Who Wrote Les Miserables?

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Who created the musical Les Misérables

Les Misérables background – Les Misérables, affectionally known as Les Mis, is the stage adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name. The sung-through musical was originally written in French by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boubil and Jean-Marc Natel and staged in 1980.

After a short run in Paris, Cameron Mackintosh heard the soundtrack and decided to produce an English-language version for a British audience. Working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mackintosh’s Misérables opened in 1985 with new lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. The legendary show about ex-convict Jean Valjean and his rival, policeman Javert, received mixed reviews from critics but blew audiences away.

The initial two month run at the Barbican Centre was a sell-out, guaranteeing a place on the West End at the Palace Theatre where it ran from 1985 to 2004. It then moved to Queen’s Theatre where it still runs today, although it the theatre was refurbished and renamed The Sondheim Theatre in 2019.

• This makes it the longest-running musical in the world.
• Les Misérables has had three runs on Broadway – one of which earned it eight Tony Awards – and has toured the world.
• Les Mis is a cultural phenomenon that can’t be avoided.
• And for good reason.
• The grand score is often covered, both by artists such as Katherine Jenkins and Susan Boyle – famed for auditioning with “I Dreamed A Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent – and parodied in comedies such as Forbidden Broadway and Netflix’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

It was adapted into a film in 2012 which starred Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne and Sacha Baron Cohen. It received eight Academy Award nominations and won three. Les Misérables is a timeless musical which is still thrilling audiences night after night – it’s even won the critics over.

Who wrote Les Misérables script

Les Misérables (musical)

Les Misérables
Lyrics	Herbert Kretzmer
Original text	Alain Boublil Jean-Marc Natel
Book	Alain Boublil Claude-Michel Schönberg
Basis	Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Who wrote Les Misérables West End?

Who wrote Les Misérables ? – Les Misérables is adapted from a 19th-century novel by Victor Hugo, a French novellist and dramatist. Hugo is also the brains behind The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which has also since been adapted into a musical Notre Dame de Paris,

Is Les Misérables Based on a true story?

Answer and Explanation: While some the events in Les Miserables actually happened, the characters in the novel are fictional. The final conflict at the barricades in Les Miserables is based on the Paris Uprising of 1832, a short-lived rebellion that ended after only two days.

Why is Les Mis so popular

Returning to Scotland after nearly a decade, the latest tour of the runaway smash musical that is Les Misérables has already sold out. But what is it that makes the show so popular? – | 21 Jan 2019 What is Les Mis ? Les Mis, or to give it its full name, Les Misérables, is a musical – music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, and original French lyrics by Alain Boubill and Jean-Marc Natel.

The English lyrics and libretto were written by Herbet Kretzmer. Isn’t it based on a novel? Yes, Les Mis was based on the 1200 page novel of the same name by Victor Hugo from 1862, which is often considered to be one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. The story begins in 1815 and ends with the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris – it is not set during the French Revolution; that began in 1789 and lasted until 1799.

What’s it all about? It follows a man called Jean Valjean, a peasant who was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment; five years initially for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving nephew, and a further 14 for escape attempts. After breaking his parole, he reinvents himself as a factory owner and mayor and is then swept up into a revolutionary movement, where a group of young people attempt to overthrow the government.

Meanwhile, a police inspector called Javert has vowed to track Valjean down at any cost. When was it first performed? It, originally, was released as a concept album, before making the leap to the French stage in 1980. Although it closed after three months, the English-language version of the musical opened five years later in London in October 1985, helmed by the producer Cameron Mackintosh, who also brought Cat s to Broadway.

The initial reviews were negative, with some critics condemning the idea that classic literature could be made into a musical, and whether it was proper to have every word sung instead of spoken. However, it weathered the storm and the London production has run continuously since its premiere, becoming the second longest-running West End show after The Mousetrap, and the longest-running musical in the West End.

The Broadway production opened in March 1987 and ran until May 2003, earning 12 Tony Award nominations, and winning eight, including Best Musical. Why is it so popular? Well, there seems to be no single reason for Les Mis ‘s continuing success. Musical-wise it has it all, catchy tunes (I Dreamed a Dream, One Day More, Do You Hear the People Sing?) with fantastical lyrics, and unlike a lot of other musicals (here’s looking at you, Cats ), Les Mis actually has a plot.

In fact, it’s the plot that helps make it stand out from other shows. It’s a big, epic, anti-capitalist piece of theatre, tackling difficult themes from abuse to poverty, redemption to revolution. But ultimately, Les Mis, for all its darkness and all its scenes and songs about human suffering, is a musical about hope.

1. It’s about how much the human spirit can endure about dreaming of a better time, a better world.
2. Although set hundreds of years ago, its themes are universal; we still live in a world dogged by inequality, poverty and injustice.
3. If all art is political, then Les Mis is a piece of theatre that wants to help you escape difficult times, but also make you question the present by looking at a long-lost past.

