Les Misérables

Very interesting read, Scorp. I think I agree with you on your comment about Les Mis being less dependent on its original design than POTO, and that the changes done are both good and bad. Some of the costume changes seems unnecessary, but not to the point where it bugs the crap out of me.

Loving that canon ball photo.

And JOJ recogninzing you, by your screen name, is priceless!

ML6 wrote:

SenorSwanky wrote:I'm not thrilled about the stunt casting (the Jonas Brothers make me sick, I've never heard of the people playing Valjean, Eponine, and Thenardier, and I didn't like Lewis' Javert), though Salonga is a strong Fantine, and Galloway is always good as Mme. Thenardier.

THANK GOD. Someone else who didn't like Norm Lewis as Javert! I thought I was the only one! His Javert is WAY, WAY too nice. Javert has to be clipped, obsessive, and to the book. I will say that Roger Allum is the only person I loved in the role, and its a shame he has not reprised it.

Speaking as someone who absolutely loves Norm in general, that was my problem with him as Javert. Vocally, I was almost OK with him, but his acting lacked the hard sternness I want to see in Javert and that lack of hardness in his acting carried over into his singing.

Great review, Scorp, and I love that photo. I think I'd get creeped out, but at the same time flattered, if someone called me SenorSwanky in person. Actually, I've had that happen before in other circles, sort of, but not in theater, because no performer knows me by that name that I've encountered.

Oh my god, Scorp. What an amazing review!

How in the world did JOJ know who you were?! I mean, you use that name almost anywhere Phantom related. So, I personally believe that JOJ has come across you on a board or something. Or, maybe you're a unique guy that you'll stick in his mind forever.

I am so HAPPY to see that Javert's Suicide is actually... well, a sucidial move? A man, falling down and faking a seziure does not tell me he has just drowned. And, I also like the fact the students seem to be walking down a street instead of some chorus line number.

God damn, I wonder who they're going to get to do the US tour of Les Miserables!? I want a really good cast. I gotta lure my father to follow me into the lions den (Detroit) and see this amazingness. But, just my luck, I'll get Randal Keith.


Oh, and as for the O2 Arena. ... I have heard Nick Jonas as Marius and I think he's awesome. I was against his casting, but now I'm not. I have a problem with Cosette and Eponine.

Eh, he's passable--pleasant-sounding but certainly no Michael Ball. Weak in the sustained, higher notes in Empty Chairs, and very by-the-book overall and unemotional in his acting.

One thing that I thought was a wasted opportunity in the UK tour was the fact that Lynne Wilmot's Mme Thénardier appropriately uses a Northern accent rather than cockney to convey her low class origins, but no-one else follows suit, which I thought was a pity. Thénardier himself, Gavroche and Eponine still use cockney. I would much prefer it if all of them used Northern accents like Mme Thénardier -- one thing I don't like about Cammie's Les Mis is how he Oliver-ed up the story with all these random annoying cockney urchins. Future directors of Les Mis: please de-cockneyfy Les Mis.

Scorp wrote:One thing that I thought was a wasted opportunity in the UK tour was the fact that Lynne Wilmot's Mme Thénardier appropriately uses a Northern accent rather than cockney to convey her low class origins, but no-one else follows suit, which I thought was a pity. Thénardier himself, Gavroche and Eponine still use cockney. I would much prefer it if all of them used Northern accents like Mme Thénardier -- one thing I don't like about Cammie's Les Mis is how he Oliver-ed up the story with all these random annoying cockney urchins. Future directors of Les Mis: please de-cockneyfy Les Mis.

I think we discussed once somewhere that Cammie likes to throw a damned Oliver character into every show of his. I think you should discuss with him in a letter how... odd it is.

I just got back from Paris as well and absolutely loved this new Les Mis production! It's definitely one of the best musical theatre productions I've seen. I know this may sound silly now, but seeing it at the Chatelet, everytime someone left the stage, it felt as though they were actually just popping outside into the streets of Paris for real.

Great review, Scorp! I pretty much agree with everything you said.

Overall I really enjoyed the new production and -- is this blasphemy? -- I thought many aspects of it were an improvement over the original. Matt Kinley's projections are excellent and fit in very well with the design;

Blasphemy or not, I agree! Sometimes in London I feel the stage is very empty, and I think these new sets are a lot better. However, I did also miss the revolving barricade, especially after the Final Battle. That's my only complaint...

