les miserable rush

I can't say anything about the rush, but I'd be interested to know as well.

To your other question, when I first saw the production I had no difficulty following the story, and either did my mum who is far from fluent in English... but she knew the general story, she had read the book many years previously. I don't know why you would struggle unless English isn't your native language (the show would have done a bad job telling its story if you needed additional information other than what's on stage).

But that being said, the show is sung-through, i.e. all the dialogue is sung as well. If you're truly worried, just read the plot description on wikipedia before, that's what I do when I listen to a cast recording where I don't know the show. Or, if you don't mind being spoiled, watch the recent movie. It has its flaws, but overall I enjoyed it, and you'll definitely know the story afterwards, so you can enjoy the stage performance without trying to connect the plot points.

It's Les Miserables with an s. Sorry, but it's killing me to look at it without it.

I rushed last Wednesday (8/10) for the matinee because I wanted to catch it one more time before it closes. Got to the theatre at around 9:15am, and was probably 30-35th in line. Another 15-20 people lined up behind me before the box office opened. I got a seat in row B of the mezz, all the way to the side. It was listed as partial view, but I thought it was fine--I couldn't see Fantine for the first half of "I Dreamed a Dream" and some portions of the projections were obstructed, but I didn't mind so much because this wasn't my first time seeing the show.