How much are tickets? Uh, well, this is where it gets awkward. Because it’s been nearly a decade since anyone brought such a large-scale touring production of Les Mis to Scotland (and this is a new production, conceived for the show’s 25th anniversary back in 2009), demand has been high and tickets have sold out.

Why is Les Misérables called that?

Les Misérables has several shades of meaning in French. Translators say that Victor Hugo’s novel, published in 1862, could just as well be titled The Miserable Ones, The Outcasts, The Wretched Poor, The Victims or The Dispossessed.

What is Les Misérables based on historically?

People – Likely to inspire hysteria in the neurotically sanitised US Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables. Photograph: Universal/Allstar The film begins with Jean Valjean ( Hugh Jackman ) completing 19 years of hard labour: the penalty for stealing bread and repeatedly trying to escape.

His overseer is the unrelenting Javert ( Russell Crowe ). Les Misérables was inspired in part by the true story of Eugène-François Vidocq, who turned a criminal career into an anti-crime industry. He created the Bureau des Renseignements, said to be the world’s first detective agency, in 1833, though he himself continued to be pursued by police.

Vidocq was friends with several authors, including Hugo, Honoré de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas père. In Les Misérables, Hugo split him into two characters, Valjean and Javert, at odds with each other. So this is a kind of 18th century Fight Club, With singing.

Are there any spoken lines in Les Misérables?

Les Misérables Universal Pictures 160 Mins. Dir. By: Tom Hooper with, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe There are few stories better known than that of Les Misérables, If you never saw it on stage, you’ve seen some iteration of the classic tale, even if you didn’t realize it was the source.

• Adhering to the classic stage presentation of an operatic style musical with only two lines of spoken dialogue, Les Misérables doesn’t house elaborate dance routines along with its music, an assumption unsuspecting minds might believe is an irremovable feature of the genre.
• With the ability to impress any type of viewer in one form or another, it’s the Les Misérables fan base that will shower this ambitious re-telling with the highest praise.

Encompassing the lives of many unfortunate souls spanning decades in 1800s France, Les Misérables wraps its massive tale around the turbulent battle between two men, Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) and Police Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Breaking his parole after serving an inordinate amount of time imprisoned for the act of stealing bread, Valjean receives aide from an unlikely source that even confounds his own troubled mind.

1. Understanding he’s finally been given a chance at redemption, Valjean recreates himself as a new man; popping up years later as Monsier Madeleine, the town Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer.
2. Under insurmountable circumstances, Valjean comes in direct contact with Javert who under his own doubts, buys into the fact that Madeleine is not Valjean.

Quickly, the truth becomes obvious as Javert continues his single minded hunt of Valjean across France. Changing his name yet again, Valjean’s need to help those he fears his actions have destroyed brings him closer and closer to meeting Javert again. Sweeping in from the clouds above Valjean and his abused chain gang, Les Misérables kicks off with a distasteful note of flimsy CGI, but swiftly redeems itself when the grand scale visuals pop into a ground level framing. Drab and dreary throughout, Les Misérables finds ways to burst a lush visual experience through pouring rain, damp mists, and blinding snows.

Shooting through the torrential downpour of the film’s opening, the only vivid colors to break through that brownish plane are the bright blues of Javert’s uniform and the bloodshot crimson of Valjean’s eyes. Director Tom Hooper made careful use of the visual strengths film has over live theatre to cut out its characters’ auras and film them as standouts amongst the dire nature of the world around them.

What Hooper creates is 3D without the idea of forcing a third axis to affect the viewer’s vision, but still playing with their perceptions. Like many theatre productions that recreate unimaginable, yet tangible sets for the stage; Les Misérables uses its color palette to draw the audience into a world they’ve seen on the screen before.

Though Les Misérables started as a novel by the well-known Victor Hugo and has a long history of dramatic versions, it’s the music and style of (Sir) Cameron Mackintosh’s London production that Americans came to know and love from its importation to Broadway that has resonated so strongly with audiences over the years.

The most daring and ambitious take of this film version of the stage production is that the vocals were all recorded live. Unlike most musical films in which actors lip-sync to their previously recorded studio performances, Hooper had his actors sing live on the spot.

• Each cast member was provided with an earpiece that pumped in the main piano lines and actors had to hit their marks while belting out the tunes.
• Granted, if you’re a stage performer in the role of Valjean, you are signing and hitting your marks on stag every day, sometimes twice a day.
• In the film world though, actors are, at times, surrounded by a more dangerous environment than the stage of a Broadway theatre and to camera cuts.

The cast of Les Misérables may have all shot long takes, performing through sections that cut away from them, but they still used multiple takes for each scene. Attempting to perfectly match the intensity and tone of your singing voice across several, different takes is much different and leagues more difficult than maintaining your traditional speaking voice or an accent across a similar shooting period. Even if you never have, or just find it impossible to connect with the story of Les Misérables, the music is, frankly, infectious. Many people are familiar with the somewhat inconsequential, but highly entertaining, tune, “Master of the House;” but there is much more on offer here.

