly failed to impress an agent from London because of Laura’s moment of self-determination.
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