Wow, i'm sorta surprised. Who celebrates a 21 year anniversary? I mean, who makes a big deal out of it. It woulda made more sense for them to wait a couple years and celebrate 25 years. Is this going to be a reaccuring thing? Every 3 years it will reopen and win some Tonys - ha. I dunno, I wish I could see it though. The Broadhurst seems such a weird space for it to me, I guess they're trying not to be selfish.
Wow, great news! Les Mis is one of my favourite musicals of all time. The funny thing is, I will also be 21 on October 9th. Les Mis opened when I was born! Magical :)
John Owen Jones is the best Valjean I have ever seen. Michael Ball is too vibratoey for the part. Phillip Quast as Javert. Lea Salonga as Eponine.
The rest I don't care about. I can't wait for the 21st anniversary show in London. Though I hope it's not at Hyde Park...it ALWAYS rains on my birthday in the UK, so that would be really horrid!!
From the article -- this explains why it's the longest running musical ever:
"LES MISÉRABLES is the third longest-running show in Broadway history and will, on October 9, pass the 21 year old record of Cats in London to become the longest-running musical ever on the West End or Broadway with 8,372 performances; a run nearly three years longer than Broadway’s record-holder The Phantom of the Opera, all three shows having been produced by Cameron Mackintosh. LES MISÉRABLES has been seen by over 53 million people in 38 countries and 21 languages since its first London performance in October 1985. The original Broadway production opened on March 12, 1987, at the Broadway Theatre, winning seven Tony Awards that season, including Best Musical. The show went on to play a total of 6,680 performances."
"Playbill.com learned that marquee-value names are being explored for the Broadway run, although no casting has been announced."
Despite my intense love for this show, I'd like to echo Dollypop's sentiments and say that this sentence struck immediate fear in my heart. Should be interesting. Can't wait to see the discussions here once the cast is announced.
This makes me so angry. Why do we need Les Mis to come back to Broadway? I, personally, am sick of Les Mis. I've seen it on Broadway and now every high school and community theatre in America is doing it. I've seen it about 10 times now and each time it was EXACTLY the same. Same exact costumes (if I see another Eponine in that damn coat I'll die), same set, same mannerisms of the cast.
I guess that's one of the reasons I'm not a huge fan of Les Mis - - it's always the same no matter what. It's like they say in Making It On Broadway, everyone just becomes carbon copies of the originals with no artistic freedom. That's what I feel like I'm watching when I see Les Mis: a carbon copy. Nothing exciting or new.
But that's just me. Why not give the theatre to a new show? Maybe that new show will end up being hugely successful and outrun Les Mis.
But I suppose it is a limited engagement, so it won't be around forever...unless is extends...which is always possible.
Sorry for the rant, but the news just pissed me off and I had to get it off my chest.
How are some of you so confused by the math? This is celebrating the fact that the London production will become the longest-running show in West End history in October. It's run is three years longer than Phantom's *current* Broadway record, and just one performance longer than Cats' West End record. If the London production of Les Miz opened in 1985 and the New York production of Phantom opened in 1988, that's a three year difference. But because weekly performances are sort of set in schedule (8 per week), number of years and number of performances are essentially the same thing. Updated On: 2/17/06 at 10:55 AM
All they are saying is that Les Miz will break the Cats record in London. Then they are comparing that record with Broadway's record, currently held by Phantom, which would need three more years of performances to become the longest-running show in the world. And in celebration of Les Miz breaking the overall record, they are bringing the show back to New York for a limited run.
I have to admit I'm damn excited about this. I'm definitely there in December or January. Hooray winter break...!
"Oh, good. After all, I can rub my stomach and pat my head at the same time, and I can do it with my eyes closed while whistling 'The Entertainer.' That's rhythm for you."
~ Snaps, proving that White Boys CAN have rhythm
OURTIME: Maybe some of us are just finding it totally ridiculous and completely pointless to compare LES MIS's run in *LONDON* to TPOTO's run on *BROADWAY*.
True, both are record breaking runs (both taking over from CATS) but not in the same city and to me that does make a difference.
Why not compare LES MIS's record breaking run in London with TPOTO's run in LONDON? Of course, because the figure wouldn't be as flattering and as much of market value as it is now with this totally stupid comparison.
I'm not saying it's a good idea to bring it back, just clarifying what he's saying. I'm sure Mackintosh will be making a similar statement after he closes Les Miz and Phantom breaks its London record, but for now he's just comparing the longest-running show in each place. Is it disingenuous? Sure. But it's technically accurate.
I'm so excited for this! I've never seen Les Mis on stage and I've always wanted to. I love the OBCR and I also have the Dream Concert. Yea, it would be hard for Lea Salonga to be Eponine since she is pregnant. Despite all the negativity over it coming back, I don't care, I'm super excited!