The expansive visuals and largescale presentation add new depths to the thrice reprised “Look Down;” a song whose reprisal takes on a different meaning each time it pops up. The transformation of he meaning of “Look Down” as the musical progresses is a recognizable feature of the stage show, but it takes on new meaning for me as a viewer this time, on film.

I’m personally not as easily affected by the song structure of the tragic, romantic ballads, but they will strike a chord with the Les Misérables faithful. It will be interesting to see the sales number comparisons between beloved cast recordings of the London and Broadway stage productions and the film’s soundtrack.

I don’t feel this film will spark any arguments between fans over which vocal performances or orchestral arrangements are better (after all Anne Hathaway was 3 years old when Patti LuPone was Cossette – and Colm Wilkinson is, well, Colm Wilkinson; not that we would ever dream of casting even half an aspersion in the general direction of Hugh Jackman), but watching fans vote with their purchases of one over the other in sales should be worth a look.

Casting an array of proven stage/musical singers, no one bats an eye at seeing the likes of Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway at top billing. Thinking about everyone involved in the film, you can point to a history of musical productions they’ve been a part of, even if it was just one. The entire cast performs at great heights through their singing characters and yet again, Anne Hathaway takes the cake. Most of the film didn’t affect me emotionally, but when Cossette’s hair is cut off Ms. Hathaway makes this face (albeit a slightly exaggerated face) that just tore at my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

1. And we would be remiss not to mention the fact that Anne Hathaway’s hair was, in fact, shorn right to her scalp during the filming of that scene.
2. Now THAT is going the extra mile for your craft.
3. The only complaint I have about the cast is Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.
4. Both Cohen and Carter turn in fine performances, but theywere ultimately cast in the same exact roles they had in Sweeney Todd, which doesn’t allow them to really shine in new ways.

Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! The music of Les Misérables keeps the lengthy film moving at a decent pace. The entire film starts to drag a little as the impending revolution becomes a real threat, but the tempo of the music makes time move at a different rate than your typical drama. If you see this movie and are newly converted to Les Misérables and would like to be transported with joy by its music again may we suggest you immediately purchase the Blu-Ray of the Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2 auditorium in London here: Les Miz 25th O2 Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for news, reviews and trailers revolving around the world of geek.

Why read Les Misérables

Admit it. You’ve always wanted to read Les Miserables, You’ve seen the musical. Seen the movie too. You might own the book. Maybe the gray paperback version with a young Cosette on the cover? In the 90s, when excitement about Les Mis on Broadway was at its peak, everyone had that gray paperback version of the book. The Signet Classics edition of Les Mis, the first unabridged English translation to appear in paperback, was a megaseller in the 1990s. In the 90s I saw that gray paperback everywhere I went. It was the thickest spine on every bookshelf, and it was always, always pristine and brand new with nary a wrinkle on the spine.

1. Which brings us to the first reason you should read the book.
2. We will get to the meat of the novel later in the list, and yes, it really is a profound reading experience that’s worth your time even if you never tell a soul you read it But we all know that part of the fun of the classics is talking about them.

Completing them. Collecting the experiences of reading them. People who finish the great books, particularly the massive tomes of 19th century lit, haven’t just bettered themselves as people. They have also proven their mettle. As soon as you read Les Miserables, you graduate from the massive crowd of people who aspire to read the book into the much more exclusive club of people who actually did it.

1. And joining that club comes with benefits, which leads us to #2.
2. Among some fans of the book, you will find a lukewarm reception to the musical, but not here.
3. I adore that show.
4. I admire the beauty of its music, the raw emotional power of the story it tells, and the skill with which the book was adapted.

And I like it even better now that I’ve read the book. Quick example: If you’re a fan of the musical, you’ll quickly recognize these lyrics. He slept a summer by my side He filled my days with endless wonder He took my childhood in his stride But he was gone when autumn came By the time you finished reading the quote above, you were singing the melody, weren’t you? Those lyrics from I Dreamed a Dream are concise and poignant, and they serve to condense an entire backstory into four lines. Those four lines from the show are, in the book, more than a hundred pages of story about young Fantine, a tragic character whose life goes awry when a selfish prick flees after he gets her pregnant.

• It’s a brutal story to read, and it sticks with you.
• After you read Les Mis, you feel like you know Fantine, and her song from the show, I Dreamed A Dream, becomes many orders of magnitude more potent.
• And it’s not just Fantine.
• Every character you love from the show gets a lengthy, detailed treatment in the book.

Eponine has a massive story you never see in the show. The revolutionaries who build the barricade all have names and histories and personalities in the novel. The Thenardiers become more than simple comic relief. Javert came to life so spectacularly for me that he got his own essay,

• Boublil and Schonberg (writers of Les Mis the musical) deeply loved this novel.
• I know this not because I’ve ever seen an interview where they said so, but because I can feel that love in the way this show connects to the story.
• You will too, after you’ve read the book.
• We’re only beginning to realize how detrimental social media and our phones in general are to our habits of mind.

