Five years ago today鈥擬arch 12, 2020鈥攁ll 41 Broadway theatres went dark for what became the longest shutdown in theatre history, 18 months. And of course it wasn't just Broadway. The move came as businesses and events worldwide shut down, drastically changing what everyday life looked like, all in order to limit human-to-human contact and curb the spread of COVID-19.
But those safety protocols, together with safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, successfully stemmed the tide. And while live theatre was on pause, stars took to Zoom鈥� performed in a reading of The Thanksgiving Play while Seth Rudetsky hosted a popular series of concerts called . The theatre community persevered鈥� even started giving concerts from his Upper West Side apartment window. Then, though it was later than any of us could have imagined when the shutdown started, Broadway started returning in 2021鈥攆irst with some socially distanced concerts over that summer and eventually full productions in the fall.
Things were a bit wobbly getting back鈥攑erformance cancellations and sick notices were still distressingly frequent. But Broadway's workers valiantly rolled with the punches. COVID-19 safety officers ensured that audiences and artists stayed healthy. Standbys, swings, and understudies were on-hand to jump onto the stage at any moment (such as when flew in a former Elphaba to keep the show running).
But as we think back to that time from the relatively calmer vantage point of 2025, it's nice to be able to say that Broadway is officially back. We are just a few months away from having potentially every single Broadway house actively presenting a show for the first time in decades.
Since Broadway's reopening, its hosted several bonafide megahits, like Merrily We Roll Along and the current Othello. And even long-running favorites show no signs of slowing down鈥攆or instance, Wicked is suddenly back at the top of the list of highest grossers thanks to an equally smash hit film version. Broadway is currently bringing in the biggest grosses since before the pandemic, and it's consistently filling the vast majority of available seats.
In other words, the COVID-19 shutdown taught audiences the value of theatre, and what was lost when we didn't have live performances anymore. Now, five years later, it's clear: Broadway is officially here to stay. It will be entertaining us, educating us, making us laugh, making us cry, and teaching us empathy for many seasons yet to come.
With the shutdown in the rearview, it's only appropriate that March 12 also marks another momentous day in Broadway history, the 1987 opening of Les Mis茅rables. After all, that came to mind frequently for theatre fans throughout the pandemic.
One of the spate of megahit megamusicals that took over Broadway from London's West End in the '80s and '90s, Les Mis茅rables first began its life in the city in which it's set: Paris. After seeing a performance of Lionel Bart's Oliver! in London, French writers Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Sch枚nberg, and Jean-Marc Natel got the idea to bring Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Mis茅rables to the musical stage, eventually releasing a French concept album in 1980 and staging a world premiere the same year.
The sweeping, epic story follows Jean Valjean, a lowly Frenchman who, at the beginning of the tale, is being released from jail on parole after being imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's child. Destitute and penniless, he again turns to theft and tries to abscond with some precious items from the home of the bishop who has given him lodgings. When the authorities catch him and question his belongings, the bishop tells the police that he'd given them to Valjean, an act of mercy that will become the inspiration for the rest of Valjean's life. Valjean then breaks his parole and tries to live a just and equally merciful life. Meanwhile, he is pursued by Javert, a police inspector obsessed with recapturing him. By the second act, Valjean and the many other characters have been swept into a student revolution (many people assume the musical depicts the French Revolution, but it does not!).
Three years after the French premiere, producer Cameron Mackintosh heard that concept album and decided he would produce an English-language version of the musical, which eventually came to be at Royal Shakespeare Company's then home, the Barbican Theatre in 1985. Mackintosh brought on Herbert Krezmer to pen the English lyrics, with additional material by James Fenton. The English version dramatically expanded and revised the French original version, most notably adding a prologue of Valjean's backstory that wasn't in the original version. Colm Wilkinson led the original cast as Jean Valjean, with Roger Allam as Javert, Broadway star Patti LuPone as Fantine, Michael Ball as Marius Pontmercy, Rebecca Caine as Cosette, Frances Ruffelle as 脡ponine Th茅nardier, Alun Armstrong as Th茅nardier, Susan Jane Tanner as Madame Th茅nardier, and David Burt as Enjolras.
Though critical reception was initially mixed, audience reaction was rapturous. Les Mis茅rables delivered a musical that was truly for its moment. When soaring pop ballads from artists like C茅line Dion, Whitney Houston, and others were ruling the airwaves, Les Miz (as it's come to be affectionately known) gave audiences now-standards like "I Dreamed a Dream," "Stars," "Do You Hear the People Sing?", "One Day More," "On My Own," and "Bring Him Home." Original director Trevor Nunn and designer John Napier gave the production an iconic physical presence, anchored by a rotating stage that helped move the action swiftly through its numerous settings. The second act's revolution scenes call for a barricade of chairs, tables, and other ephemera, and Napier had them mechanically tilt into place from the theatre's wings, often to audience applause. It feels almost commonplace now, but Napier had upped the game for the ways a show's physical production could deliver breathtaking spectacle. Les Miz later transferred to an open-ended West End run and become one of London's longest-running shows, beaten only by The Mousetrap. The London production switched to a new staging in 2020, but the musical continues its run in the West End even today.
So in 1985, a Broadway transfer must have seemed inevitable. Cats, also produced by Cameron Mackintosh, was Broadway's biggest hit at that moment, and Mackintosh intended to repeat that success with Les Miz. Following a pre-Broadway tryout in Washington, D.C., the show came to The Broadway Theatre and opened March 12, 1987. Big hit shows like Les Miz often come to Broadway with their original casts, but this one only brought Wilkinson and Ruffelle. Even though LuPone was an established Broadway star, the Tony winner decided her experience with the original London run was too special to sully with a Broadway reprise that might go differently. Randy Graff originated the role of Fantine on Broadway, with Terrence Mann as Javert, David Bryant as Marius Pontmercy, Judy Kuhn as Cosette, Leo Burmester as Th茅nardier, and Jennifer Butt as Madame Th茅nardier, Michael Maguire as Enjolras. The show would go on to receive 12 1987 Tony nominations and win eight, including Best Musical. Les Mis茅rables had officially spun off its West End success to become a bonafide Broadway hit. The production would continue its run until 2003, becoming (for a time) Broadway's second longest-running show.
And Mackintosh parlayed that West End and Broadway success, making Les Mis茅rables a global phenomenon. Like Cats before it, Les Miz spawned countless productions in countless languages around the world, plus touring companies in the U.S. and U.K. Televised anniversary concerts in 1995, 2010, and 2019 brought it to audiences in their own homes. A 2012 big screen version starring Hugh Jackman remains one of the highest-grossing movie musicals of all time. And so, of course, it's no surprise that the show has already been revived twice on Broadway, first in 2006 with a downsized version of the original staging, and again in 2014鈥攊n a fully new production that is still touring the U.S. and playing London's West End.
Suffice it to say, Les Mis茅rables has had many days more, and will continue to for the forseeable future.
Take a look back at the original Broadway cast of Les Mis茅rables in the gallery below.
Randy Graff in Les Mis茅rables
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