After the semi-failure of the very first show in 1980
Les Mis should have logically fallen into oblivion … Without the miraculous intervention of Cameron Mackintosh !!
While he had just inaugurated Cats on Broadway, the concept album of the show was sent to him by the director Peter Farago, who having seen the stage adaptation of Robert Hossein and wanted to create an English adaptation
Mackintosh, initially reluctant eventually accepted the challenge
It took him two years of work in collaboration with Herbert Kretzmer, Siobhan Bracke and James Fenton
The first adaptation of a French musical to finally be created in London in October 1985 at the Barbican Centre before moving to the West End :
The HUGE success will lead to the production of a second official French version ( we can even consider it as a remake)
Because it would be stupid to change a winning team
Cameron Mackintosh will take the reins of the project ( with behind him the shadow of Alain Boublil who will have to RETRANSLATE Kretzmer's texts which are translations of his own texts )
it is he who will stage this new version closer to the English adaptation than to the original show
The show will be performed in Montreal at the Théâtre Saint-Denis then in Paris at the Théâtre Mogador
Robert Marien : Jean Valjean
Laurent Gendron : Mr Thénardier
Marie-France Roussel : Mrs Thénardier
Lynda Zaoui / Anne-Laure Grondin / Nora Kati / Aurélie Lebarbé / Marjorie Theillaumas / Karine Debec / Audrey Boitel : alternately little Cosette and little Eponine
Stéphanie Martin : Éponine
Ludwig Briand / Cyrille Vannier / Alexis Tomassian : Gavroche
Vincent Vittoz : Combeferre
Pierre-Yves Duchesne : Courfeyrac
Juan Pablo Armitano : Feuilly
FRENCH CANADIAN DISTRIBUTION :
Robert Marien : Jean Valjean
Andre Therrien : Mr Thénardier
Mireille Thibeault : Mrs Thénardier
Clotilde Aras / Adrienne Nye / Lily Russell / Aurelie Lebarbe / Marjorie Theillaumas / Anne-Laure Grondin : alternately little Cosette and little Eponine
Stéphanie Martin : Éponine
Andrew Bauer-Gâdor / Gabriel Kakon : Gavroche
Francois Godin : Enjolras
Sébastien Dhavernas : Courfeyrac
Alexandre Beaulieu : Joly
Unlike the original show which had a lot of archive photos but few videos , here I was able to find more interesting materials :
The Full Live Recording of the Show :
Unfortunately ... the show was a resounding failure
Les Mis were snubbed for two reasons :
1 - France and musicals is an incredibly recent encounter !!
The public was not interested in this kind of entertainment, which was considered pedantic and unnecessarily expensive , it will be necessary to wait for "Notre Dame de Paris"
( ironically another musical based on a novel by Victor Hugo)
In 1999, for this kind of show to be adopted and appreciated by the public ( I will probably talk about it one day, it is this show which launched the craze and then the golden age of French musicals )
2 - Fans of the first album and show felt betrayed
It's not easy to accept as a long-time fan that a work is cut or modified ... So when an Englishman allows himself to modify the songs and the scenography, declaring this version to be superior to the original ?! The pill was definitely difficult to swallow
( not to mention the Franco-English friend-enemy relationship which goes back a long way )
Die-hard fans took this as an affront and boycotted the show
Apparently, Cameron Mackintosh was so upset and disappointed by the situation that he called France a "musical graveyard " which only further angered the public, who shunned the show ( and wouldn't revive it until 2024 )
I had already pointed out that in the 1980 version
Gavroche's actors often ended up often end up making a career in film or voice acting :
The iconic voices of Alexis Tomassian
Ludwig Briand became a famous child actor playing the role of Mimi Siku in the CULT French comedy : " Un indien dans la ville "
I'll definitely end up talking about the 2024 version ...
To while away the time, I invite you to consult my Masterlist (with my other articles on Les Misérables and other equally exciting French musicals :)