Shorter attention spans, inability to think as deeply or creatively, even measurably lower IQ just when our phone is in the room! But social media and smart phones are only part of the problem. In the 21st century, the market to grab someone’s attention is so competitive that content creators have grown skilled at doing all the mental work for you.

We, the content creators of the world, organize information in easily digestible chunks. We mix text with images and video. Our books have shorter chapters. Our chapters have shorter paragraphs. The very idea of what fiction can and should do in the 21st century is different than when Hugo wrote Les Miserables,

In today’s world, a story must be a pageturner in order to hold onto a reader when so many electrical devices are calling. Challenging fiction, the kind that requires you, the reader, to work, is a hard sell these days, and that’s not good for any of us because your brain is a muscle that needs hard work in order to stay sharp.

The degradation of our cognitive capacity and habits of mind in the Age of Distraction is real. See here, here, here, and here, But with these uniquely 21st century challenges come a uniquely 21st century opportunity. In a world where distractive technology destroys our ability to focus, simply developing the ability to concentrate deeply becomes a kind of super power, and research shows that the best the way to improve your concentration is to practice.

Reading challenging, thoughtful, deeply considered literature like Les Miserables is one very effective way to practice. Les Miserables is a timeless story mixed with challenging history lessons and philosophical musings. For some readers, those latter parts (the boring parts) are a turnoff and a reason to skip the book.

For you, they should be just the opposite. You should read Les Miserables precisely because it is so much harder than the latest thriller on the bestseller list. You should read it because it will not only make you a better reader, but a smarter, more capable thinker. All the great classics of literature are quotable, but few are as quotable as Les Miserables,

Even after translation out of its native language, the ideas in this book are so potent you will find yourself constantly stopping just to ponder them. Here’s a quote from Les Mis for when you’re frustrated or disappointed: “To love or have loved, that is enough.

Ask nothing more.” And here’s one for when you’re putting love and kindness out into the world and not getting it back: “You who suffer because you love, love still more. To die of love is to live by it.” This quote is full of wisdom about the mindset of someone whose life isn’t going to plan: “People weighed down with troubles do not look back; they know only too well that misfortune stalks them.” This truth bomb is doubly poignant because, hidden within it is a plea for you to forgive those who have done wrong: “Despair is surrounded by fragile walls which all open into vice or crime.” This is one to read to yourself every morning before you head off to work: “Laughter is sunshine, it chases winter from the human face.” Sometimes Hugo speaks in specifics about 19th century France but you realize he’s talking about principles that absolutely apply to 21st century America.

“The guillotine is the ultimate expression of Law, and its name is vengeance; it is not neutral, nor does it allow us to remain neutral.” And sometimes, many times, Hugo will make you thankful that you get to spend so many hours in his head, because it’s a thoughtful, fascinating place.

“Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn’t every war fought between men, between brothers?” If you feel like some of the ideas in those quotes are particularly apt in the 21st century, you’re not alone, which brings us to our next reason to read the book. These days you turn on the TV, or get on your Facebook feed, and you wonder how it got so bad so fast.

A wave of angry division is spreading across the globe, and in its wake, you feel like you don’t recognize the country where you live or the friends you grew up with. You don’t know how it came to be that we all landed on different tribes and teams, but you can’t believe that you were friends with those jerks who are now playing for the wrong team.

You’re not alone. If it feels like malevolent spirits appeared one night and infected half the populace in your country, the half that’s not on your team, you’re not alone. If you feel like Roddy Piper looking through the alien sunglasses for the first time, or a Sneetch who just fell out of Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s Star-Off machine, you’re not alone.

When I read Les Miserables in 21st century America I felt an intense connection to everyone who has ever struggled to carry on with normal life in abnormal times. Les Mis is about people who struggle, who succeed, who fail, who love, who want, and the thread that connects them all is the revolutionary fever that surrounds them.

• Because Les Mis is so expansive and well-written, it affords you a chance to live a life, Jean Valjean’s entire adult life, in your imagination.
• It’s a life of forgiveness and redemption amidst a backdrop of political turmoil that makes the 21st century look tame in comparison.
• Reading it connects you to the wisdom of a great thinker who’s seen times like these before.

It will remind you that there are periods of relative peace and relative chaos, and we don’t get to choose which period we live in. We only get to choose how we live. This brings us to the final and most important reason to read Les Miserables, I can’t promise you that your experience will be the same as mine.

• I can’t even promise you that you’ll get past the Waterloo section of the novel, which is just the first of many challenging digressions in this book.
• But I can tell you that, for me, reading Les Miserables was a profound experience.
• The book opens in the year 1815 with Monseignor Charles Francois Bienvenu Myreil, the Bishop of Digne.

Yes, the Bishop is the first character we meet in the book. Not Jean Valjean. Not the prison. No one sings, “Look Down.” No Prisoner 24601 on stage. Not yet. The book starts with the Bishop because it is the Bishop who sets this story in motion. “Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God.” If you’ve seen the musical you know that a recently released prisoner named Jean Valjean, struggling and homeless, accepts refuge in a Bishop’s house and repays the kindness by stealing the Bishop’s silver.

