On Oct. 3 — while the original production continues at the Queen's Theatre in the West End, and the newly directed and reconceived 25th anniversary production plays at the Barbican in London — a concert featuring many alumni of worldwide productions will play a 7 PM performance at The O2 in London.
The two London casts will participate in the concert, joining Alfie Boe (Broadway's La Boheme) as Jean Valjean, pop singer Nick Jonas (a former Gavroche in the original Broadway run) as Marius, Norm Lewis (The Little Mermaid, Sondheim on Sondheim) as Javert, Matt Lucas (TV's "Little Britain") as Thénardier, Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon) as Fantine, Jenny Galloway (Mary Poppins on Broadway and in London) as Madame Thénardier, classical artist Camilla Kerslake as Cosette. Members of the original 1985 London production will be on hand.
The 25th anniversary concert at The O2 will feature a company of over 300 actors and musicians.
The new 25th anniversary production of Les Misérables (which is to appear in the U.S. in the fall) will play for 20 performances only in London (Sept. 14-Oct. 2) at the Barbican, London, where the show originally premiered. (For those 20 shows, Les Miz will, in effect, be competing against its own original version, which still thrives in the West End.)
Cameron Mackintosh's production of Les Miserables is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The original London 1985 production of Les Miz was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird. The new 25th anniversary production and the O2 Concert are directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley. The production has original costumes by Andreane Neofitou, additional costumes by Christine Rowland, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Paule Constable and sound by Mick Potter.
Tickets for The O2 Concert are available starting June 6 from www.lesmis.com/O2. Ticket prices are £30, £50, £100 & £150.
Some tickets for the 25th anniversary production at the Barbican, London are still available from www.barbican.org.uk.
Tickets for the original production at the Queen's Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue are available from www.lesmis.com.
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Les Misérables, the sung-through tale of outcasts, orphans, revolutionaries, lovers and thieves in early 19th-century France, originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on Oct. 8, 1985, and transferred to the Palace Theatre on Dec. 4, 1985, and moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre on April 3, 2004, where it continues.
When it played its 21st London birthday on Oct. 8, 2006, it became the world's longest-running musical (or so it is billed), surpassing the record previously held by Cats in London's West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating an historic 10,000 performances.
Seen in 42 countries and in 21 languages, the musical has 36 cast recordings, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the soon-to-be-released live recording of the new 25th anniversary production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the U.K. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the U.K., U.S. and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools.
The score includes such songs as "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Stars," "Bring Him Home," "Do You Hear the People Sing?," "One Day More," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," "Master of the House" and many more.
Producer Mackintosh is currently developing a film of Les Misérables with Working Title and Universal.
