Countdown to Les Mis at the O2

Last few tickets remain for major Les Miserables concert at the 02 this Sunday; Katie Hall to replace Camilla Kerslake as Cosette; concert to be shown live in cinemas around the world

An epic concert will be staged this Sunday, 3 October 2010, by impresario Cameron Mackintosh to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables.

In association with Universal Pictures, the extraordinary staged concert will feature over 500 actors and musicians, with star performances from a host of internationally renowned performers including Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Nick Jonas as Marius, Norm Lewis as Javert, Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Lea Salonga as Fantine, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier, Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras and Samantha Barks as Eponine.

The part of Cosette, which was originally to have been played by Camilla Kerslake, will now be played by former I’d Do Anything contestant Katie Hall. She is currently performing in the 25th anniversary UK tour of the show, now playing at the Barbican Theatre, alongside Gareth Gates and John Owen Jones. The cast of this production, plus the London cast at the Queen’s Theatre, will all perform on stage at the O2.

Les Miserables has made theatrical history with three different productions running in London: the original production at the Queen’s Theatre, the new 25th anniversary UK tour at the Barbican, and the concert at the O2. The show overtook Cats in 2006 as the World’s Longest Running Musical and celebrated its 10,000th performance in January this year.

Les Mis Concert In Cinemas

The Les Mis concert will also hit cinemas as part of the 25th Anniversary celebrations. The show at the O2 Arena will be transmitted live via satellite on 3 October to more than 175 cinemas across the UK – and in Australia, Germany, Ireland and Norway. See a list of cinemas showing the Les Miserables concert here.

LINKS

Book tickets to see Les Miserables in Concert at the O2 Arena

Cinemas showing the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary concert: UK, Germany, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Norway, Australia

MORE INFO

Heading The O2 Concert cast is Alfie Boe, one of the country’s leading tenors and best selling recording artists. Alfie shot to fame while starring in Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme” on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for his performance. His other credits include a nomination for a Classical Brit Award for his album “Onward” and a sell-out production of “The Merry Widow” at the London Coliseum. His future opera engagements will see Alfie return to the English National Opera to sing ‘Nadir’ in a new production of “The Pearl Fishers” and also his return to the Royal Opera House in Gounod’s”Roméo et Juliette”.

Matt Lucas is one of Britain’s most successful comic actors and writers. His TV credits include the multi award-winning “Little Britain”, “Shooting Stars”, BBC’s “Wind in the Willows” and most recently Tim Burton’s film of “Alice in Wonderland”. Jenny Galloway is regarded as a legendary ‘Madame Thénardier’, and has played the part many times, including the 10th Anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She has also created the roles of ‘Rosie’ in “Mamma Mia!” for which she won an Olivier Award, and ‘Mrs Brill’ in “Mary Poppins” both in the West End and on Broadway.

Lea Salonga will fly in from Manilla to play ‘Fantine’. No stranger to “Les Miz”, Lea has played ‘Eponine’ in London and ‘Fantine’ on Broadway. She became an international star by creating the role of ‘Kim’ in the original production of “Miss Saigon” at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and subsequently on Broadway. Lea won a multitude of awards for this role, including the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World Awards. Lea will join her former “Les Miz” co-star Norm Lewis, who has just received rave reviews for “Sondheim on Sondheim” at Studio 54 in New York. Norm played ‘Javert’ in the Broadway production of “Les Misérables” and his other Broadway credits include ‘John’ in “Miss Saigon” and ‘King Triton’ in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”.

Nick Jonas is one third of the phenomenally successful pop music artists, the Jonas Brothers. Worldwide they have sold over 8 million albums, played to millions of fans on three continents, earned dozens of international awards and have garnered 36 gold and platinum album certificates. No stranger to “Les Miz”, Nick played the part of ‘Gavroche’ for the final nine months of the show’s original Broadway run. Camilla Kerslake is an English classical crossover singer who became the first signing to Gary Barlow’s new record label. Her debut album shot to number 4 in the Classical Album Charts and has been nominated for a Classical Brit Award. Camilla also sings the Christian hymn, “How Can I Keep from Singing?” in the 2009 Waitrose supermarket Christmas advert. Nick will also appear in the London production of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre for three weeks only from 21 June 2010. Book tickets now.

The O2 Concert will also feature the casts of the original London production (still playing to packed houses at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue), the cast of the acclaimed New 25th Anniversary Production and members of the original 1985 cast. The new production, which is breaking box office records all over the UK and opening in countries all over the world has played a short run at the Barbican, London where the show originally premiered.

The magnificent score of “LES MISÉRABLES” includes the songs, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’, ‘On My Own’, ‘Stars’, ‘Bring Him Home’, ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’, ‘One Day More’, ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’, ‘Master Of The House’ and many more.

