Les Misérables
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 in Paris in 1980.
English adaptation
Produced in English by Cameron Mackintosh and the Royal Shakespeare Company,
Translations and adaptations
Performance history in South Africa
It was performed in Century City, Tsogo Sun and Pieter Toerien. 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/Autograph, assiciate 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.
Besides international performers, the South Africans in the cast were: Herbert Kretzmer, Isabel Byers, Sivuyile Ngesi,Nicholas Pretorius, Lindy Smith and Steven van Wyk.
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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