That said, was I being blind or are the legends stating the town and year now gone?

They're definitely gone. My mum was also a bit confused.

There were two moments in particular where I thought the projections really served the show: one was in 'One Day More', with the background of the streets moving as the people marched. It actually looked as though the cast WERE marching down the streets, rather than just walking backwards and forwards as to me it has always looked in the original production.

Oh yes, that scene was a major goosebump moment for me!

The other was Javert's suicide. The combination of those projections and the new bridge that Javert jumped off = a truly WOW moment for me. It was so well done that I'm not even quite sure how they did it! It actually looks like Javert has jumped off a bridge and drowned...it's a great special effect that manages to 'wow' you just like the best moments in Phantom do, yet without destroying the simplicity of the staging.

Hmmm, this was definitely an improvement on how they do it in London, but I still found it a bit awkward. Since I was sitting on the left side of the theatre, I could see the device they used to keep Javert "floating" in the air, so maybe that distracted me a bit. It looked like a mechanism similar to the one used in the original Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, in the transformation scene. Maybe it looks better when you sit at the centre of the auditorium?

I prefer Cosette's black dress in the original to what she wears in this production. It would be interesting to see what a die-hard Mizzie would make of this or whether these changes are intolerable to such a fan.

Oh I disagree with you there LOL. I find Cosette's black dress in the original absolutely horrendous so I'm really glad they changed that for this production!

All in all, I highly recommend this production and really can't wait to see the show again in less than two months!!

Miss von Krolock wrote:

I prefer Cosette's black dress in the original to what she wears in this production. It would be interesting to see what a die-hard Mizzie would make of this or whether these changes are intolerable to such a fan.

Oh I disagree with you there LOL. I find Cosette's black dress in the original absolutely horrendous so I'm really glad they changed that for this production!

I still haven't made up my mind about that one, he-he... I both like and dislike it; my dislike generally come from me despising 1830s fashion with a passion (I'm a poet and I know it...), and the silhouette and white collar is so... well, 1830s. Makes me wonder how Maria Bjørnson would have solved the Les Mis design, though. Apparently the 1830s was her favourite period.

As an interesting side note, the original Les Mis production did have a second dress for Cosette, of another colour and with more details. I've only seen a b/w picture of it, so I don't know what colour it had. But I liked it a lot better than the black one. However, Rebecca Caine didn't like it at all, and said she preferred the black one as Cosette's "trademark".

Thanks for reviews, both of you!

Miss von Krolock wrote:

The other was Javert's suicide. The combination of those projections and the new bridge that Javert jumped off = a truly WOW moment for me. It was so well done that I'm not even quite sure how they did it! It actually looks like Javert has jumped off a bridge and drowned...it's a great special effect that manages to 'wow' you just like the best moments in Phantom do, yet without destroying the simplicity of the staging.

Hmmm, this was definitely an improvement on how they do it in London, but I still found it a bit awkward. Since I was sitting on the left side of the theatre, I could see the device they used to keep Javert "floating" in the air, so maybe that distracted me a bit. It looked like a mechanism similar to the one used in the original Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, in the transformation scene. Maybe it looks better when you sit at the centre of the auditorium?

I saw it from the side of the theatre a couple of times and from the centre once, and it looked much more impressive from the centre. When I was at the side, I could see the mechanism coming towards him and I could see the door at the back of the stage open for him to go through. When I sitting in the centre, the projections looked very impressive, it looked like Javert was falling into the water and drowning.

Helen wrote:

Miss von Krolock wrote:

The other was Javert's suicide. The combination of those projections and the new bridge that Javert jumped off = a truly WOW moment for me. It was so well done that I'm not even quite sure how they did it! It actually looks like Javert has jumped off a bridge and drowned...it's a great special effect that manages to 'wow' you just like the best moments in Phantom do, yet without destroying the simplicity of the staging.

Hmmm, this was definitely an improvement on how they do it in London, but I still found it a bit awkward. Since I was sitting on the left side of the theatre, I could see the device they used to keep Javert "floating" in the air, so maybe that distracted me a bit. It looked like a mechanism similar to the one used in the original Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, in the transformation scene. Maybe it looks better when you sit at the centre of the auditorium?

