THE LEGENDARY LES MISÉRABLES IS 20 YEARS YOUNG ON OCTOBER 8TH AND CELEBRATES THIS LANDMARK PERFORMANCE WITH 35 BRILLIANT SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM AROUND THE UK JOINING THE CURRENT CAST TO PERFORM A SPECIALLY DEVISED FINALE
On Saturday 8th October LES MISÉRABLES will celebrate its 20th Birthday. At the end of the evening performance 35 brilliant school children will join the terrific current cast for a specially devised finale. All the children taking part have previously appeared in the hugely successful LES MISÉRABLES Schools Edition and were hand picked after a series of auditions. There are currently over 1,000 productions of the LES MISÉRABLES Schools Edition scheduled or being performed by over 100,000 school children in the US and UK, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools.
This musical that makes history, does so again, as it is embraced by the youth of the world, and continues to inspire generation after generation. Here are just a few of the recent remarks received from the groups who have performed the show and their audiences.
“When LES MISÉRABLES first opened in 1985 it took the world by storm, creating a new generation of musical theatre lovers and, as it turns out, inspiring many of the people in our cast and crew to become involved in theatre. Indeed, when we auditioned for the show we were impressed, not only by the talent of the auditionees but by the impact that LES MISÉRABLES has had on people of all ages.
One young auditionee remembers saving up his pocket money and pestering his non-theatre going parents to take him to the show – he was only five at the time!”
Peter Binyon, President, Ignatians Musical Society, Brisbane, Australia, July 2005
“The magic of this musical is ever present on every page and I have never seen a group of pupils this enthused and motivated about anything else before. Les Mis has everything that appeals to the teenager: love, greed, rebellion and above all passion. It is most positive that this saga can now be relived in schools and youngsters can benefit from performing this challenging and passionate music, enriching their lives”.
Shaun Chambers, Cowley Language College, St.Helens, March 2005
“The whole production was an absolute pleasure. Not only was it a success for the members it actually lifted the whole of the town.
Mark Worsley, Centre Stage, Exmouth, Devon, May 2005
“It was an exceptional performance and one of which, I know, you would have been very proud.
I just wanted to make you aware of what a credit they did to your musical”
Hugo Swire, M.P. for East Devon and Shadow Minister for the Arts about the Centre Stage Performance
June 2005
“Thank you for making the show available to youth groups.
I think you have allowed a lot of young people to realise their dreams”
Rachel Jones, Aged 18, Madame Thenardier, Bradford Youth Players, August 2005
The Cameron Mackintosh/Royal Shakespeare Company production of LES MISÉRABLES continues to break records and change the world.
- LES MISÉRABLES was recently voted the nation’s most popular musical in a poll by BBC Radio 2 listeners by a landslide majority of over 400,000 votes.
- LES MISÉRABLES has been seen by over 53 million people worldwide in 38 countries and in 21 languages.
- LES MISÉRABLES has had 31 cast recordings including the multi-platinum London cast recording and the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums.
- LES MISÉRABLES 10th ANNIVERSARY Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert video has sold well over one million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK.
- LES MISÉRABLES made history last year with a gala performance at Windsor Castle in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and French President Jacques Chirac, celebrating 100 years of the Entente Cordiale.
- LES MISÉRABLES became the first full-scale Western musical to play in China in the English language when it opened for a limited run at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in June 2002, where it sold out to a rapturous reception.
- LES MISÉRABLES will become the first ever major western musical to be produced in Mandarin when it takes to the stage in Shanghai in Spring 2007, as a co-production between Cameron Mackintosh and the Shanghai Grand Theatre. This will be the first of four productions planned for Cameron Mackintosh’s new joint venture company in China.
Next year LES MISÉRABLES will be on track to become the longest-running musical ever in the West End with special celebrations already being planned.
Performance times for LES MISÉRABLES at the Queen’s Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue are Mondays to Saturdays at 7.30pm, with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. LES MISÉRABLES is currently booking until 6 January 2007. Ticket prices range from £12.50 - £47.50 and are available from the Queen’s Theatre Box Office on 0870 890 1110. Visit the LES MISÉRABLES website on www.lesmis.com
