The international arena tour of Les Mis茅rables, featuring some of the long-running musical's most distinguished alumni, launches September 19鈥�28 at SSE Arena Belfast.
Sharing the role of Jean Valjean are Alfie Boe and Killian
Donnelly, while Javert is handled by Michael Ball and Bradley Jaden with Bonnie Langford as
Madame Th茅nardier, Gavin Lee as Th茅nardier, Jac Yarrow as Marius,
Beatrice Penny-Tour茅 as Cosette, Channah Hewitt as Fantine, James D.
Gish as Enjolras, Jeremy Secomb as Bishop of Digne, and Emily Bautista as 脡ponine
plus Daniel Adesina, Theo Hills, Felix Holt, Leo Humphreys, and Dexter
Pulling alternating in the role of Gavroche and Dalia Al Nagar, Amanthi
Crowe, Sophia Duffie, Maisie Mac Mahon, and India Mills sharing the role
of Little Cosette.
The ensemble features Jonathon
Bentley, Rebecca Bolton, Olivia Brereton, Amelia Broadway, Michael
Burgen, Mary-Jean Caldwell, Beth Curnock, Shaun Dalton, Jonathan David
Dudley, Harry Dunnett, Louis Emmanuel, Charlie Geoghegan, Harry Grant
Smith, Connor Jones, Daniel Koek, Caleb Lagayan, Abel Law, Adam Robert
Lewis, Georgie Lovatt, Andrew Maxwell, Jill Nalder, Zabrina Norry, Lisa
Peace, Kathy Peacock, Ciaran Rodger, Jo Stephenson, Geddy Stringer,
Helen Walsh, Raymond Walsh, and Owain Williams.
The tour鈥攚ith a company of over 110 actors, musicians, and crew鈥攚ill subsequently play OVO Hydro in Glasgow October 3鈥�6, Utilita Arena in Sheffield October 10鈥�13, P&J Live in Aberdeen October 17鈥�20, AO Arena in Manchester December 26鈥�29, and Utilita Arena in Newcastle January 2-5, 2025.
The production will later be performed in Luxembourg, Geneva, Trieste, Milan, Copenhagen, Oslo, Zurich, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Malmo, and Amsterdam, with further international cities to be announced.
"The spectacular world arena tour of the Les Mis茅rables concert has been a dream of mine for many years," producer Cameron Mackintosh said in an earlier statement. "With Les Mis' 40th phenomenal year starting this October, there couldn't be a better time for it to happen. ... Many other favorite Les Mis茅rables performers, chosen from all over the world, will be announced in a few weeks鈥� time. After the U.K., the world tour will play many cities across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, Korea, Japan, and several other Asian cities before it returns to Europe and beyond."
The new tour has been crafted for arenas and large theatres with
audiences between 3,000 and 5,000.
An arena tour for a musical is rare, but not unprecedented. Rock operas Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who's Tommy both played arenas in their heyday, and an arena tour of Broadway's ill-fated Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was initially expected to follow the Main Stem run.
Les Mis茅rables is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel
Sch枚nberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by
Sch枚nberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, original French text by Boublil
and Jean-Marc Natel, additional material by James Fenton, and an
adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.
The forthcoming production is directed by James Powell and Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy with design by Matt Kinley, costumes by Andreane Neofitou, Christine Rowland, and Paul Wills, lighting by Paule Constable and Warren Letton, sound by Mick Potter, projections realized by Finn Ross, and music supervision by Stephen Brooker and Alfonso Casado Trigo. The orchestra is conducted by Brian Eads.
Following a French production in 1980, the English translation premiered via Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985, transferring to London's West End later the same year and to Broadway in 1987. The musical became one of a string of British-originating musical juggernauts, becoming the West End's longest-running musical and one of Broadway's longest-running shows as well. The original London production closed in 2019, reopening with an updated physical production and staging later the same year. The musical's longtime West End home, the Queen's Theatre, hosted Les Mis茅rables The Staged Concert, on which this arena spectacular is based, in the interim between the two productions.
Concert presentations have been a big part of Les Mis茅rables' legacy throughout its history, including filmed anniversary concerts in 1995 and 2010. Les Mis茅rables The Staged Concert was also filmed and broadcast to movie theatres internationally. A feature film adaptation starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, and Eddie Redmayne was released in 2012 and earned a Best Picture nomination at the 2013 Academy Awards.
Tickets are on sale via .
