Les Miserables
The injustices of 19th Century France is the setting for the world’s longest running and best loved musical. Based on Victor Hugo’s imortal novel, theater legends Alain Boubel and Claude Michel Schonberg brought LES MISÉRABLES to the stage in 1985. It would tour for the next 27 years. On Saturday, June 1, 2013 the High Street Arts Center will be one of the first local theater companies in the world to present this epic production.
Often mistaken for the story of the French Revolution, LES MISÉRABLES is actually set around the little known Student Revolution that took place 40 later. A generation has grown up since the overthrow of King Louis XVI and the fall of the Bastille but little has improved. Now the question is, “With all the anger in the land, how long before the judgment day, before we cut the fat ones down to size?”
Set to this backdrop is the story of Jean Valjean who has broken parole after 18 years imprisonment for stealing a loaf of bread. Determined to get his man the pious Inspector Javert relentlessly pursues Valjean, vowing he must “learn the lesson of the law.” Weaved throughout this chase are the many enduring and deeply tragic characters, each of whom faces the musical’s central haunting question, “Who am I?”
LES MISÉRABLES opens Saturday, June 1st. Thereafter performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM through July 7th.