1. You also know, maybe you can see the moment on the stage in your mind’s eye, that police capture Valjean and bring him back to the Bishop’s home.
2. And then the Bishop, knowing that Valjean is in desperate need of an act of mercy, tells the police, He didn’t steal that silver, I gave it to him.
3. That one act of kindness sets in motion a thousand pages of magnificent story, and Valjean’s role throughout the story is to bring kindess and beauty into the world.

To repay the favor that the Bishop paid to him. You should read Les Miserables because the story is about the power of a single act of kindness. It’s one thing for me to tell you to be kind and forgiving. It’s another thing entirely for me to give you a fully immersive world of truth that shows you how one act of love can set in motion a chain of positive events that continue to bring good into the world years or even lifetimes after the act is done.

What is Les Misérables mean in English?

In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original French title, which can be translated from the French as The Miserables, The Wretched, The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims.

Why is Les Misérables pronounced differently?

Because, very simply, the show and the film is an adaptation of a French novel and the title is pronounced in an approximation of the French ‘lay meesairaaabl.’ It’s not a tough call. How do you pronounce ‘morgen’?

Was Jean Valjean a real person?

Valjean and Javert – real or not? – Dominic West as Jean Valjean ( BBC/Lookout Point/Robert Viglasky)

2. The two main characters are not real, but they were inspired by historical figures and people in Hugo’s life.
3. Jean Valjean is thought to have been based on Eugene Francois Vidocq, a reformed ex-convict who became the first director of French Surete Nationale crime agency.

Vidocq had a tough start in life, and during his time in Brussels supported himself by small frauds. When he was caught one day by police with no valid papers, he called himself Monsieur Rousseau. He escaped as they tried to confirm his identity. When Vidocq finally reached Paris, he squandered money on women.

1. One, Francine, left him for a soldier.
2. He beat both of them and the soldier sued him – he got three years in prison.
3. He escaped again and again while in prison, sometimes with Francine’s help he was also caught.
4. One time he was finally picked up by police but Francine was found with multiple stab wounds.

Vidocq was now wanted for attempted murder. Francine claimed later hat the wounds were self-inflicted and the charges were dropped. Francine was convicted for helping him in his escapes, and that was the last the pair contacted each other. Vidocq began his trial for document forgery, but while he waited for a prison transfer he escaped again.

• When Valjean saves a man trapped under a cart in Les Miserables, it’s a real event, Vidocq did the same thing for one of this workers – he was also a factory owner.
• It was when he saw a man executed, after his life had taken a downward spiral, that Vidocq tried to change things.
• He struggled to do so, just like Valjean, his past continually catching up with him.
• But it turns out Vidocq’s later life was actually the inspiration for Javert – Valjean’s enemy.

In 1809 Vidocq offered his services as a spy – he was jailed, but this time he reported back what the prisoners said. His new life began. Now Vidocq is seen as one of the fathers of modern criminiology. He was also the first private detective. The other events in Valjean’s life are thought to have come from Hugo’s own experience – such as him seeing a policeman apprehend a man for stealing a loaf of bread, and when he saved a prostitute from arrest in 1841.

What is the main problem in Les Misérables

Full title Les Misérables Author Victor Hugo Type of work Novel Genre Epic novel; historical novel Language French Time and place written 1845–1862; Paris and the Channel Islands (English possessions off the coast of France) Date of first publication 1862 Publisher Pagnerre (Paris) Narrator An anonymous narrator Point of view The story is told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator who frequently addresses us.

The narrator not only knows what the characters are thinking at all times but also has a detailed grasp of contemporary politics and society. Tone The tone tends to reflect the narrator’s empathy with the char-acters. When describing broader trends in politics and society, the tone reflects Hugo’s outspoken views on social reform.

Tense Past Setting (time) 1789–1832 Setting (place) France; primarily the cities of Arras, Digne, Montreuil-sur-mer, Montfermeil, Paris, and Toulon Protagonist Jean Valjean Major conflict Valjean struggles to transform himself from a thief into an honest man; over the years he struggles to stay a step ahead of the zealous police officer Javert and tries to raise his adopted daughter, Cosette.

What illness is in Les Miserables?

Answer and Explanation: Fantine died of consumption, which is what is now known as tuberculosis.

How hard is it to read Les Misérables?

Les Misérables Tough-o-Meter The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Tough-o-Meter The most challenging thing about this book is how many times you’re going to be turning the page. But along the way, the prose is totally readable and mostly plot-driven.

