Will the Chinese Like Les Miserables???

If you can't quite stump up the airfare to Shanghai, you can pay a mini-visit tonight along with Les Miserables. The Boublil and Schonberg blockbuster musical, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, is opening for the first time in Communist China - at the Shanghai Grand Theatre - and a BBC Omnibus film crew has gone along with the show. Tonight's documentary, aired on BBC1 tonight at 10.35pm, goes behind the scenes to reveal the production's various logistical nightmares as well as the personal frustrations of the creative team and the all-American touring company. But will the Chinese make this French Revolution musical, based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, the domestic success that it's become internationally? The West End production of Les Mis has just celebrated its 17th birthday while its Broadway sister is approaching her 16th birthday in March 2003 (and closing three days after it). Worldwide, the show has so far been seen by over 47 million people in more than 33 countries and in 20 languages.

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