“LES MISÉRABLES” originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on 3 April 2004 where it continues to play to packed houses. When “LES MISÉRABLES” celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World’s Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by “Cats” in London’s West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating an historic 10,000th performances.

Seen by over 56 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, “LES MISÉRABLES” is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of “LES MISÉRABLES”, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the soon to be released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School’s Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools. Cameron Mackintosh is currently developing a film of “LES MISÉRABLES” with Working Title and Universal.

Cameron Mackintosh’s production of “LES MISÉRABLES” is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The original London 1985 production of “LES MISÉRABLES” was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

The New 25th Anniversary production and the O2 Concert are directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley. Original costumes by Andreane Neofitou, additional costumes by Christine Rowland, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Paule Constable and sound by Mick Potter.

Book tickets to see Les Miserables in Concert at the O2 Arena

Queen’s Theatre

Queen’s Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 6BA

Les Miserables – Half Price Tickets

Enjoy 50% off tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £29.50 on tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

Offer valid 2 October at 10.30am. Also save £18 on Mon-Thu evenings and Wed matinees.

Les Miserables in gearing up for its 25th anniversary with a series of special events and concerts – including a major concert at the O2 Arena in London and the 25th anniversary touring production starring Gareth Gates coming back to the Barbican Theatre – where it all began in 1985.

As the excitement mounts, a special 10.30am early matinee of the show will be performed on Saturday 2 October. Westendtheatre.com readers can now enjoy 50% off top price tickets to see this special performance.

Produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, Les Miserables is the world’s longest-running musical having played in 42 countries to over 55 million people worldwide.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £29.50 on tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

Offer valid 2 October at 10.30am. Also save £18 on Mon-Thu evenings and Wed matinees.

Les Miserables tickets at the Queen’s Theatre

Winner of the 2012 Olivier Audience Award, Les Miserables is the world’s longest-running musical and continues to go from strength to strength for producer Cameron Mackintosh in Trevor Nunn and John Caird’s blockbuster production.

Barricades at dawn

Controversy surrounding Les Mis 25th anniversary celebrations

I could be wrong, but I don’t think Cameron Mackintosh will be linking arms with Trev and the two Johns in October and singing a rousing final chorus of One Day More, as I had previously imagined.

In a rare breach of luvvie protocal, original Les Miserables director Trevor Nunn has had a good old-fashioned “go” at Cameron Mackintosh in today’s Telegraph (Trevor Nunn: I feel betrayed by the new Les Mis).

Speaking on behalf of the original creative team behind the show – Nunn, co-director John Caird and designer John Napier – Nunn reveals that they are apparently “profoundly unhappy… profoundly betrayed” at not being included in staging the “new” 25th Anniversary production, which has been “reimagined” (a bit) by James Powell and Laurence Connor.

Mark Shenton’s excellent commentary in today’s The Stage is really all you need to know on the subject, so I won’t go on.

Suffice to say that this could be one Les Mis story too many for us as we reach dangerous levels of Les Mis exhaustion (although not as tired as Nick Jonas), given Nick’s London presence at the Queen’s, the special O2 Arena concert in October AND your chance to compare and contrast as the current UK touring production starring Gareth Gates comes to the Barbican this summer.

Please God can Cameron’s right-hand man Nick Allott use some of his expert mediating and healing powers to clear this one up before celebrations are well and truly soured.

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre in London

Book tickets to see Nick Jonas in Les Miserables 25th Anniversary concert at the O2

Book tickets to Les Miserables 25th Anniversary production at the Barbican Theatre

Nick Jonas finds musicals hard work

We are happy to hear that Nick Jonas, one third of global boyband Jonas Brothers and currently star of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre, is feeling the strain of doing 8 shows a week.

Talking this morning on GMTV (see video below) the 17 year old singer, who is playing Marius in Les Mis for three weeks, said: “It is tiring, especially when we have two shows a day, but it is all good fun”.

In the interview he also talk about how he has bonded with the cast and is overjoyed at getting back to his theatrical roots, “I am having an excellent time, it’s definitely different to what I do with my brothers, the singing is a different style”.

“I have been doing this kind of thing since I was eight. I did A Christmas Carol first, then Annie Get Your Gun and Beauty and the Beast. Then I did Les Mis for my final show on Broadway, I was Gavroche then and I have come back about seven years later to play Marius. It was a role that I dreamed about playing for a long time. It is such an honour.”

It’s always nice to hear a pop star talk about how hard it is to be in a musical – a nice tribute to the actors and actresses who tread the boards night after night in the West End.

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Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre in London

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Book tickets to Les Miserables 25th Anniversary production at the Barbican Theatre

CAMILLA KERSLAKE in Les Miserables

Gary Barlow protégée wins role in Les Miserables

Camilla Kerslake has perseverance. In spades.

