Difference between revisions of "Les Misérables"
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===English adaptation=== | ===English adaptation=== | ||
| − | Produced in English by [[Cameron Mackintosh]] and the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], | + | It was adapted as an English version with lyrics by [[Herbert Kretzmer]] and additional material by James Fenton, substantially expanded and reworked from a literal translation by Siobhan Bracke of the original Paris version. Produced in English by [[Cameron Mackintosh]] and the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], opening in the Barbican Centre in London on 8 October 1985. The success of the West End musical led to a Broadway production. |
==Translations and adaptations== | ==Translations and adaptations== | ||
Revision as of 16:58, 14 November 2023
Les Misérables is the name of a French historical novel by Victor Hugo (1802-1885)[1].
It is also the name given to various dramatised versions of the novel.
Contents
The original text
The French novel Les Misérables was originally written by Victor Hugo and published in 1862 by the Belgian company A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven & Cie.
The novel is divided into 5 volumes, each volume divided into several books, and subdivided into chapters, for a total of 48 books and 365 chapters, making it one of the longest novels ever written. It contains various subplots, threaded together by means of the story of ex-convict Jean Valjean, who becomes a force for good in the world but cannot escape his criminal past.
It is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century and has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television and the stage, most arrestingly so as a 1980s musical.
Les Misérables, the musical (1980)
Colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz.
Original text
Les Misérables a musical based on the novel originally adapted into French by Alain Boublil (1941-)[2] and Claude-Michel Schönberg (1944-)[3]. It opened at the Palais des Sports in Paris on 17 September, directed by Robert Hossein, playing 107 performances.
English adaptation
It was adapted as an English version with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and additional material by James Fenton, substantially expanded and reworked from a literal translation by Siobhan Bracke of the original Paris version. Produced in English by Cameron Mackintosh and the Royal Shakespeare Company, opening in the Barbican Centre in London on 8 October 1985. The success of the West End musical led to a Broadway production.
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
1996: It was produced Cameron Mackintosh, and brought to South Africa by Century City, Tsogo Sun and by Pieter Toerien.
The leading performers in the production included
Besides the large cast of international performers, the show also boasted the South African born lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, and a number of locally cast South African children, including: Isabel Byers, Sivuyile Ngesi,Nicholas Pretorius, Lindy Smith and Steven van Wyk.
The technical team encompassed the following:
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, the original text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, additional material by James Fenton. Orchestral score by John Cameron, production supervisor Martin Koch, musical director Dale Rieling, sound by Terry Jardine, associate producer Martin McCallum, executive producer John Robertson, designed by John Napier, lighting by David Hersey, costumes by Anfreane Neofitou, Asian/South African Tour directed by Matthew Ryan, directed and adapted by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo
Programme of Les Misérables, as performed in Cape Town in 1996.
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