The musical "Les Miserables": content, video, interesting facts, history

The musical "Miserables"

The first French musical, which became world-famous not in the original language, but in English. Sometimes it is not enough to create a talented work, it is also necessary to properly present it to the public. "Les Miserables" got a chance to become the most long-playing musical in history thanks to British producer Cameron McIntosh. He made it possible for millions of people to see the magnificent production and empathize with the complex fate of the heroes of Hugo.

Summary of the musical "Les Miserables" and a lot of interesting facts about this work, read on our page.

Summary

1815, the quarry, where the convicts work. One of them is Jean Valjean. 19 years ago, he was convicted of stealing bread for his hungry family. Taskmaster Javert brings him the message of release and the yellow passport of the pariah. Valjean is free, but nobody lets the beggar beggar for the night. Finally, he finds shelter in the house of Bishop Dinsky. In the morning, obeying the devilish impulse, he steals the candlesticks from him, but the bishop protects him before the police and presents the stolen items. For the former convict, this becomes a lesson of kindness and mercy.

1823 Valjean changed his name in order to settle in Montreille-sur-Mer - now he is Mr. Madeleine, the owner of the factory and the mayor. A scandal broke out at the factory - it turned out that one of the workers, Fantine, has an illegitimate child. The girl is fired. In order to feed her daughter Cozette, who lives with the rough and cruel Tenardieu, she becomes a prostitute. Unjustly accused of attacking a client, she falls into the hands of Javert, who now serves as the police of this city. Valjean takes her from prison and places her in a hospital. Dying, Fantine receives a promise from him to take care of her baby. Javert suspects that Madeleine is Valjean, although the latter was recognized as a completely different person and is about to be condemned. Valjean doesn’t allow lawlessness to happen, he confesses to identity fraud and runs. He takes Cosette from Tenardier and hides in a monastery.

1832, Paris. The national hero, General Lamarck, is dying, and a rebellion is brewing in the streets. Valjean and Cosette come to the city. Over the past years, the enemies did not lose time - and now the gang Tenardieu and Javert are already close by. Daughter Tenardier Eponina secretly in love with a student Marius, and he, meeting on the street Cosette, falls in love with her. Lamarck is dying, Paris is preparing for rebellion. Valjean is about to leave the country, but intercepts Marius Cozette's letter and goes to the barricades, where the young man fights. Having met there Zhavera, spying for the authorities, Valjean releases him. Eponina dies one of the first, the next day only the wounded Marius and Valjean survived among the rebels. Finding the young man already unconscious, Valjean brings him through sewer tunnels. But at the exit they are met by Javert. Obeying an inexplicable inner feeling, he lets his sworn enemy go, and, unable to cope with the compassion that has arisen in him, he rushes into the Seine. Valjean reveals to Marius that he is a convict who has broken the law and takes a promise from him that Cosette will not find out. However, the girl tells everything Tenardier, burst into a celebration on the occasion of her wedding with Marius. Valjean is already preparing to leave this world, and, barely Cosette has time to say goodbye to him, he leaves with Fantina and Eponina.

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Interesting Facts

• A new round of popularity of the musical brought a simple British housewife Susan Boyle, in 2009, brilliantly performed on the TV show "Britain is looking for talents" aria of Fantines "I Dreamed a Dream". A few days video of this performance gathered millions of views on the Internet.
• Schoenberg, Bublil and McIntosh, 4 years after the release of "Les Miserables," presented another successful joint project to the world - the musical Miss Saigon. The production is known for landing on the scene of a helicopter almost indistinguishable from the present. In London and New York, the musical went about 10 years in a row.

• A creative and production team of more than 100 people takes part in each performance of “Miserables”. Artists wear 392 costumes.
• In 1996, 250 artists of the musical performed at the opening of the World Cup, the live broadcast of which was watched by 400 million people.
• "Les Miserables" is one of three Broadway centenarians after the "Cats" and the "Phantom of the Opera" by E.L. Webber.

