Les Misérables is finally a big hit in Paris after the musical’s writers reworked the script to appease the locals by changing the songs from English to French.
The legendary musical was initially written in French and performed in Paris in 1980, but broke music records in London’s West End after Sir Cameron Mackintosh bought the rights to the show in 1985 and produced an English version.
Now, a new production in the French capital, which premiered last week at the Théâtre du Châtelet, has earned rave reviews after lyricist Alain Boubil and composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, responsible for the initial show nearly four decades ago, reworked the script. so that the songs are sung in French.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Boubil said: “I’m delighted it’s being sung in French.” After all, it was originally in French and comes from a great French work that we can say founded the collective imagination (of France).
Parisians had previously turned their backs on Sir Cameron’s musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 19th-century epic novel, considering the production too British.
Even the 2012 film adaptation, starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, performed poorly at the French box office.
Boubil explained that he had to convince Sir Cameron that his version of Les Mis was too British for the French and knew it needed to be reworked so that Parisians would appreciate the musical more.
As a result, the writers had to “go back to the roots” of Hugo’s original story.
Other changes included new costumes, a more diverse cast, and the reworking of existing French lyrics.
Speaking to the New York Times, Boubil also said there was “something contradictory about bringing back a classic French story in an imported production, which Britain made famous around the world.”
Les Misérables is finally a big hit in Paris after the musical’s writers reworked the script to appease the locals by changing the songs from English to French.
Actors perform the musical Les Miserables based on the work of Victor Hugo during a dress rehearsal at the Theater du Chatelet on November 17, 2024.
44 years after its creation, the musical ‘Les Miserables’, a monument that has triumphed in more than 50 countries, is reborn in Paris, in an ‘improved’ French version
But after writers made changes to what is estimated to be about a quarter of the script, the musical’s latest production in Paris appears to have captivated French audiences and given them a new appreciation for the theatrical masterpiece.
French outlet Le Parisien praised the production’s “perfect casting” and “grandiose decoration and staging” and called it a “true delight” worth waiting thirty years for.
Meanwhile, Le Monde praised the show’s “majestic return” to the French capital.
Les Miserables is considered one of the most successful musicals in the world, with more than 130 million viewers since its premiere in 1980.
Set in 19th century France, the novel-turned-musical follows the stories of several characters seeking redemption from their sins and escape from poverty.