PeterRS Posted Thursday at 03:23 AM Posted Thursday at 03:23 AM Can it really be that the stage musical Les Miserables opened in London 40 years ago? And that it has been running in London, New York and many other cities around the world. This is a show that has now been seen by more than 130 million people, has played in 57 countries and been sung in 22 different languages. And that is before we look at the numbers from the successful movie version. The extraordinary thing is that the show almost closed after its first few weeks in London. When the large envelope landed on London producer Cameron Mackintosh's desk, he was somewhat dismayed to see it contained some cassette tapes of another musical - yet another musical. As a successful producer with CATS and a mcuh lauded revival of My Fair Lady under his belt, he was used to being bombarded with eldless cassettes from a line of seemingly endless composers and lyricists. He almost did not listen to this one since he had heard it had opened in Paris (a city that for whatever reason is death to musicals) even though this show had been quite a success. Yet some instinct made him listen to those cassettes and read about this show. Based on Victo Hugo's massive novel, Les Miserables, he heard something which he thought he could re-fashion into a commercial musical. After discussion with its creators Claude Michel Schoenberg and Alain Boublil, he set to work. Requiring such a huge cast and scenery, Mackintosh realised his regular investors (called "angels" in show biz) could not alone finance a production. So he went into a joint venture with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Its directors were keen and the show opened on October 8 1985. Originally planned for a run of around 12 weeks, all hoped it would run for considerably longer. But when the first night newspaper reviews bordered on the disastrous, everyone prepared for a financial disaster. All except one man, Cameron Mackintosh. Having been in love with musicals since a small child, he believed passionately that what he was seeing and hearing from audiences was not what the critics had written. Audiences seemed to love the show. So he found more cash, blitzed the media with more ads and arranged a short extension to the season. Short? Les Miserables has become the longest-running most successful musical of all time. I have always wondered what it is that has attracted so many millions to see the show. Is it just a love story set against a state of revolution? Triumph over tragedy? Mackintosh himself believes that the power of the show is in its appeal to youth - audiences are inspired by young people fighting for their beliefs and a better world. This is why some of the songs have become anthems of freedom and revolution around the world. We all hope for a brighter tomorrow. Les Mis is now taking bookings in London through till 3 October 2026. Quote
