LES MISERABLES

[Poster]

The teeming streets of Paris... The fearless students at the barricades... The desperate love that may not survive the battle. At the center of it all, one man struggles against his past, his pursuer and his fate.

The lithograph of Cosette (left), part of the show's famous logo, was created by illustrator Emile Bayard. Bayard was famous in his own lifetime for his portraits of the characters in Les Misérables. The story is based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo and was adapted for the stage by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg.

The Story...

[Photo]
Simon Pearl as "Gavroche" in Les Misérables.

Jean Valjean, released on parole after 19 years on a chain gang for stealing a loaf of bread, decides to start his life anew.

Eight years later, Valjean has become both a factory owner and mayor. One of his workers, Fantine, has a secret illegitimate child. When the other women discover this, they demand her dismissal. Penniless, she is forced to sell herself. She gets into a fight with a prospective customer and is about to go to prison when Valjean arrives and demands she be taken to the hospital instead. At the hospital, Valjean promises the dying Fantine to find and look after her daughter, Cosette.

Five years later, Valjean learns that Cosette has lodged with the Thenardiers, who horribly abuse her while indulging their own daughter, Eponine. Valjean pays them to let him take Cosette to Paris.

Nine years later, there is great unrest in the city because of the likely demise of the popular General Lamarque, the only man left in the Government who shows any feeling for the poor. One of the street gangs is led by Thenardier and his wife and they set upon Valjean and Cosette.

Meanwhile, at a political meeting in a small cave, a group of idealistic students prepare for the revolution they are sure will erupt upon the death of General Lamarque. One of the students is Marius, who keeps thinking of the mysterious Cosette. Cosette has fallen in love with him as well.

Chaos soon unfolds around the city. After a battle, Valjean arrives at the barricades in search of Marius. The next day, all the rebels are killed, and Valjean escapes into the sewers with the unconscious Marius. The reunion of Marius and Cosette by Valjean leads to the climactic finale of Les Misérables.


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