Les Misérables from Digne to Montreuil-Sur-Mer
Musical Plot Synopsis, Character list, and Production Information
May 30, 2009
The English musical adaptation of Hugo's Les Misérables has been put back to immense worldwide popularity with the rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" by singing sensation Susan Boyle in the third series of Britain's Got Talent, April 11, 2009 and as her final song.
Claude-Michel Schönberg composed the music in 1980, libretto by Alain Boublil, adapted from the same-title classic novel of French author Victor Hugo.
Produced by Cameron Mackintosh, Les Misérables was premiered at the Barbican Theatre, London, on October 8, 1985. The musical has been performed in numerous productions around the world.
Notable song: "I Dreamed a Dream" sung by Fantine.
Cast of Main Characters
- Jean Valjean (tenor), prisoner for 19 years, escaped convict
- Javert, (bass-baritone) lawman who pursues Valjean relentlessly
- Bishop of Digne (baritone), accommodates Valjean after his jail release
- Fantine (mezzo-soprano), worker who loses her job and becomes a prostitute
- Young Cosette (mezzo-soprano), Eight-year old daughter of Fantine
- Young Eponine (Silent), daughter of the Thénardiers
- M. Thénardier (baritone or tenor), runs a small inn
- Madame Thénardier, mezzo-soprano), Wife of M. Thénardier
- Eponine (mezzo-soprano), Daughter of the Thenardiers
- Cosette (soprano), Daughter of Fantine
Plot Synopsis (Digne, 1815 - start in Paris, 1832)
This covers the time the protagonist Jean Valjean leaves the prison on parole in 1815 to the time in 1832 when he pays the Thénardiers to take with him Cosette to Paris.
Prologue: Digne in 1815
Jean Valjean, Prisoner 24601, is released on parole by policemen Javert. He is imprisoned for 19 years after stealing bread for his starving sister and her family, and on occasion, for trying to escape. The outside world is cruel as only the Bishop of Digne treats him kindly. Calloused by years of hardship, he repays the Bishop by stealing some silver. To his surprise, when caught by the police, the Bishop lies to save him. Valjean decides to begin a new life.
Montreuil-Sur-Mer in 1823
Having broken his parole, Valjean changes his name to Monsieur Madeleine. He becomes a factory owner and Mayor. Fantine, one of his workers, has a secret illegitimate child, Cosette. When the other women workers discover this, they demand her dismissal.
Desperate for survival, Fantine sells her locket, her hair, and becomes a prostitute. Humiliated, one day she gets into a fight with a prospective customer and when the police (Javert) is about to take her to prison, the "Mayor" (Valjean) arrives and demands Fantine be taken to hospital instead.
The mayor also rescues a man pinned beneath a cart. Javert is reminded of the abnormal strength of convict 24601 (Valjean) who he says, has just been recaptured. Valjean, not wanting to see an innocent man go to prison, confesses he is prisoner 24601.
At the hospital, Valjean promises the dying Fantine to look after her young daughter Cosette. When Javert arrives to arrest him, Valjean has escaped.
Cosette has been lodged in Montfermeil with the Thénardiers who mistreat her while lavishing on Éponine. Valjean pays the Thénardiers to let him take Cosette away to Paris.
Les Miserables - Paris in 1832 succeeds this article. It follows the students' revolution, Cosette's marriage to Marius, and Jean Valjean's death.
Source:
Playbill publication. Sydney: Publisher Playbill Pty Ltd, 1997
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