Les Miserables

Synopsis

Based on elements of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables this musical is one of the most successful around the world. Les Miserables opened at the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985, following a sell-out season at the Barbican. Jean Valjean, released on parole after 19 years on the chain gang, finds that the 'ticket-of-leave' he must display by law, condemns him to be an outcast. Only the saintly Bishop of Digne treats him kindly and Valjean, embittered by years of hardship, repays him by stealing some silver. Valjean is caught and brought back by the police, and is astonished when the Bishop lies to save him, also giving him two precious candlesticks. Valjean decides to start his life anew. Things go well but 8 years later, an encounter with a face from the past threatens everything he now holds dear..

Our Review:

Simon Cole - 15 July 2010

Watching the 25th Anniversary touring production of Les Miserables, which opened at the Bristol Hippodrome this week for a four week run, it is hard to believe that the show is over a quarter of a century old.

This Cameron Mackintosh produced musical is based on Victor Hugo’s celebrated story of ‘Jean Valjean’; sentenced to 19 years imprisonment for stealing a loaf of bread, and who on release, when subjected to persecution, breaks parole and is chased across the years by his nemesis, Inspector Javert. Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil’s musical adaptation was first presented on the stage in Paris in 1980. The English language version opened in London, to very critical reviews, in 1985, and on Broadway two years later.

Whatever magic ingredient has contributed to making this the longest running musical in the history of London’s west end - when their later, but equally magnificent, productions of Miss Sa...