Le monde des musicals

Paris 1980
Londres 1985
Londres 2009

1 Misérables (Les) peut-être considéré comme un Top musical

2 Misérables (Les) peut-être considéré comme un mega-musical.

3 Misérables (Les) est une adaption à la scène d'une oeuvre littéraire: Les Misérables.

Background
Originally released as a French-language concept album, the first musical-stage adaptation of Les Misérables was presented at a Paris sports arena, the Palais des Sports, in 1980. However, the first production closed after three months when the booking contract expired.
In 1983, about six months after producer Cameron Mackintosh had opened Cats on Broadway, he received a copy of the French concept album from director Peter Farago. Farago had been impressed by the work and asked Mackintosh to produce an English-language version of the show. Initially reluctant, Mackintosh eventually agreed. Mackintosh in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company, assembled a production team to adapt the French musical for a British audience. After two years in development, the English-language version opened in London on 8 October 1985, by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Centre, then the London home of the RSC. The success of the West End musical led to a Broadway production.
Original French production
French songwriter Alain Boublil had the idea to adapt Victor Hugo's novel into a musical while at a performance of the musical Oliver! in London:
As soon as the Artful Dodger came onstage, Gavroche came to mind. It was like a blow to the solar plexus. I started seeing all the characters of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables—Valjean, Javert, Gavroche, Cosette, Marius, and Éponine—in my mind's eye, laughing, crying, and singing onstage.
He pitched the idea to French composer Claude-Michel Schönberg, and the two developed a rough synopsis. They worked up an analysis of each character's mental and emotional state, as well as that of an audience. Schönberg then began to write the music, while Alain Boublil began work on the text. According to Alain Boublil, "...I could begin work on the words. This I did—after myself deciding on the subject and title of every song—in collaboration with my friend, poet Jean-Marc Natel." Two years later, a two-hour demo tape with Schönberg accompanying himself on the piano and singing every role was completed. An album of this collaboration was recorded at CTS Studios in Wembley and was released in 1980, selling 260,000 copies.
The concept album includes Maurice Barrier as Jean Valjean, Jacques Mercier as Javert, Rose Laurens as Fantine, Yvan Dautin as Thénardier, Marie-France Roussel as Mme. Thénardier, Richard Dewitte as Marius, Fabienne Guyon as Cosette, Marie-France Dufour as Éponine, Michel Sardou as Enjolras, Fabrice Bernard as Gavroche, Maryse Cédolin as Young Cosette, Claude-Michel Schönberg as Courfeyrac, Salvatore Adamo as Combeferre, Michel Delpech as Feuilly, Dominique Tirmont as M. Gillenormand, and Mireille as the hair buyer.
That year, in September 1980, a stage version directed by veteran French film director Robert Hossein was produced at the Palais des Sports in Paris. The show was a success, with 100 performances seen by over 500,000 people.
Most of the cast from the concept album performed in the production. The cast included Maurice Barrier as Valjean, Jean Vallée as Javert, Rose Laurens as Fantine, Maryse Cédolin and Sylvie Camacho and Priscilla Patron as Young Cosette, Marie-France Roussel as Mme. Thénardier, Yvan Dautin as M. Thénardier, Florence Davis and Fabrice Ploquin and Cyrille Dupont as Gavroche, Marianne Mille as Éponine, Gilles Buhlmann as Marius, Christian Ratellin as Enjolras, Fabienne Guyon as Cosette, René-Louis Baron as Combeferre, Dominique Tirmont as M. Gillenormand, Anne Forrez as Mlle. Gillenormand, and Claude Reva as the storyteller.
Original West End production
The English-language version, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and additional material by James Fenton, was substantially expanded and reworked from a literal translation by Siobhan Bracke of the original Paris version, in particular adding a prologue to tell Jean Valjean's backstory. Kretzmer's work is not a direct "translation" of the French, a term that Kretzmer refused to use. A third of the English lyrics were a "rough" translation, another third were adapted from the French lyrics and the final third consisted of new material. The majority is performed in recitative style; the vocalists use natural speech delivery, not musical metrics.
The first production in English, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, opened on 8 October 1985 (five years after the original production) at the Barbican Arts Centre, London. It was billed in the RSC Barbican Theatre programme as "The Royal Shakespeare Company presentation of the RSC/Cameron Mackintosh production", and played to preview performances beginning on 28 September 1985.
The set was designed by John Napier, costumes by Andreane Neofitou and lighting by David Hersey. Musical supervision and orchestrations were by John Cameron, who had been involved with the show since Claude-Michel and Alain hired him to orchestrate the original French concept album. Musical staging was by Kate Flatt with musical direction by Martin Koch.
The original London cast included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Roger Allam as Javert, Ken Caswell as the Bishop of Digne, Patti LuPone as Fantine, Zoë Hart, Jayne O'Mahony and Joanne Woodcock as Young Cosette, Danielle Akers, Gillian Brander and Juliette Caton as Young Éponine, Susan Jane Tanner as Madame Thénardier, Alun Armstrong as Thénardier, Frances Ruffelle as Éponine, Rebecca Caine as Cosette, Michael Ball as Marius, David Burt as Enjolras, with Ian Tucker, Oliver Spencer and Liza Hayden sharing the role of Gavroche.
On 4 December 1985, the show transferred to the Palace Theatre, London and moved again on 3 April 2004, to the much more intimate Queen's Theatre, with some revisions of staging and where, as of January 2013, it was still playing. It celebrated its ten-thousandth performance on 5 January 2010. The drummer from the original cast album, Peter Boita, stayed with the show for the first 25 years of its history.
The co-production has generated valuable income for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Original Broadway production
The musical had its out-of-town tryout at the Kennedy Center's Opera House in Washington D.C., in December 1986 for eight weeks, through February 14, 1987.
The musical then premiered on Broadway on March 12, 1987 at The Broadway Theatre. Colm Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle reprised their roles from the London production. The $4.5 million production had a more than $4 million advance sale prior to its New York opening.
