A French language production of Les Miserables will be produced at the Théatre du Châtelet in November 2024, according to a Facebook post by Broadway à Paris.
A google translation of the post reads as follows:
In case some people don't know yet, LES MISERABLES ARE COMING BACK!!!
We've been waiting for this for years (1992 to be precise) but finally a French version of the musical by Claude-Michel Schoenberg & Alain Boublil will be performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet from November 2024!!!
And what's more, it will be a new version in a new production by Ladislas Chollat and with new words and songs from the original authors themselves!
To discover the first names in the casting and even attend the last auditions for certain roles, DON'T MISS 42e rue on France Musique THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15 AT 1 P.M.!!!
With the entire artistic team and the new director of the Châtelet, Olivier Py!
Ticket office opening Monday 🥳😱
Les Miserables premiered in its original form in Paris in 1980, before it was substantially revised for the English language production which premiered in London in 1985. This production was translated back into French and was mounted in 1992. Despite the fact that Les Miz has had multiple productions in dozens of cities it has never been fully staged in France since that 1992 production. (A French language concert tour did take place in 2017.)
Assuming the translation is correct, this will be a new production directed by Ladsilas Cholllat (ie not the current Connor/Powell-directed nor the original Nunn/Caird-directed Cameron Mackintosh productions).
Perhaps most exciting (again assuming the translation is correct), this production will feature new words and songs by Boublil and Schoenberg!
While Les Miz has been continually tweaked since its English language premiere more than 38 years ago, these have been relatively minor and mostly consisted of cuts in order to reduce the running time to under three hours. There have been relatively major changes over the years, including (but not limited to):
- the reinstatement of the meeting at the well scene between Valjean and Young Cosette
- the "God I'm weary sick enough to drop" verse in "Lovely Ladies"
- changes to Enjolras' "Lamarque is dead" speech
- various lyrics to replace the "There goes a Jew / This one's a queer" lines in "Beggar at the Feast"
The 2012 movie introduced a number of new lyrics, but only one of these made it back into the staged production: Gavroche's "This is the land that fought for liberty" stanza in "Look Down".
The 2012 movie also introduced a new song, "Suddenly", although this has not been incorporated into the stage musical. (This is in contrast to Evita and Dreamgirls, where the new song written for the movie versions both made it into the stage versions. And older shows like Grease and Cabaret also now borrow liberally from their movie song list.)
Boublil and Schoenberg (and Cameron Mackintosh), despite their vast success, are certainly not shy about trying to improve their shows when required. Miss Saigon has been reworked several times over the years, including changing the ending multiple times, and having three different songs for Ellen. The 2014 London revival included major revisions with Michael Mahler reworking Richard Maltby Jr's original English language lyrics. Martin Guerre was drastically revised between the its 1996 premiere and the 1999 tour.
However - if the translation is correct - this would be the first time since 1985 that Boublil and Schoenberg would be writing new songs for the stage version of Les Miz.
This news, along with other (non-reproduction) productions of Les Miz in in 2024 in Prague, Czech Republic and St Gallen, Switzerland (followed by Munich, Germany), means it's a great time to be a Les Miz fan in Europe.