2010 marks the 25th anniversary year for LES MISERABLES, but over in the UK the revolution is just getting started.
To celebrate this milestone, Cameron Mackintosh recently presented a brand new 25th anniversary production of Boublil & Schonberg‘s legendary musical with glorious new staging and spectacular re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. The new production was acclaimed by the critics, fans, and new audiences, while breaking box office records across the UK.
2010 also saw LES MISERABLES make theatrical history with an international first – three different productions playing in London at the same time – the Original Production at The Queen’s Theatre, the NEW 25th Anniversary Production at The Barbican, London and a celebratory concert at The O2 (to be shown in movie theatres, one night only on November 17th) with past and present cast members. This showbiz trifecta is a fitting testament to the title’s lasting impact as a cultural phenomenon and a truly innovative musical.
Facts and Figures
The LES MISERABLES Official Website has a host of fascinating photos, videos, stories and more. One of the things we found particularly interesting are all the Facts and Figures associated with the show. Here are just a few:
- Les Misérables has been translated into 21 different languages (English, Japanese, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, German, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Danish, French, Czech, Castillian, Mauritian Creole, Flemish, Finnish, Argentinian, Portuguese, Estonian and Mexican Spanish).
- Productions have played in 42 countries and 291 cities.
- The production has played over 43,000 professional performances worldwide giving a total audience figure of more than 55 million people.
- The biggest single live audience for Les Misérables to date was 125,000 at the 1989 Australia Day concert in Sydney. The biggest broadcast audience was when 250 Les Misérables cast members sang at the 1996 European Football Championship, televised to 400 million viewers in 197 countries.
- The longest running production is in London where it played 7,602 performances at the Palace Theatre before transferring to the Queen’s Theatre where it opened on 3th April 2004. It is now the world’s longest running musical.
Les Mis in Pop Culture
And who can forget the impact LES MISERABLES has made in the world of pop culture – from Susan Boyle’s meteoric rise to the top with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” to TV’s “Seinfeld” where George Costanza can’t get the words to “Master of the House” out of his head:
Click to watch the clip.
Les Miz in Concert
Share Your Story
Do you have a favorite LES MISERABLES moment or story? We’d love to hear it. Let us know by leaving a comment below or by checking out LES MISERABLES MTI ShowSpace page.
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Teaching theatre in the small rural western NY high school of Alexander CSD, I was very fortunate when our new theatre space was finished in time to mount a production of Les Miz when the School Edition first became available. So many people thought I was crazy to take it on with a cast of 27 (lots of doubling). But with the advice of my friend Jim Hoare who had been the director of the first test production on Long Island, I persevered. Not only was it a hit in our home town, but also the kids were nominated in 8 categories by the judges of the Stars of Tomorrow Program sponsored by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League. They were thrilled when they not only got to perform excerpts from the show on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, but also it was broadcast later on television. I could not have been more proud of my theatre students. The student who played Jean Val Jean is now a graduate student in vocal performance at NYU, not bad for a small theatre program in rural WNY!