Les Miserables
OPENING: March 12, 1987
CLOSING: May 18 2003
Seen: April 1988
LOCATION: Broadway Theatre
Do you hear the people sing?
There are some vocal lines that are etched in every theater kid’s brain. Do a musical with a guy who’s name is any variation of Robert he will be called every variation of “Bobby Baby” imaginable. Cast party on karaoke night at the local bar? Expect some Summer Lovin’. And most recently, though admittedly probably not as widespread, take a road trip through farm country and many choruses of CORN! will echo through the car.
That one’s probably limited to me and Rebecca, but I refuse to believe we are the only ones.
But the opening line to this blog is probably one of the most lingering and iconic lines, from the most epic of epic musicals – Les Miserables.
My dad’s playbill is dated from April 1988. My parents were married at this point in time; my guess is that they got tickets for my mom’s birthday. It seems appropriate; by my mom’s birthday, the show had been running for thirteen months and was the hottest ticket on Broadway.
Like many of the shows that my father saw, Les Mis had humble beginnings. After librettist Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schonberg finished their rock opera, Revolution Francaise, they were bitten by the musical theater bug and were eager to recreate their success in Paris. But there was a problem: France was not a country that loved musical theatre. Opera? Absolutely. But a rousing, modern musical? Pish. I don’t know if that’s still the case today, but in the mid-seventies, it was very much the truth.
So what were a couple of French musical theater writers to do? Why, look to London, of course! What was Andrew Lloyd Webber doing to create interest his more experimental pieces? Voila! Release a demo album before actually producing the show!
After the concept album was released, Boublil and Schonberg managed to mount a concert version of the concept album in a Paris sports arena in 1980, which closed after three months. Theatre Kids, we know this is typically the death knell for musicals, but there was a man by the name of Cameron Mackintosh who happened to catch that unsuccessful run and saw it for what it could be. He decided he could transform it for the English stage.
And transform it he did. He turned it into the musical that we know and love, and brought it to London with the powerhouse vocals of Roger Allem, Colm Wilkinson, and the great Patti LuPone in 1985. It transferred to Broadway two years later where it ran for sixteen years.
The British version may have been the more polished one; but the American one was definitely the one that was received better. After an original cast of theater vets that included Colm Wilkinson reprising his role as Valjean and the hardworking Terrence Mann as Javert, many other theater vets stepped in over the years as replacements and many newcomers shot to stardom after appearing in the run. To name a few of these actors – the list includes Debbie Gravitte, Andrea McCardle, Debbie Gibson, Lea Salonga, Ricky Martin, Hunter Foster, Hugh Panaro, and Sutton Foster. And for context – I left names off this list. It is truly remarkable the absolute power this show had over the industry.
I was late to the Les Mis game. My parents were never crazy about the show; a part of me wants to blame it on not seeing the original cast but I don’t think that’s it. While the show covers sweeping themes and is home to some of the most iconic songs in musical theater (Because really – which teenaged musical theatre queen HASN’T attempted On My Own, only to graduate to I Dreamed A Dream?), it is a beast of a show to sit through and my father has the attention span of a peanut and my mother would consider something so militaristic an assault on her senses.
My first “true” exposure to Les Mis, quite unfortunately, was the 2012 Hugh Jackman movie. Did Anne Hathaway deserve that Oscar? Absolutely. And did Mr. Jackman deserve the nomination? I think so. But they were the only parts of that film worth the ticket price. And there was one actor – a very well known actor who shall remain nameless – who did not live up to his superstar status and made me wonder why he had his role because he did not have the vocals.
The original run of Les Mis closed in 2003, to be revived again in 2006 and then again in 2014. It just goes to show how beloved this show truly is.
Perhaps because of my parents lukewarm reception and my introduction to the piece via this version – I don’t have the same love for it that my contemporaries do. It can be argued that should I see another stage version that is done correctly, my mind will change. There’s another stage classic I had a similar introduction do where I was properly introduced to the stage version and I was blown away, so it is a possibility.