I saw it from the side of the theatre a couple of times and from the centre once, and it looked much more impressive from the centre. When I was at the side, I could see the mechanism coming towards him and I could see the door at the back of the stage open for him to go through. When I sitting in the centre, the projections looked very impressive, it looked like Javert was falling into the water and drowning.

I actually saw it from the side...maybe I was too high up to notice how the effect was achieved.

Has anyone heard this? Looks like Cammie and Trevor have had a little fight over the new production:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-features/7861715/Trevor-Nunn-I-feel-betrayed-by-the-new-Les-Mis.html

It is true that the 'new' production does owe huge amounts to the original staging (as I said before, some scenes are identical)...that said,
Trevor Nunn and John Caird do get credit for adapting the source material in the credits for the new production...and I imagine some sort of royalty? On one hand I can understand the possible anger that so much of the new production is reliant on the original...on the other, does Nunn's revival of A Little Night Music bother crediting Hal Prince for his huge work in putting the show together? I'll have to check...

So to appease Trevor Nunn (not really, basically I won tickets so felt obliged to go) I went to see the original London production last month. All I can is thank God I didn't bother forking out that money for the O2 because it would have been a waste. Norm Lewis' Javert doesn't do much for me -- I find the American accent quite jarring and it takes me out of the period setting, particularly when rest of the cast is largely English -- but I do give him credit for a fantastic suicide scene, possibly the best acted. I also saw Nick Jonas as Marius, who by his presence had filled the auditorium and had created havoc at the stage door, such that barriers had to be erected to prevent all the screaming fangirls from crushing each other to death. I wanted to like him, but I didn't. His voice is not right for the role. It lacks any power and is very very quiet, even with the amplification. The acting wasn't particularly good either. This said, 'Empty Chairs' was not a disaster and he did a good job of it. And it's nice to see a Marius who looks the right age to be a student (or even younger...), although perhaps it is a bit odd that all the fellow students look noticeably older. I disliked Simon Bowman's Valjean and hope that he does not move from this show to return to Phantom because I didn't like his Phantom either. His voice cannot cope with the demands of the score, such that when it came to the high notes, e.g. 'Two - Four - Six - O - ONE' and 'took the silver, took my FLIGHT' he didn't even bother hitting those notes, he just kept singing the same note. Didn't think much of his acting either. I found 'Bring Him Home' cringeworthy, but some of the audience seemed to like it as he got a few cheers.

I am seeing the tour again at the Barbican -- I think on the same date as Earlfan? -- next month. I also am seeing the London production on 8th October simply because I want to see if anything special happens, since that IS the 25th anniversary night. I am going to be very sick of this show by the end of the year!

Didn't realize Lewis was also in the London production at the moment. I knew Jonas was or had been for a brief time leading into the O2 concert. Are any of the other O2 participants in the show?

Scorp wrote: Norm Lewis' Javert doesn't do much for me

I saw him in July and sorry to all Norm Lewis fans out there but I really disliked him. I found his accent very annoying and didn't think his voice was anything special, neither was his acting.

Scorp wrote: I also saw Nick Jonas as Marius, who by his presence had filled the auditorium and had created havoc at the stage door, such that barriers had to be erected to prevent all the screaming fangirls from crushing each other to death.

Yeah, you could certainly not be mistaken about all the fangirls being there to see Nick Jonas. There were loads! When they announced that "For the tonight's performance, the role of Marius will be played by Nick Jonas". People were screaming like mad and it felt more like being at a Jonas Brothers Concert (not that I really know this since I've never been to any of their concerts, but I can imagine what it must be like) rather than at a Les Miz performance.

Before the performance I had decided to be open minded about it and give the guy a chance. But no, I did not like him. Even if I tried. He can obviously sing and I don't want to be to hard on him, but his voice is totally wrong for Les Miz. It's a typical boy band voice and his acting....was not really acting...What really annoyed me the most was that he throughout the whole show used this typical "boy band hands movements". If anyone understands that One of his hands always kept moving and I just wanted to shout at him to keep it still, but of course I didn't tell him or anyone next to me about this because I was afraid to be killed by any of all the Nick Jonas fangirls who surrounded me. You don't mess with 13- year old fangirls! I could picture it, fangirls with exceptional hearing. Even if someone just whispers a bad comment about a Jonas Brother the Jonas Sisters will be on the move. Within seconds they would be over me in one big pile and crush me to death. (Sorry I just had to rant a little bit about fangirls)

I'm seeing the tour at the Barbican on the 17th September and I can hardly wait! The money on that ticket are well spent and I'm going to the Barbican even if both my legs are broken.