She is currently playing Cosette in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London for 3 weeks only, alongside Nick Jonas. She will also appear in the 25th anniversary concert of Les Miserables at the O2 on 3 October 2010.

Born in London but brought up until the age of eight outside of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island, Kerslake, 21, decided against plans to be a doctor, and after ‘A’ levels, auditioned for Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music then started a two-year course on the business aspects of the music industry.” But just three months in, Camilla’s life changed irrevocably. Camilla recorded her own versions of two classic pieces, ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘Pie Jesu’ to show off her remarkable voice. Armed with the knowledge that Take That were recording at a London Studio at the time, Camilla turned up on an almost daily basis hoping to give Gary Barlow the demos.

Gary finally relented and listened. In true fairytale fashion, he loved what he heard and immediately offered to sign her to his Future record label and put her into the recording studio with producer Mike Hedges, famed for his work with U2, the Manic Street Preachers and Dido among many highly-successful others, Her self-titled debut album, released last year went on to receive a nomination for Best Album at the 2010 Classical BRIT Awards and she has performed at Buckingham Palace for Prince Charles’ charity dinner and The Royal Albert Hall for Classic FM Live and Classic Response 2010.

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre in London

Book tickets to Les Miserables 25th Anniversary concert at the O2

Nick Jonas makes London stage debut

Pop superstar Nick Jonas of boyband Jonas Brothers made his London stage debut last night (21 June 2010) in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London.

Supported by his brothers, Joe, Kevin and Frankie Jonas, and parents Denise and Paul Jonas, Nick, 17, wowed the audience at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue with his performance as Marius Pontmercy.

In the long-running show, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, his character falls in love with Cosette, played by Camilla Kerslake, a 21 year old classical singer from London who is signed to Gary Barlow’s Future Records.

Nick’s father Paul said on Twitter yesterday: “Nick told me when he was 11 and in Les Miz that he would return someday to play Marius. Today is the day. Your family is proud of you”. And following the show he posted, “Nick was amazing tonight in Les Miz. He blew everyone away. Great to be with the whole family for this wonderful life event”.

Fans who watched the show tonight Laura Jonas-Noyes who said on Twitter: “I am SO proud of Nick. Cried at the end!” Nick posted on his own Twitter page said: “What a night. First show was amazing. Thanks to everyone for the good luck messages. Congrats to all my cast mates”.

Nick will be playing the part of Marius for the next three weeks. He said recently in London that: “There’s pop music and then there’s theatrical style music and I’m just getting used to that mind set. And trying to re-learn how to sing like that has been interesting and a lot of fun as well.”

Nick Jonas will also join the cast of a special concert performance of Les Mis on Sunday 3 October at the O2 in London, featuring more than 300 actors and musicians, including Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Nick Jonas as Marius, Norm Lewis as Javert, Little Britain star Matt Lucas as Thenardier, Miss Saigon star Lea Salonga as Fantine, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier, Camilla Kerslake as Cosette and the casts of the original production at the Queen’s Theatre, the UK touring production, including Gareth Gates, and members of the original 1985 London cast.

Nick Jonas is a member of globally successful boyband Jonas Brothers. 17 year old Nick is no stranger to performing on stage, having played the role of Gavroche in Les Miserables on Broadway in 2003. He has also appeared in a number of other Broadway shows from the age of 7 years old onwards, including A Christmas Carol, Annie Get Your Gun, Beauty and the Beast and The Sound of Music.

Nick and his brothers are currently performing a major series of concerts across the US. The Jonas Brothers, Kevin, Joe and Nick, released their first album, It’s About Time, in 2006, which spawned the TRL hit “Mandy”. Their next album, 2007’s Jonas Brothers, went platinum, as did their 2008 release A Little Bit Longer and 2009’s Lines, Vines and Trying Times. They found fame through the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock.

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PHOTO LINKS:

More photos of Nick Jonas in Les Miserables – OceanUp

More photos of Nick Jonas in Les Miserables – Daily Mail

More photos of Nick Jonas in Les Miserables – Cambio

Les Miserables at the O2 Arena

This October the legendary musical Les Miserables will celebrate its 25th birthday. To mark the occasion, the show’s producer Cameron Mackintosh is staging an extraordinary one-off concert at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday 3 October.

The concert will see stars from the original London cast come together with current casts and major celebrities to celebrate the birthday, including Nick Jonas, Alfie Boe, Norm Lewis, Matt Lucas, Lea Salonga, Jenny Galloway, Camilla Kerslake and 300 performers and musicians.

Les Miserables will also make theatrical history with three different productions running simultaneously in London: the original production at the Queen’s Theatre, the new 25th anniversary UK tour which will come to the Barbican for a short season, and the exclusive concert at the O2.