But one things remains true: I am a theater kid. And as a teenager, I belted out On My Own with the best of them. And I’d be lying if I said that now, no longer a teenager, I don’t on occasion, belt out I Dreamed a Dream in the shower when I’m not having the best of days.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
CAST: REPLACEMENT
JEAN VALJEAN: Gary Morris
JAVERT: Anthony Crivello
CHAIN GANG: Tim Shew, Joel Robertson, Stephen Bogardus, John Dewar, Leo Burmester, Joseph Kolinski, Ray Walker, Bruce Kuhn, Michael Maguire
FARMER: Jesse Corti
LABOURER: Rene Clemente
INNKEEPER’S WIFE: Suan Goodman
INNKEEPER: John Norman
THE BISHOP OF DIGNE: Norman Large
CONSTABLES: Marcus Lovett, Steve Shocket
FANTINE: Randy Graff
FOREMAN: Joel Robertson
WORKERS: Jesse Corti, John Dewar
WOMEN WORKERS: Cindy Benson, Marcie Shaw, Jane Bodle, Joanna Glushak
FACTORY GIRL: Janene Lovullo
SAILORS: Joseph Kolinski, Tim Shew, John Dewar
WHORES: Susan Goodman, Joanna Glushak, Jane Bodle, Kelli James, Janene Lovullo, Lisa Ann Grant, Tracey Shayne, Gretchen Kingsley-Weihe
OLD WOMAN: Cindy Benson
CRONE: Marcie Shaw
PIMP: Steve Shocket
BAMATABOIS: Stephen Bogardus
FAUCHELEVENT: Steve Shocket
YOUNG COSETTE: Donna Vivino, Brandy Brown (Monday Evenings), Chrissie McDonald (Saturday Matinees)
MADAME THENARDIER: Jennifer Butt
THENARDIER: Leo Burmester
YOUNG EPONINE: Chrissie McDonald, Brandy Brown (Saturday Matinees)
DRINKER: Jesse Corti
YOUNG COUPLE: Bruce Kuhn, Gretchen Kingsley-Weihe
DRUNK: John Norman
DINERS: Norman Large, Joanna Glushak
OTHER DRINKERS: Steve Shocket, Stephen Bogardus, Tim Shew, Janene Lovullo, Susan Goodman, Cindy Benson
YOUNG MAN: Joseph Kolinski
YOUNG GIRLS: Jane Bodle, Lisa Ann Grant
OLD COUPLE: Marcie Shaw, John Dewar
GAVROCHE: Danny Gerard
OLD BEGGAR WOMAN: Suan Goodman
YOUNG PROSTITUTE: Janene Lovullo
TRAVELERS: Joel Robertson, Marcus Lovett
PIMP: John Norman
EPONINE: Kelli James
MONTPARNASSE: Bruce Kuhn
BABET: Marcus Lovett
BRUJON: Tim Shew
CLAQUESOUS: Steve Shocket
ENJOLRAS: Michael Maguire
MARIUS: Ray Walker
COSETTE: Tracey Shayne
COMBEFERRE: Joel Robertson
FEUILLY: Joseph Kolinski
COURFEYRAC: Jesse Corti
JOLY: John Dewar
GRANTAIRE: Stephen Bogardus
LESGLES: Norman Large
JEAN PROUVAIRE: John Norman
STANDBYS/UNDERSTUDIES: Tim Shew (John Valjean); John Robertson (Jean Valjean); Stephen Bogardus (Javert); Bruce Kuhn (Javert, Bishop of Digne, Thenardier); Norman Large (Javert, Thenardier); John Dewar (Bishop of Digne); Janene Lovullo (Fantine); Joanna Glushak (Fantine); Brandy Brown (Young Cosette, Young Eponine, Gavroche); Chrissie McDonald (Young Cosette); Cindy Benson (Madame Thenardier); Marcie Shaw (Madame Thenardier); John Norman (Thenardier); David Burdick (Gavroche); Lisa Ann Grant (Eponine); Gretchen Kingsley-Weihe (Eponine, Cosette); Marcus Lovett (Marius); Joseph Kolinski (Marius, Enjolras); Jane Bodle (Cosette); Jordan Leeds (Enjolras); Patrick A’Hearn (Swing); Anny Degagne (Swing); and Nina Hennessey (Swing).
Bennetts, Leslie. “’Les Miserables’ Ready for Its American Debut” New York Times, December 6, 1986. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/06/theater/les-miserables-ready-for-its-american-debut.html?searchResultPosition=47
Billington, Michael. “Twenty-five Years On, they ask me if I was wrong about Les Miserables…” Blog, The Guardian. September 21, 2010. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2010/sep/21/les-miserables-25-year-anniversary
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
Internet Movie Database. “Les Miserables”. Accessed August 2024. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Les%2520Mis
Simonson, Robert. “’One Day More’: A History of Les Miserables”. Playbill, March 23, 2014. https://playbill.com/article/one-day-more-a-history-of-les-miserables-com-216309
