In the tradition of the novel, it was the people and not the critics who made Les Misérables a hit. Although the show opened at the RSC to initially mixed reviews in the British press, audiences reacted with great enthusiasm. As a result, the entire RSC run was sold out. Night after night, the audience responded with standing ovations.

The show moved to London's Palace Theatre in December of 1985, where it is still running, and at this date is the third longest running musical in British theatre history. The American version of the show opened at the Kennedy Center in December, 1986, before opening on Broadway on March 12, 1987.

Les Misérables has also been produced in Tokyo, Budapest, Sydney, Reykjavik, Oslo, Vienna, Toronto, Prague, Copenhagen, Madrid, Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam, Duisburg, Singapore, Hong Kong and Cape Town. It has toured a total of 125 cities in America and extensively throughout Japan, Canada, Austria and the UK. In every country except Asia, where subtitles were used, it has been performed in the native language.

It has been recorded in many languages; it won several Tony awards and other major theatrical and recording awards in other countries.

The lithograph of Cosette, the show's famous logo, was created by illustrator Emile Bayard, a wealthy Parisian society painter. Bayard, who lived from 1837 to 1891, was famous in his own lifetime for his brilliant portraits of the characters in Les Misérables.