 | Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a musical composed in 1980 by the French composer Claude-Michel Schönberg with a libretto by Alain Boublil. Through-sung, it is perhaps the most famous of all French musicals and one of the most performed musicals worldwide. On October 8, 2006, the show celebrated its 21st anniversary and became the longest-running West End musical in history and is still running (though it has changed venues). Among the most famous songs of this Tony award-winning musical are "I Dreamed a Dream", "One Day More", "A Heart Full of Love", "Do You Hear the People Sing?", and "On My Own." The musical is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th Century France, it follows the intertwining stories of a cast of characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. |
| The characters include a paroled convict named Jean Valjean who, failing attempts to find work as an honest man with his yellow ticket of leave, breaks his parole and conceals his identity; the police inspector Javert who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean; Fantine, the single mother who is forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter; Marius, a French student who falls in love with Valjean's adopted daughter Cosette (see illustration of Cosette. Artist is Emile Bayard 1837 to 1891); the Thénardiers, the unscrupulous innkeepers who thrive on cheating and stealing; Éponine, their young daughter who is hopelessly in love with Marius; and student leader Enjolras who plans the revolt to free the oppressed lower classes of France. The main characters are joined by an ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers, and others. The Broadway production opened on March 12, 1987 at the Broadway Theater. Colm Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle reprised their roles from the London production. 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. After 6,680 performances in sixteen years, when it closed on May 18, 2003, it was the second-longest-running Broadway musical after Cats. More recently, its position has fallen to the third-longest-running Broadway musical after The Phantom of the Opera ascended initially to the second and, in 2006, to the number one spot. Les Misérables began a limited return to Broadway on November 9, 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre. On December 19, 2006, it was announced that Les Misérables would extend its run until September 1, 2007. It was subsequently announced that the show would have an open-ended run rather than a set closing date. The Broadway revival of Les Misérables closed on January 6, 2008. Combined with the original production's 6,680 performances, Les Misérables has played 7,176 performances on Broadway. | |
"Castle on a Cloud" and "Master of the House" - 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables at the Royal Albert Hall on October 8, 1995 One Day More Bring him home - Colm Wilkinson (Jean Valjean) Lyrics: Bring him home God on high Hear my prayer In my need You have always been there He is young He's afraid Let him rest Heaven blessed. Bring him home Bring him home Bring him home. He's like the son I might have known If God had granted me a son. The summers die One by one How soon they fly On and on And I am old And will be gone. Bring him peace Bring him joy He is young He is only a boy You can take You can give Let him be Let him live If I die, let me die Let him live Bring him home Bring him home Bring him home. | |
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