The show underwent further tightening and an improved sewer lighting and Javert suicide scene effect was incorporated. Boublil explained: "The transfer from London to the United States has prompted further modifications. 'We are taking this opportunity to rethink and perfect, to rewrite some details which probably no one else will see, but which for us are still long nights of work,' Mr. Boublil says. 'There are things that nobody had time to do in London, and here we have a wonderful opportunity to fix a few things. No one will notice, perhaps, but for us, it will make us so happy if we can better this show. We would like this to be the final version.'" Two songs were deleted—the complete version of Gavroche's song "Little People" and the adult Cosette's "I Saw Him Once". A short section at the beginning of "In My Life" replaced "I Saw Him Once". The lyrics in Javert's "Stars" were changed. It now ended with the line, "This I swear by the stars!", while the London production and cast recording ended with the repeated line, "Keeping watch in the night".
The original Broadway cast included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, David Bryant as Marius, Judy Kuhn as Cosette, Michael Maguire as Enjolras, Frances Ruffelle as Éponine, Braden Danner as Gavroche, Donna Vivino as Young Cosette, Jennifer Butt as Madame Thénardier, Leo Burmester as Thénardier, Randy Graff as Fantine, Terrence Mann as Javert, Chrissie McDonald as Young Éponine, and Norman Large as the Bishop of Digne.
Other members of the original Broadway cast included Kevin Marcum, Paul Harman, Anthony Crivello, John Dewar, Joseph Kolinski, Alex Santoriello, Jesse Corti, Susan Goodman, John Norman, Norman Large, Marcus Lovett, Steve Shocket, Cindy Benson, Marcie Shaw, Jane Bodle, Joanna Glushak, Ann Crumb, Kelli James, Gretchen Kingsley-Weihe, Chrissie McDonald. Michael Hinton was the original drummer and credited on the cast album.
The musical ran at the Broadway Theatre through October 10, 1990, when it moved to the Imperial Theatre. It was scheduled to close on March 15, 2003, but the closing was postponed by a surge in public interest. According to an article in The Scotsman, "Sales picked up last October, when Sir Cameron made the announcement that the show would be closing on March 15th...its closure postponed to May 18th because of an unexpected increase in business." After 6,680 performances in sixteen years, when it closed on May 18, 2003, it was the second-longest-running Broadway musical after Cats. It was surpassed by The Phantom of the Opera, in 2006.
This Broadway production of Les Misérables and its advertising in New York City is a reoccurring theme in American Psycho. The reviewer for the Financial Times wrote that Les Misérables is "the book's hilarious main cultural compass-point".
10th Anniversary Concert
On 8 October 1995, the show celebrated its tenth anniversary with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. This 10th Anniversary Concert was nearly "complete," missing only a handful of scenes, including "The Death of Gavroche" and the confrontation between Marius and the Thénardiers at the wedding feast. Sir Cameron Mackintosh hand-selected the cast, which became known as the Les Misérables Dream Cast, assembled from around the world, and engaged the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert concluded with seventeen Valjeans from various international productions singing, "Do You Hear the People Sing?" in their native languages. The concert cast included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Philip Quast as Javert, Paul Monaghan as the Bishop of Digne, Ruthie Henshall as Fantine, Hannah Chick as Young Cosette, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier, Alun Armstrong as Thénardier, Adam Searles as Gavroche, Michael Maguire as Enjolras, Michael Ball as Marius, Judy Kuhn as Cosette, Lea Salonga as Éponine, and Anthony Crivello as Grantaire. The concert was staged by Ken Caswell and conducted by David Charles Abell.
25th Anniversary International Tour
A tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the show began performances on 12 December 2009, at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Differences from the original production included a new set, new costumes, new direction and alterations to the original orchestrations. The tour also did not use a revolving stage and the scenery was inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. Locations have included Manchester, Norwich, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Salford, and Southampton. The tour also played a special engagement in Paris. From September through October, the show returned to the Barbican Centre, London, site of the original 1985 production. The tour cast featured John Owen-Jones as Valjean, Earl Carpenter as Javert, Gareth Gates as Marius, Ashley Artus as Thénardier, Lynne Wilmot as Madame Thénardier, Madalena Alberto as Fantine, Rosalind James as Éponine, Jon Robyns as Enjolras, Katie Hall as Cosette (with Eliza Jones as Young Cosette), and David Lawrence as the Bishop of Digne. The tour ended 2 October 2010, at the Barbican.
Since its UK premiere, several international productions based on the 25th Anniversary Tour has been staged in different countries, including Spain, South Korea and Japan.
In the fall of 2010, The tour moved to the US with a new company presented by Broadway Across America to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show opening on Broadway. The tour had its opening on 19 November 2010 at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, running until 19 December 2010. This tour originally starred Lawrence Clayton as Valjean, Andrew Varela as Javert, Betsy Morgan as Fantine, Jenny Latimer as Cosette, Justin Scott Brown as Marius, Chasten Harmon as Éponine, Michael Kostroff as Thénardier, Shawna Hamic as Madame Thénardier, Jeremy Hays as Enjolras, Josh Caggiano and Ethan Paul Khusidman as Gavroche, Maya Jade Frank and Juliana Simone alternating as Young Cosette and Young Éponine. J. Mark McVey's daughter, Kylie McVey was the understudy for Young Cosette and Young Éponine. Clayton left the tour in April 2011. Ron Sharpe later took over as Valjean until June 2011. J. Mark McVey was then Valjean, but McVey and his daughter left the tour on 1 April 2012. Peter Lockyer replaces him as Valjean. Betsy Morgan left the tour on December 2, 2012. She was replaced by Genevieve Leclerc. The tour is scheduled to run through 2012, though it is expected to run until 2013 as more cities are added. In 2011 it was reported that the tour is one of six US national Broadway tours that are grossing over $1,000,000 per week.
25th Anniversary Concert
The 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables was held at The O2 in North Greenwich on Sunday, 3 October 2010 at 1:30 pm and 7:00 pm.
It featured Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Norm Lewis as Javert, Lea Salonga as Fantine, Nick Jonas as Marius, Katie Hall as Cosette, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier, Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras, Samantha Barks as Éponine, Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Mia Jenkins as Young Cosette, Robert Madge as Gavroche and Earl Carpenter as the Bishop of Digne. (Originally, Camilla Kerslake had been selected to perform as Cosette, however she was unable to attend. Katie Hall was selected in her place. Hall had previously acted the role at the Queen's Theatre from 2009 and in the 25th Anniversary Tour production at the Barbican.) Casts of the current London, international tour, original 1985 London, and several school productions took part, comprising an ensemble of three hundred performers and musicians. The concert was directed by Laurence Connor & James Powell and conducted by David Charles Abell.