EarlFan wrote:
I'm seeing the tour at the Barbican on the 17th September and I can hardly wait!

We'll have to meet in the interval or pre- or post-show! Funny how we booked the same date.

Here's an artist's impression of what the O2 concert (is anyone here attending? I'm not...) will look like:





Word's out that it WILL be released onto DVD as there are already listings for it on Amazon and Play.

That latter looks like the Stockholm production of Chess

How old are Cosette, Marius, and Éponine in the 2nd act?

Saw the 25th anniversary tour at the show's original home at the Barbican last night, as did Earlfan. I am still very impressed by the effect they use when Javert drowns and still haven't quite managed to work out how they do it. Can those of you who said they've worked out how it's done enlighten me? I'm guessing part of the bridge rises up and carries Earl away, but I'm not sure. My flatmate suggested the entire thing was an optical illusion and that Earl stays stationary while everything around him moves. Again, not sure.

Sadly JOJ was not on last night, but at least I saw him in Paris. We got Christopher Jacobsen instead as Valjean, and weirdly he has a very similar voice to JOJ, same sort of timbre and identical accent. I didn't care for him much at the beginning as his anger during the prologue just seemed to come across as a childish tantrum, but he improved massively over the course of the evening and his 'Bring Him Home' deserved the huge cheers from the audience that it received.

The orchestra in the Barbican is absolutely tiny and I wonder how they managed to fit everyone in that pit when the original was there in 1985. I'm not sure whether there were more or less or the same number of players as there were in the Châtelet in Paris. I am not fond of a lot of the new orchestrations. I especially don't like what they've done to Valjean's soliloquy and Javert's suicide...a whole section of music in the background normally done by strings is just absent and the score sounds all the poorer for it. The orchestrations for Valjean's soliloquy in particular feel a lot more dramatic in the West End production. Also I can't remember if this has happened to the West End production as well, even though I last saw that in July, but I found some of the cuts detrimental. OK, the casual listener may not notice anything but I'm not even the biggest Les Mis fan, even after seeing it 13 times, and I still thought the score sounded worse without the missing bits. I don't like, for example, how Fantine launches immediately into 'There was time when men were kind...' after being sacked from the factory. You need that instrumental that leads into it I think to convey a sort of sad resignation. It didn't help that I don't find Madelena Alberto remotely suitable as Fantine, she simply belts out IDAD with no sense of loss, anguish or self-destruction. She may as well have been singing 'Do You Hear the People Sing' and I wouldn't have noticed the difference in emotion. It's a far cry from the crushed soul that Patti LuPone managed to convey on the same stage 25 years ago. I also find it inexplicable that the instrumental bridge in IDAD would be completely cut to save time (the bit before 'And still I dream he'd come to me...') yet they still allow pointless lines like Gavroche's irritating 'That inspector thinks he's something' to survive.

They really ought to have used the projections stating the place and year of each part of the show as in the original. I think I might have been quite confused if I had had no prior knowledge of the show.

Met up with Earlfan at the stage door afterwards and we got Earl Carpenter (after Earlfan managed to stop him from running away as he normally does), Gareth Gates and Rosalind James to sign our copies of the new cast recording. I will have to take it with me to Phantom in November so I can get JOJ's autograph on it. Has anyone actually listened to it yet? Interested to hear people's thoughts. I bought it and imported it into my iTunes but I still haven't actually bothered listening to it yet...

Here's a piece from the Evening Standard about the return to the Barbican. Sadly, the article does no favours for the state of modern journalism in its description of the show as "the musical about the French Revolution".

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23878291-not-so-glum-now-les-mis-marks-25-years-with-return-to-barbican.do

Scorp wrote:Met up with Earlfan at the stage door afterwards and we got Earl Carpenter (after Earlfan managed to stop him from running away as he normally does) (...)