What is the message of the Les Misérables

What Les Misérables taught us about Human Dignity – World Youth Alliance Last night, I saw my very first Broadway show! What an experience! My friend and I reasoned that if we were going to see a Broadway musical, it might as well be the world’s most popular one: Les Misérables,

• I was absolutely blown away by the incredible talent I witnessed on stageso much so that I literally sat in complete shock for a good two minutes after the first act.
• But as I walked home, I began to wonder: What is it that has made “Les Mis” such a timeless treasure? It must be something deeper than the caliber of the acting or music that continues to inspire audiences of all languages and cultures, regardless of actors or venue.

Les Misérables is a show about courage, love, heartbreak, passion, and the resilience of the human spirit—themes which undoubtedly transcend time and place. Perhaps the most relevant themes, however, are related to the dignity of the human person. The affirmation of human dignity within the musical—through compassion, empathy, mercy, and forgiveness—ultimately evokes restoration and transformation.

1. The amazing thing about the affirmation of human dignity is just how far-reaching one seemingly insignificant act of compassion can be.
2. After 14 years in prison, Jean Valjean is released on parole with papers that brand him as a former convict.
3. He is unable to find work or housing for many days until a bishop invites Valjean into his home to spend the night.

In the middle of the night, Valjean tries to sneak off with silver candlesticks, the only piece of wealth in the bishop’s home. Valjean is stopped by local policemen, but the bishop covers for Valjean, saying he gave the silver as a gift. The bishop then tells Valjean to use this silver to become an honest man.

• The bishop could have easily written Jean Valjean off as a sinful, unappreciative scoundrel.
• Yet, he is the first to see him as more than a number and more than his past crimes: He gives Jean Valjean the opportunity to realize his own worth and potential for excellence.
• And it is this affirmation human dignity, in fact, that creates a “ripple effect of compassion,” eventually giving hope to an entire community, despite the tragedies of loss and heartbreak they must together face.

The amazing thing about the affirmation of human dignity is just how far-reaching one seemingly insignificant act of compassion can be. Do we truly realize the extent to which one simple act of kindness can influence others’ lives? Each of our choices contributes to the formation of not only ourselves but of other people.

We are constantly impacting those around us—positively or negatively—through our actions, ideologies, conversations, and lifestyles. Those who we influence, in turn, go on to influence others. So each of us has the ability to offer a unique kind of hope and encouragement and light and love to the world, even through seemingly insignificant decisions.

As we affirm the dignity of the human person, conform our decisions to this truth, and pursue excellence, we plant seeds which have the potential to blossom beautifully in our families, schools, communities, and cultures. Les Mis also demonstrated that in giving ourselves to others, we begin to recognize our own worth.

1. After being treated with immense kindness, Jean Valjean finds himself on a mission of love: He goes on to make many selfless sacrifices and those who encounter him are empowered to do the same.
2. John Paul II once said: “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of self.” How true this rang for Jean Valjean in Les Misérables ! In repeatedly risking his life—and asking nothing in return—he becomes increasingly free and increasingly aware of his own dignity.

By the end of the play, he no longer defines himself by the past. Rather, he discovers his true identity: Jean Valjean. This realization prevents him from succumbing to lies and from becoming the monster Javert accuses him of being. Ultimately, it saves Jean and it saves his community.

1. The Broadway Newbie After living in New York City for two years, I have seen my fair share of Broadway shows.
2. I have seen comedies, dramas, romances, and of course, Les Misérables, which I have seen twice.
3. To me, Les Mis offers something more than beautiful singing, acting, and sets: Les Mis forces us to ask of ourselves, “what am I worth?” Is my worth defined by my past, or by what society thinks of me? Les Misérables contains several blatant violations of human dignity, which leave characters feeling broken, rejected and alone.

Several are told by the world, “You did wrong by the law, and that makes you unworthy of my love and attention.” After stealing bread to feed his starving family, Valjean becomes a number in a chain gang and is told, “men like you can never change.” Javert dehumanizes Jean Vealjean by referring to him merely by his convict number, “24601,” and insisting “once a thief, always a thief.” Likewise, in order to raise money to save her daughter’s life, Fantine resorts to prostitution.

• She is not only used as an object by men, but ostracized by her community because of her decision.
• Little Cosette is taken advantage of by the Thénardiers, who treat her as a slave.
• The student revolutionaries dehumanize themselves, telling each other that the state is worth more than their individual lives and loves.

The reason Les Misérables touches its audiences in ways other shows cannot is that it speaks to us to remind us of the times society has tried to define our worth. We are part of a world that does not value the individual or their dignity, and sometimes we want to belt out, either with our voices or in our hearts, “I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I’m living.” When that happens, we are given the option to either believe the lies saying we are “slaves” and “scum of the streets,” or we remember that no one- not an officer of the law, a con man, or any single person- can take away our worth, dignity, and ability to love,

• The reason Les Misérables touches its audiences in ways other shows cannot is that it speaks to us to remind us of the times society has tried to define our worth.
• The broken people of Les Misérables are healed when they are shown love and cared for: Fantine dies with a smile on her face after Valjean saves her and promises to take care of her child; Marius’s survivor’s guilt is cured by Cosette’s vow of marriage; Valjean finally accepts his worth at the end of his life as Marius and Cosette sit with him while he dies.

