1. Madeleine MacMillan (Fontaine) Mme. Panaccione Elementary French 1

2. Les Misérables Victor Hugo began writing it in 1836 It was published in 1862 It is the story of Jean Valjean, a convict on the run and the people he meets along the way

3. In 1980 Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg created the first musical version of Les Misérables It was more of a French opera then a musical

4. Some of the songes now well know in les mis were not part of the otiginal version “Stars” Javert’s Soliloquy “Carousel” Sung by the women after the Barricades The women’s song ‘Carousel’ was only written after rehearsals started out of sheer consideration of the women in the cast In the French music, the prostitues song ‘Lovely Ladies’ had no erotic connotations whatsoever Was originally called ‘La Nuit’

5. ‘Lovely Ladies’

6. 'Stars’

7. Some of the songs, such as, ‘On My Own’ which is sung by Éponine, were originally sung by other characters ‘On My Own’ (originally ‘La Misère’) was sung by Fantine Adapting ‘On My Own’ from the original French was the one that gave writers the most trouble. The melody is repeated several times throughout the musical

8. ‘Bring Him Home’ is the most moving song in the musical It was written as a much needed lyrical movement after the barricade While it is the most moving, it was also the most difficult piece of music to put lyrics to ‘Bring Him Home’ is a prayer of Valjean’s life

9. ‘Bring Him Home’

10. As many of the cast as possible was chosen from the ranks of the Royal Shakespeare Company Roger Allam as Javert Alun Armstrong and Sue Jane Tanner as the Thénardiers

11. Several internationally know stars came to london on their own to audition for the lead role of Jean Valjean Topol, the Israeli star of Fiddler on the Roof Max Von Saydow They all had outstanding acting abilities they just weren’t quit right for the part vocally

12. Colm Wilkinson was eventually cast as Jean Valjean He was the last person to be cast before rehearsals started Considerable musical rewriting when they cast Wilkinson because originally the part of Valjean was written for a deep baritone Wilkinson was a Tenor

13. The very last person cast for Les Misérables was Patti LuPone as Fantine She was cast two weeks into rehearsals

14. There where Major problems on how to make the scenery fit on the stage and how to change it

15. Opening Night was October 8 th, 1985 at the Barbican Some of the musical changes were made within hours of the Première The initial reviews of Les Mis were “non-selling reviews” The negative reviews outnumbered to good However even with the reviews the Barbican show was sold out

16. Over 60 million people in 42 countries have seen Les Misérables It has been preformed in 21 different languages Les Misérables is the worlds longest running musical

17. A movie version of the musical is coming out on December 25 th, 2012 Jean Valjean-Hugh Jackman Fantine- Anne Hathaway Javert- Russel Crowe Cosette- Amanda Seyfried Marius-Eddie Redmayne Madame Thénardier-Helena Bonham Carter Éponine-Samantha Barks Thénardier-Sacha Baron Cohen

18. The Complete Book of Les Misérables by Edward Behr http://www.lesmiserablesfilm.com/ http://www.lesmis.com/