Best numbers

Work Song ("Look down") - convict song (listen)

"I Dreamed a Dream" - Fantine aria (listen)

"Castle on a Cloud" - little Cosetta's aria (listen)

"Do You Hear the People Sing?" - choir on the barricades (listen)

History of creation and productions

Ideas are in the air. Alan Bubble, a French librettist and playwright, visited the British musical “Oliver!” In the late 1970s, where he saw Gavroche in one of the characters. Following the legendary child from the barricades, Valjean, Fantine, Javert were brought to the writer's inner eye ... When he got home, he immediately set to work, offering the material to his longtime collaborator, composer Claude-Michel Schoenberg.

In 1980, after two years of work, a concept album was released and the musical was staged at the Paris Palace of Sports. During the three months of rental, the performance was visited by about half a million viewers. In 1983, the concept album fell into the hands of the famous theater producer Cameron Mackintosh, who, having become acquainted with the musical, immediately decided to put it on the British stage. For this was assembled a new production team, Herbert Kretzmer took up the translation of the text into English. The musical has been significantly reworked in comparison with the first version. October 8, 1985 there was a re-birth of "Les Miserables" at the Barbican Theater in London.

The creative team that evening experienced unprecedented enthusiasm, the play was on an emotional high, the public accepted the musical superbly. But as soon as McIntosh read the reviews in the newspapers, his cold sweat broke through - “grim Victorian melodrama”, “pointless entertainment”, “a soap opera instead of classical literature” and other unpleasant epithets from critics. The next day, the producer dialed the theater's box office with alarm, expecting horror that after such reviews the audience would not buy tickets. The sales manager picked up the phone and was surprised that McIntosh managed to get through - from the very opening of the ticket office, the phone didn’t shut up for a minute, and the audience bought up all 5,000 tickets for the next performances in half a day! The audience voted with their feet for the musical.

In 1987, the "Miserables" opened on Broadway, where they continuously walked for 16 years. The musical was translated into 22 languages, including Castilian, Icelandic, Mauritian Creole, Estonian. The performances were carried out in 44 countries, they were visited by 70 million people. In 1989, in Sydney, the musical was performed in the open air in front of 125 thousand spectators. The "Miserables" received more than 140 different theater awards, including "Tony" and "Grammy". In 1995, the concert dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the musical was attended by the first performer of the role of Jean Valjean Colm Wilkinson, and the final number was performed by 17 Valzhanov from productions from different countries. The 25th anniversary of the performance in 2010 was celebrated on a similar scale. In Russia, the musical has never been performed.

Screen version of "Miserables"

In 2012, the Hollywood version of "Les Miserables", created with the direct participation of the authors of the musical, appeared on the screens. The director was an Englishman Thomas Hooper, known for his work on costume series for the BBC and HBO, as well as the Oscar-winning film "The King Says!". All the artists themselves performed their vocals, moreover, the sound was recorded directly on the set, without dubbing. In the role of Jean Valjean, Hugh Jackman starred, behind whom were roles in theatrical performances of the musicals “Sunset Boulevard”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Oklahoma!”. For Russell Crowe (Javert), Anne Hathaway (Fantine) and Eddie Redman (Marius), this was the first experience of participating in a musical film. Amanda Seyfred (Cosette) previously starred in the musical "Mamma Mission!", The role of Bishop Dinsky was performed by Colm Wilkinson - the first Valjean on the West End and Broadway. Eponina came to the film directly from the stage - it was played by Samantha Barks, who embodied this image in the London production.

Schönberg and Bublil wrote a new song, "Suddenly", especially for the film. The picture received a phenomenal success. With a budget of 61 million US dollars, "Les Miserables" brought their creators more than 440 million! The film won 3 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway), Best Makeup and Hair Style, Best Sound.

The secret of success of "Les Miserables" is that the authors have preserved the main plot lines of the great epic of Hugo, without sinning against the logic, meaning and spirit of the original source. The complex and multifaceted story is told in a clear language of human emotions expressed by music. Today it is not a French or British musical, it went beyond the limits of national identity, becoming the property of world culture and the grandiose creation of the 20th century.