Misérables means “the miserable ones”, which is what we become if we bow down to a false definition of our worth; when we learn to show others and ourselves that we are worth so much more than a label, the dream we once dreamed of a life worth living will become a reality.

• Les Misérables is an incredible example of how a work of art can express human value and dignity through music, emotions, and heart-wrenching song and elevate the audience to a higher understanding of their own dignity.
• It is the story of the human spirit tested under terrible conditions and persevering in love, kindness, and eventually, self-worth.

— The Broadway Fanatic Written by our in New York City, Lauren Benzing and Michelle Volk. Learn more about our internship programs in New York by visiting our page. : What Les Misérables taught us about Human Dignity – World Youth Alliance

Who is the saddest character in Les Mis?

1. Fantine – too sad for words. Gets fired from her job, has to become a prostitute, shaves her head, can’t see her daughter, dies.

What is the difference between the French Revolution and Les Misérables?

The actual French Revolution took place nearly 20 years before the start of Les Misérables. It began in 1789 and lasted until 1799. The French Revolution consisted of the overthrow of Louis XVI and the introduction of the National Assembly. Remember that the poor in Les Mis are urban!

What do French think of Les Miserables

#7 Is Les Miserables popular in France? – Posted: 2/26/13 at 8:16pm Part of the problem with a Les Miz film or musical play in France is that EVERYONE knows Victor Hugo’s novel. It is taught in every public, private and parochial school in France. Most french people consider the musical and the various film productions to be bastardizations of the beloved great French novel.

Even the French-language version starring Depardieu was a failure in France. As far as French citizens not speaking English, I can’t speak for the rest of the country but most Parisians speak some or even fluent English (you basically have to if you are in anyway involved with US, UK, CAN-non-Quebec, and AU visitors).

And yes, the earlier poster was correct, most foreign language films shown in Paris are subtitled. Le problème avec un film de Les Miserables ou de jeu musical dans les Frances est que chacun connaît le roman de Victor Hugo. On lui enseigne à chaque école publique, privée et paroissiale dans les Frances.

How old is Cosette in Les Miserables?

Characters: Les Misérables | Utah Shakespeare Festival Jean Valjean : After serving nineteen years in prison (for stealing a loaf of bread and for multiple attempts to escape), Jean Valjean is finally released. Through the goodness of the Bishop of Digne, he decides to turn his life around, but to do so he must change his identity and break his parole.

1. He helps Fantine before her death and later adopts her daughter Cosette as his own.
2. He spends the rest of his life trying to keep her safe, while continuously being pursued by Inspector Javert who would arrest him for breaking his parole.
3. Inspector Javert : A self-righteous lawman, Inspector Javert believes justice and the law reign supreme.

After Valjean breaks his parole, Javert hunts him for the rest of his life, convinced that humans cannot change for the better and that bringing him to justice is all that matters. In the end, however, he cannot reconcile his hatred of Valjean and Valjean’s mercy towards him, and he takes his own life.

1. The Bishop of Digne : He gives shelter to Valjean after his release from prison.
2. After Valjean is caught stealing silver, the bishop maintains it was a gift and then gives him two more silver candlesticks.
3. He instructs they are to be used to become “an honest man.” His acts of kindness inspire Valjean and set him on his journey to redemption.

Fantine : A worker at Valjean’s factory, Fantine loses her job and is forced to become a prostitute in order to pay the Thénardiers to take care of her daughter Cosette. When Valjean learns of her plight and as she is dying of consumption, she asks Valjean to care for Cosette.

Cosette : Fantine’s daughter who lives as a servant to the Thénardiers, Cosette is rescued by Valjean at age eight and is raised by him in Paris, knowing nothing about her past. At seventeen, she meets and falls in love with Marius, and eventually marries him. The Thénardiers : Dishonest and callous innkeepers, the Thénardiers steal and thieve at any given chance.

Eponine : Daughter of the Thénardiers, Eponine grows up with and is unkind to Cosette, until Valjean takes her away. Later, at seventeen she is destitute, living on the streets of Paris and is secretly in love with Marius. She is killed at the barricades during the student insurrection.

Gavroche : A boy who lives on the streets of Paris, Gavroche helps the student revolutionaries and dies in one of the battles. Enjolras : Leader of the student revolutionaries, Enjolras is a good friend of Marius. Marius Pontmercy : A student revolutionary who is friends with Eponine, Marius falls in love with Cosette and is later rescued from the barricades by Valjean who eventually gives Marius and Cosette permission to be married. Th é nardier’s Gang : A band of thugs who try to rob Valjean’s house. Combeferre, Feuilly, Courfeyrac, Joly, Lesgles, Grantaire, Prouvaire : Student revolutionaries Other Prisoners, Townspeople, Prostitutes, Beggars, Students, and Wedding Guests

: Characters: Les Misérables | Utah Shakespeare Festival

Why was Les Misérables created?

Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables to make sense of life lived during a difficult time. – : Photo credit: VillageTheatre, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons V ictor Hugo was part of a generation in 19th France whose lives were battered by divisive politics, disruptive technology, and a deadly pandemic. Hugo’s views on protest and the human face of progress are as relevant to us today as they were then.

Victor Hugo came of age during a period when France was ruled by an arch-conservative monarchy that was intent on turning back the clock by 30 years. The monarchy wanted to restore France to a golden age that existed before the French Revolution of 1789. That revolution and the decades of civil unrest and war that followed it deeply scarred French society.

The social strains of that time divided Hugo’s family, and he grew up in a broken home. In 1830, a second revolution disrupted France once again. Hugo, now a father of young children, was thrown into a new world. Fortunately, he landed on his feet, but two years later a deadly new disease, cholera, shut down Paris.

1. The epidemic threw a harsh light on the inequities of French society, and it convinced many that things could never be the same.
2. The following decades were a period of social unrest driven in large part by technological changes brought on by the industrial revolution.
3. Hugo flourished in his work.
4. He rose to become France’s preeminent writer, and he entered politics.

Then, in 1848, another revolution upended the government and paved the way for Louis Napoleon, an autocratic leader, to be elected president. Louis Napoleon seized power in a coup d’etat in 1852 and declared himself emperor of France. Hugo vehemently opposed Louis Napoleon’s rise to power.

This resulted in Hugo’s exile to the island of Guernsey, where he brooded for 15 years and wrote Les Misérables, T he publication of Les Misérables, in 1862, was widely anticipated based on Hugo’s popularity. The book was an immediate success. It appealed to a broad audience across Europe and other areas of the world.

In the United States, Les Misérables found avid readers among soldiers fighting on both sides of the American Civil War. The main story follows the life of an ex-convict and social outcast, Jean Valjean, as he seeks redemption and fulfillment in a society undergoing disruption and change.

The novel is autobiographical in many respects. The character of Marius is based on Hugo’s life as a young adult. And, the conflict between Jean Valjean and Javert, the story’s antagonist, mirrors conflicting sides of Hugo’s own personality. Hugo used Les Misérables to criticize the injustices of 19th century France.

However, issues dealt with in the novel are universal and still resonate — the rights of women, intergenerational conflict, cruelty of the justice system, and the failure of society’s institutions. Revolution plays a large role in Les Misérables, just as it did in Hugo’s life.

• Hugo traced the source of civil unrest and revolution to the enduring conflict between the desire for stability and the search for something better.
• People who are well served by society seek stability, and those pushed to the margins agitate for change.
• Hugo argued that people have a right to challenge the laws and conventions of society when these do not align with what is morally right.

Revolution, he said, is an agent of progress. Progress is man’s mode of existence. — Victor Hugo M any things are done in the name of progress. Louis Napoleon ruled France under the banner of progress. His government built a national system of railroads and rebuilt Paris to be the showcase of modernity.

• However, the broad avenues he constructed through the city were designed to make it easier for the government to put down future civil revolts.
• Hugo takes a more expansive view — progress has a spiritual dimension in addition to its material manifestations.
• Hugo said that progress is the human journey toward the divine.

“The collective stride of the human race is called Progress.” In life, Victor Hugo found success by looking to the margins and turning his back on the center. Early in his career, Hugo risked persecution at the hands of government censors to write plays designed to provoke the establishment.

• Later, both as a writer and as a politician Hugo championed the causes of the disadvantaged and the working class.
• In the novel, Jean Valjean finds his purpose in supporting other people in their struggles.
• He triumphs through generosity and mercy.
• These are the weapons by which he ultimately defeats his adversary Javert, a fanatical agent for law and order.

If you wish to know what Revolution is, call it Progress; and if you wish to know what Progress is, call it the Future. — Victor Hugo L es Misérables delivers a call to arms — pursue progress, not stability. The laws and institutions of society are fragile, and they are prone to failure.

Who first played Fantine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fantine
Les Misérables character
Fantine by Margaret Hall
Created by	Victor Hugo
In-universe information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Factory worker, prostitute
Significant other	Félix Tholomyès
Children	Cosette (daughter)
Relatives	Marius Pontmercy (son-in-law)
Nationality	French

Fantine ( French pronunciation: ) is a fictional character in Victor Hugo ‘s 1862 novel Les Misérables, She is a young grisette in Paris who becomes pregnant by a rich student. After he abandons her, she is forced to look after their child, Cosette, on her own.

Originally a beautiful and naive girl, Fantine is eventually forced by circumstances to become a prostitute, selling her hair and front teeth, losing her beauty and health. The money she earns is sent to support her daughter. She was first played in the musical by Rose Laurens in France, and when the musical came to England, Patti LuPone played Fantine in the West End.

Fantine has since been played by numerous actresses. Fantine became an archetype of self-abnegation and devoted motherhood. She has been portrayed by many actresses in stage and screen versions of the story and has been depicted in works of art.