Haha, glad to see he hasn't changed... But also glad you were able to stop him. Did you chat with him, or was it just signing-and-running?

Scorp wrote:Here's a piece from the Evening Standard about the return to the Barbican. Sadly, the article does no favours for the state of modern journalism in its description of the show as "the musical about the French Revolution".

It is per se... Just not THE French revolution.

It was a case of catch-sign-run. He even ran away in Paris, where you'd think he'd be less scared of being accosted! Lots of people wanted Gareth Gates' autograph and despite the fact he had some guests waiting for him at the stage door he was very nice and patient and took the time to sign for everyone.

Why don't the people who think it's about the French Revolution stop to wonder about why it is Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Robespierre, Danton, the Bastille and the guillotine do not feature ANYWHERE in this musical?

I didn't realize they'd cut the score like that. That's unacceptable and pointless. I also didn't realize the cast recording had been released. I'll have to see if I can find clips online.

I really didn't like it. I was happy to have John Owen Jones' voice finally preserved, but I disliked Marius', Cosette's, and Eponine's voices. So, I trashed the thing. Kept all the JOJ songs, though.

I'm a bit worried about taking my father to see it in February/March for the US Tour. ... A part of me thinks he's going to be flipping out with how much has been done to it. But a part of me thinks that he'll be overwhelmed with how pretty the sets are (and finally seeing Les Miserables).

Also, I have some news on who is playing Javert in the US Tour: Andrew Valera! I saw him in Phantom back in June and loved his performance. And I guess he has played Javert on Broadway (and Val Jean) so it'll be nice seeing him in this. How did I get this information? His facebook.

I'm kind of disappointed in that news. Varela was a decent Valjean understudy, but I prefer older baritones for Javert. I saw Varela as Piangi back in December, and wasn't really impressed. Any other casting news for the tour, or any indication where else it'll be playing (I think I'd only seen one stop confirmed last I checked)?

Scorp wrote:Saw the 25th anniversary tour at the show's original home at the Barbican last night, as did Earlfan. I am still very impressed by the effect they use when Javert drowns and still haven't quite managed to work out how they do it. Can those of you who said they've worked out how it's done enlighten me? I'm guessing part of the bridge rises up and carries Earl away, but I'm not sure. My flatmate suggested the entire thing was an optical illusion and that Earl stays stationary while everything around him moves. Again, not sure.

I paid attention to it in Paris, as my seat at the Châtelet was at the side of the auditorium and that “thing” actually distracted me. I was sitting at the side at the Mayflower in Southampton as well, but I managed to abstract myself from it and focused on the projections instead.
Ok, I’ll try to explain. There’s this device that glides from the back of centre stage and stops just behind Javert. The device has a small base and then there’s a vertical pole with some (I suppose) circular things on top that then close around Javert’s waist (obviously underneath the coat, otherwise you’d see them). And that’s how he floats and glides backwards in the air. I think.
For those who know the original Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, I think it may be something similar to the thing they use to spin the Beast around in the transformation scene. Basically, it’s something that closes around the actor’s waist and keeps him in the air. That’s what it looks like anyway. There, that’s the best I can explain it.

SenorSwanky wrote:I'm kind of disappointed in that news. Varela was a decent Valjean understudy, but I prefer older baritones for Javert. I saw Varela as Piangi back in December, and wasn't really impressed. Any other casting news for the tour, or any indication where else it'll be playing (I think I'd only seen one stop confirmed last I checked)?

I do too. So, I'm kind of walking into his voice blindly, and his portrayal as Javert. I loved him as The Phantom. Let me see who else I can bring up, um:

Swing - Natalie Weiss
Marius - Justin Scott Brown
Val Jean - Lawrence Clayton

This is all I can scower up based on actors blogs.

Really enjoyed the show at the Barbican, it was the first time I saw the new production. A bit disappointed that I didn't get the chance to see JOJ though, I was really looking forward to it because I've never seen him as Jean Valjean. Oh well, maybe I'll have to go again

Earl Carpenter was great as Javert and I really liked Gareth Gates as Marius. At first I wasn't sure about his voice, it seemed a bit thin to me but he improved during the show and I liked his acting. Jon Robyns was pretty good as Enjolras but I think his voice is better suited for Marius. I liked the Thénardiers. I love what they do in "Javert's suicide" scene, it has always been one of my favourite scenes and it looks really amazing in the new production.