Act I
1 "Prologue: Work Song" Chain Gang, Javert and Valjean
2 "Prologue: On Parole" Valjean, Farmer, Labourer, Innkeeper's Wife, Innkeeper and Bishop of Digne
3 "Prologue: Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven" Policemen and Bishop of Digne
4 "Prologue: What Have I Done?" Valjean
5 "At the End of the Day" Poor, Foreman, Workers, Factory Girls, Fantine and Valjean
6 "I Dreamed a Dream" Fantine
7 "Lovely Ladies" Sailors, Old Woman, Fantine, Crone, Whores and Pimp
8 "Fantine's Arrest" Bamatabois, Fantine, Javert and Valjean
9 "'The Runaway Cart" Townspeople, Valjean, Fauchelevant and Javert
10 "Who Am I? / The Trial" Valjean
11 "Fantine's Death: Come to Me" Fantine and Valjean
12 "The Confrontation" Javert and Valjean
13 "Castle on a Cloud" Young Cosette and Madame Thénardier
14 "Master of the House" Thénardier, Madame Thénardier and Customers
15 "The Well Scene" Valjean and Young Cosette
16 "The Bargain / The Thénardier Waltz of Treachery" Thénardier, Valjean, Madame Thénardier and Young Cosette
17 "Look Down" Gavroche, Beggars, Old Woman, Prostitute, Pimp, Enjolras, and Marius
18 "The Robbery" Thénardier, Madame Thénardier, Marius, Éponine and Valjean
19 "Javert's Intervention" Javert and Thénardier
20 "Stars" Javert
21 "Éponine's Errand" Éponine and Marius
22 "ABC Café / Red and Black" Students, Enjolras, Marius, Grantaire and Gavroche
23 "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Enjolras, Grantaire, Students and Beggars
24 "Rue Plumet – In My Life" Cosette, Valjean, Marius and Éponine
25 "A Heart Full of Love" Marius, Cosette and Éponine
26 "The Attack on the Rue Plumet" Thénardier, Thieves, Éponine, Marius, Valjean and Cosette
27 "One Day More" Valjean, Marius, Cosette, Éponine, Enjolras, Javert, Thénardier, Madame Thénardier, Gavroche and Company

