South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
‘Les Miserables’ comes to Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center
“Les Misérables” is coming back to South Florida for the third time this year, this time playing Fort Lauderdale Oct. 8-20.
Since “Les Mis” bowed in London’s
West End in 1985 and New York City’s Broadway in 1987 (winning eight Tonys), the musical has been seen by 120 million people in 52 countries and translated into 22 languages. In 2012 the movie version hit screens with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter and Amanda Seyfried.
The creative team reinvented “Les Miserables” in 2009 for its 25th anniversary with new orchestrations and scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, the author of the novel that inspired the stage musical. Critics have opined that the overall style of the show is more approachable than the original. The show was also tweaked for a two and half year revival run on Broadway that ended in 2016.
But the story has not been touched, says the show’s producer, Cameron Mackintosh.
“You wouldn’t re-write Shakespeare,” Mackintosh told the Sun Sentinel earlier this year. “You wouldn’t re-write any classic play. Why would you re-write these musicals? With ‘Les Mis,’ we haven’t updated Victor Hugo’s story. It was a brilliant novel in its time. It was a revolutionary book. This is not a French book for the French. In fact General Lee’s Confederates were often referred to as Lee’s Miserables in America.”
Set in 19th century France, “Les Mis” takes its narrative from Victor Hugo’s novel and focuses on themes of redemption for ex-convict Jean Valjean against the backdrop of the 1832 Paris Uprising.
“Les Mis” is a sung-through musical, meaning it has no dialogue other than a few lines spoken in the course of a song. The score includes “I Dreamed A Dream,” “On My Own,” “Master of the House,” “Stars,” “Bring Him Home,” “Do You Hear the People Sing” and “One Day More.”