(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES: THE STAGED CONCERT")
ALFIE BOE: (Singing, as Jean Valjean) One day more. Another day, another destiny.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
It's only four more days until the final stop on the international concert tour of "Les Miserables." The musical is celebrating its 40th anniversary. NPR's Jennifer Vanasco says there's a reason why this story continues to draw audiences.
SOUNDBITE OF CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHONBERG SONG, "LA JOURNEE ES FINIE")
JENNIFER VANASCO, BYLINE: The musical "Les Miserables" started as a French concept album in 1980. It tells a story about hardship, redemption and liberation in 19th century France.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LA JOURNEE ES FINIE")
UNIDENTIFIED CAST #1: (Singing in French).
VANASCO: "Les Miserables" is based on a novel by Victor Hugo. Its main plotline is a face-off between a former criminal, Jean Valjean, and police inspector Javert. When British theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh heard the album, he says he knew it needed to be a musical.
CAMERON MACKINTOSH: I listened to it. I listened to four tracks - the first four tracks. I was so excited.
VANASCO: But he wanted a second opinion. So he played it for a lyricist friend, Alan Jay Lerner, who wrote "My Fair Lady."
MACKINTOSH: And he said - my dear boy, he said, this is not a show for me, but you've got to promise me you will do it.
VANASCO: He did. Mackintosh went on to create a fully staged version in English of "Les Miserables."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES: THE STAGED CONCERT")
BOE: (Singing, as Jean Valjean) Do you hear the people sing?
VANASCO: Forty years later, it's still playing in London's West End, and it's been staged around the world, including on Broadway. At the same time, though, "Les Mis" has never strayed that far from its concept album roots. There was a tenth anniversary concert, a 25th anniversary concert, and in 2024, to celebrate the then upcoming 40th anniversary, Mackintosh kicked off "Les Miserables: The Arena Concert Spectacular." It's gone to Europe, Japan, the Philippines. They've sent the set across the ocean on boats - and now for its final stop, Radio City Music Hall in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES: THE STAGED CONCERT")
CARRIE HOPE FLETCHER: (Singing, as Fantine) I dreamed a dream in time gone by.
JEAN-PIERRE VAN DER SPUY: It's a concert. We have microphones across the front of the stage, and behind them, on another raised platform, is a huge 27-piece orchestra.
VANASCO: Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy is based in the U.K. He's codirector of the show. He says the performers wear costumes.
VAN DER SPUY: And there are little bits of staging to kind of help keep the evening bubbling along in an exciting way.
VANASCO: This is all done on giant stages. Radio City seats about 6,000. So gestures are big and the lights have a bit of a rock concert vibe. But there's also two large video screens that capture the actors in a more intimate way.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KILLIAN DONNELLY: (Singing, as Jean Valjean) Bring him home.
VANASCO: Killian Donnelly, an Irish actor who plays good guy Jean Valjean, says it was a little complicated trying to play to an arena and into a camera at the same time.
DONNELLY: One of our directors, who I trust completely, would go, a bit too much. I was like, oh, really? Yeah. It would work for the West End, but here, it looks really big on camera. So less is more.
VANASCO: The concert tour includes many performers like Donnelly, who've been in "Les Miserables" for years. He loves the show. So do audiences. Producer Cameron Mackintosh says...
MACKINTOSH: The great key about the show is the survival of the human spirit.
VANASCO: Whether it's the arena concert or stage version, book, movie or that first concept album, he says it's all about the story and how it makes people feel.
Jennifer Vanasco, NPR News, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES: THE STAGED CONCERT")
UNIDENTIFIED CAST #2: (Singing, as characters) One day to a new beginning. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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