Act II
28 "Building the Barricade (Upon These Stones)" Enjolras, Javert, Marius, Éponine and Valjean
29 "On My Own" Éponine
30 "At the Barricade (Upon These Stones)" Enjolras, Students and Army Officer
31 "Javert's Arrival" Javert and Enjolras
32 "Little People" Gavroche, Students, Enjolras and Javert
33 "A Little Fall of Rain" (Éponine's Death) Éponine and Marius
34 "Night of Anguish" Enjolras, Marius, Valjean and Students
35 "The First Attack" Enjolras, Grantaire, Students, Valjean and Javert
36 "Drink with Me" Grantaire, Students, Women and Marius
37 "Bring Him Home" Valjean
38 "Dawn of Anguish" Enjolras and Students
39 "The Second Attack (Death of Gavroche)" Gavroche, Enjolras, Marius, Valjean, Feuilly and Students
40 "The Final Battle" Army Officer, Enjolras, Grantaire and Students
41 "Dog Eats Dog (The Sewers)" Thénardier
42 "Soliloquy (Javert's Suicide)" Javert and Valjean
43 "Turning" Women of Paris
44 "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" Marius
45 "Every Day" Cosette, Marius and Valjean
46 "Valjean's Confession" Marius and Valjean
47 "Wedding Chorale" Guests, Thénardier, Marius and Madame Thénardier
48 "Beggars at the Feast" Thénardier and Madame Thénardier
49 "Valjean's Death" Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Marius and Éponine
50 "Do You Hear The People Sing? (Reprise) / [Finale]" Full Company