In October this year, the legendary musical LES MISÉRABLES will celebrate its 25th birthday by making theatrical history with an international first – three different productions in London at the same time. The Original Production at the Queen’s Theatre, the New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican, London and now, stars in their multitudes will gather for a celebratory concert at The O2 on Sunday 3rd October, when all three productions and many of the shows original cast will come together to celebrate this momentous occasion.

The 25th Anniversary concert at The O2 will host a company of over 300 actors and musicians, including Alfie Boe as ‘Jean Valjean’, Nick Jonas as ‘Marius’, Norm Lewis as ‘Javert’, Matt Lucas as ‘Thénardier’, Lea Salonga as ‘Fantine’, Jenny Galloway as ‘Madame Thénardier’, Camilla Kerslake as ‘Cosette’ and the casts of the Original Production at the Queen’s Theatre, the New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican, London and members of the Original 1985 London cast.

Heading The O2 Concert cast is Alfie Boe, one of the country’s leading tenors and best selling recording artists. Alfie shot to fame while starring in Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme” on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for his performance. His other credits include a nomination for a Classical Brit Award for his album “Onward” and a sell-out production of “The Merry Widow” at the London Coliseum. His future opera engagements will see Alfie return to the English National Opera to sing ‘Nadir’ in a new production of “The Pearl Fishers” and also his return to the Royal Opera House in Gounod’s”Roméo et Juliette”.

Matt Lucas is one of Britain’s most successful comic actors and writers. His TV credits include the multi award-winning “Little Britain”, “Shooting Stars”, BBC’s “Wind in the Willows” and most recently Tim Burton’s film of “Alice in Wonderland”. Jenny Galloway is regarded as a legendary ‘Madame Thénardier’, and has played the part many times, including the 10th Anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She has also created the roles of ‘Rosie’ in “Mamma Mia!” for which she won an Olivier Award, and ‘Mrs Brill’ in “Mary Poppins” both in the West End and on Broadway.

Lea Salonga will fly in from Manilla to play ‘Fantine’. No stranger to “Les Miz”, Lea has played ‘Eponine’ in London and ‘Fantine’ on Broadway. She became an international star by creating the role of ‘Kim’ in the original production of “Miss Saigon” at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and subsequently on Broadway. Lea won a multitude of awards for this role, including the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World Awards. Lea will join her former “Les Miz” co-star Norm Lewis, who has just received rave reviews for “Sondheim on Sondheim” at Studio 54 in New York. Norm played ‘Javert’ in the Broadway production of “Les Misérables” and his other Broadway credits include ‘John’ in “Miss Saigon” and ‘King Triton’ in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”.

Nick Jonas is one third of the phenomenally successful pop music artists, the Jonas Brothers. Worldwide they have sold over 8 million albums, played to millions of fans on three continents, earned dozens of international awards and have garnered 36 gold and platinum album certificates. No stranger to “Les Miz”, Nick played the part of ‘Gavroche’ for the final nine months of the show’s original Broadway run. Camilla Kerslake is an English classical crossover singer who became the first signing to Gary Barlow’s new record label. Her debut album shot to number 4 in the Classical Album Charts and has been nominated for a Classical Brit Award. Camilla also sings the Christian hymn, “How Can I Keep from Singing?” in the 2009 Waitrose supermarket Christmas advert. Nick will also appear in the London production of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre for three weeks only from 21 June 2010. Book tickets now.

The O2 Concert will also feature the casts of the original London production (still playing to packed houses at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue), the cast of the acclaimed New 25th Anniversary Production and members of the original 1985 cast. The new production, which is breaking box office records all over the UK and opening in countries all over the world will play for 20 performances only (14 September – 2 October) at the Barbican, London where the show originally premiered.

The magnificent score of “LES MISÉRABLES” includes the songs, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’, ‘On My Own’, ‘Stars’, ‘Bring Him Home’, ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’, ‘One Day More’, ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’, ‘Master Of The House’ and many more.

“LES MISÉRABLES” originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on 3 April 2004 where it continues to play to packed houses. When “LES MISÉRABLES” celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World’s Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by “Cats” in London’s West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating an historic 10,000th performances.

Seen by over 56 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, “LES MISÉRABLES” is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of “LES MISÉRABLES”, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the soon to be released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School’s Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools. Cameron Mackintosh is currently developing a film of “LES MISÉRABLES” with Working Title and Universal.

Cameron Mackintosh’s production of “LES MISÉRABLES” is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The original London 1985 production of “LES MISÉRABLES” was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

The New 25th Anniversary production and the O2 Concert are directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley. Original costumes by Andreane Neofitou, additional costumes by Christine Rowland, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Paule Constable and sound by Mick Potter.

Les Miserables at the O2 Arena – Cast

OTHER CAST INCLUDES:

Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier

The cast of the original London production at the Queen’s Theatre

The cast of the new 25th anniversary production at the Barbican London

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