Jean Valjean: Prisoner 24601. After being released from imprisonment for serving nineteen years (five for stealing a loaf of bread and fourteen for multiple escape attempts), he decides to break his parole and turns his life around, proving that the corrupt can make themselves virtuous and selfless once more. He changes his identity, becoming the wealthy mayor of a small town. He later adopts Cosette, the only daughter of Fantine. At the end, he eventually dies and the spirit of Fantine thanks him for raising her child.
Inspector Javert: Respects the law above all else and relentlessly pursues Valjean, hoping to bring the escaped convict to justice. He firmly believes that humans cannot change for the better. In the end he commits suicide.
The Bishop of Digne: Houses Valjean after his release from jail and gives him gifts of silver and absolution. His acts of kindness inspire Valjean to improve himself and escape the label of "criminal."
The Factory Foreman: Foreman of Valjean's (Valjean has assumed the name Madeleine) jet bead factory in Montreuil-sur-Mer which employs Fantine and other workers. The Foreman fires Fantine from the factory when she persists in resisting his overt sexual advances and because it is discovered that she is the mother of an illegitimate child (Cosette) living elsewhere.
The Factory Girl: In the original Broadway and London versions of the musical, the Factory Girl is mistress to the Factory Foreman. The Factory Girl discovers that the Foreman has his eyes set on bedding Fantine, so she does what she believes is necessary to see to it that Fantine gets fired. At the factory (in "At the End of the Day"), the Factory Girl intercepts a letter that the Thénardiers have sent to Fantine requesting that Fantine send them more money to care for Cosette who is ill (a lie). The letter exposes Fantine as the mother of an illegitimate child, and the Factory Girl shows it to the Foreman, insisting that Fantine be fired. The Foreman complies.
Fantine: A poor worker who loses her job and, as a result, turns to prostitution in order to continue paying the Thénardiers to care for her illegitimate daughter, Cosette. As Fantine dies of consumption, she asks Valjean to look after her child. Ultimately she appears as a spirit and escorts the dying Valjean to Heaven.
Old Woman: Affectionately called "The Hair Hag" in many of the original US companies, the Old Woman is the character who talks Fantine into selling her hair before Fantine becomes a prostitute.
Crone: Also called "The Locket Crone," this character is the woman who talks Fantine into selling her precious locket for much less than it is worth.
Bamatabois: An upper-class "fop" who tries to buy Fantine's services. He treats her abusively so she refuses him. When Javert enters the scene, Bamatabois tries to cover the fact that he was soliciting a prostitute by having her arrested for attacking him.
Fauchelevent: In a role reduced from the novel, Fauchelevent appears only in the Cart Crash scene, where he is trapped under the cart and rescued by Valjean. He is an elderly man who has fallen upon hard times.
Champmathieu: A man who is arrested and on trial because he is believed to be Jean Valjean. Valjean, still under the name Madeleine, confesses his true identity at the trial in order to save the man.
Young Cosette: The eight-year-old daughter of Fantine. Cosette is in the care of the Thénardiers who are paid by Fantine to take care of her child. Unknown to Fantine, the Thénardiers force Cosette to work, and they use Fantine's money for their own needs.
Madame Thénardier: Thénardier's unscrupulous wife.
Young Éponine: Eight-year-old Éponine is the pampered daughter of the Thénardiers. She grows up with Cosette and is unkind to her.
Thénardier: A second-rate thief, Thénardier runs a small inn.
Gavroche: Gavroche is a streetwise urchin who dies on the barricade helping the revolutionaries. He is actually the abandoned son of the Thénardiers, though this is not mentioned in the musical.
Enjolras: Enjolras is the leader of the student revolutionaries and a friend of Marius.
Marius Pontmercy: Marius, a student revolutionary, is friends with Éponine, but falls in love with Cosette, and she with him. He is later rescued from the barricades by Valjean, who ultimately gives Marius and Cosette his blessing, allowing them to be married.
Éponine: Daughter of the Thénardiers, Éponine, now ragged and a waif, secretly loves Marius. She is killed while returning to the barricades to see Marius. In the end she appears as a spirit alongside Fantine and they guide the dying Valjean to Heaven.
Brujon: The brutish and cowardly but dissatisfied member of Thénardier's Gang, Brujon's role in the musical expands to cover Gueulemer.
Babet: A foreboding member of Thénardier's Gang.
Claquesous: Quiet and masked, expert at evading the police, Claquesous might in fact be working for the law.
Montparnasse: A young member of Thénardier's Gang, Montparnasse a handsome man appears to be close to Éponine.
Cosette: Cosette, the daughter of Fantine, has grown-up to become a beautiful young woman of culture and privilege under Valjean's adoptive and loving fatherly care and protection. She falls in love with Marius, and he returns her equally strong and pure romantic feelings. She marries him at the end of the musical.
Friends of the ABC: Student revolutionaries who lead a revolution and die in the process, the Friends of the ABC become martyrs for the rights of citizens. (See Members listed below)
Combeferre: Combeferre is the philosopher of the ABC group. Enjolras' second-in-command. He is described as the guide of the Friends of the ABC.
Feuilly: Feuilly is the only member of the Friends of the ABC who is not a student; he is a workingman. An optimist who stands as a sort of ambassador for the "outside," while the rest of the men stand for France. He loves Poland very much.
Courfeyrac: Friendly and open, Courfeyrac introduces Marius to the ABC society in the novel. He always has many mistresses, and is described as the centre of the Friends of the ABC, always giving off warmth.
Joly: A medical student and a hypochondriac; best friends with Lesgles.
Grantaire: Grantaire is a member of the Friends of the ABC. Though he in love with Enjolras and is one of his truest friends, Grantaire often opposes Enjolras' fierce determination and occasionally acts as a voice of reason. Grantaire is also very close to Gavroche and attempts to act as his protector. Grantaire has a weakness for spirits of the alcoholic kind and is often tipsy throughout the musical, carrying a bottle of wine wherever he goes.
Jean Prouvaire: Prouvaire is the youngest student member of the Friends. He is a poet and embodies the Romantic Era. He affects the medieval spelling "Jehan" and grows flowers. Jean Prouvaire has the honor of waving the giant red flag during "One Day More" at the end of Act One.
Lesgles: Best friends with Joly. A very unlucky man, but also a very happy one

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