Had a great time at the stage door as well. Gareth was very nice to everyone, signing and having pictures taken. I wanted to get my CD signed by Jon Robyns but I think we missed him when we were busy looking for someone else.

Overall, a great production with a great cast except from some things regarding the new orchestrations.

Miss von Krolock wrote:

Scorp wrote:Saw the 25th anniversary tour at the show's original home at the Barbican last night, as did Earlfan. I am still very impressed by the effect they use when Javert drowns and still haven't quite managed to work out how they do it. Can those of you who said they've worked out how it's done enlighten me? I'm guessing part of the bridge rises up and carries Earl away, but I'm not sure. My flatmate suggested the entire thing was an optical illusion and that Earl stays stationary while everything around him moves. Again, not sure.

I paid attention to it in Paris, as my seat at the Châtelet was at the side of the auditorium and that “thing” actually distracted me. I was sitting at the side at the Mayflower in Southampton as well, but I managed to abstract myself from it and focused on the projections instead.
Ok, I’ll try to explain. There’s this device that glides from the back of centre stage and stops just behind Javert. The device has a small base and then there’s a vertical pole with some (I suppose) circular things on top that then close around Javert’s waist (obviously underneath the coat, otherwise you’d see them). And that’s how he floats and glides backwards in the air. I think.
For those who know the original Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, I think it may be something similar to the thing they use to spin the Beast around in the transformation scene. Basically, it’s something that closes around the actor’s waist and keeps him in the air. That’s what it looks like anyway. There, that’s the best I can explain it.

Ah, thanks for the explanation!

It's pretty cool to hear them performed in a North London accent rather than the usual Cockney. And this is one of the few casts I've heard where I really liked both Valjean and Javert, so that was the "make-or-break" element for me.

Not a 'North London' accent, but a 'Northern' (as in Northern English) accent...miles away from London.

Re Valjean and Javert, why have they removed one of Valjean's lines in the final confrontation in the sewers just before Javert's suicide? It goes 'Look down Javert, he's standing in his grave' straight to 'Take him, Valjean', but I miss the urgency of the second plea, i.e. 'Give way, Javert, there is a life to save'. Again, I cannot remember whether this had already been cut in the original production or whether this cut was specific to the tour. I'm seeing the West End production at the Queen's on the 25th anniversary itself, so will have to double check. Unless there's a die-hard Mizzie who knows about all the cuts here.

I remember the days when Les Mis used to run the full 3 hours 15 minutes or however long it was. It was a bloody long show (Act 1 seemed to go on for an eternity), but I think it was better than the hacked-to-bits version we have today.

ML6 wrote:

SenorSwanky wrote:I'm kind of disappointed in that news. Varela was a decent Valjean understudy, but I prefer older baritones for Javert. I saw Varela as Piangi back in December, and wasn't really impressed. Any other casting news for the tour, or any indication where else it'll be playing (I think I'd only seen one stop confirmed last I checked)?

I do too. So, I'm kind of walking into his voice blindly, and his portrayal as Javert. I loved him as The Phantom. Let me see who else I can bring up, um:

Swing - Natalie Weiss
Marius - Justin Scott Brown
Val Jean - Lawrence Clayton

This is all I can scower up based on actors blogs.

Never heard of any of them. Why would they bring out an A-list leading duo (JOJ and Earl) in Europe but then cast cheap and unknown here?

There is one potential bright spot, though. I looked Clayton up, and he's black. I've long wanted to see a black Valjean. He also looks to be somewhat older (probably mid-40s, at least), which is good. That is, if it's the same Lawrence Clayton who was in Dreamgirls on Broadway and is featured in several of the Google photos that came up.

Interview with Cammie: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/cameron-mackintosh-cuts-neednt-be-bad-for-creativity-2083863.html

He says this on the recent bust-up with Trevor Nunn over the new production:

Mackintosh is unrepentant: "I was absolutely amazed [by Nunn's comments]. I told him myself what I was doing two years ago. We have been doing Les Mis for 25 years and I can't do the same show for all that time. It's exhausting and it's something that does not intrigue me theatrically. So we threw everything out and started from scratch.

"In the last 20 years, I've done two versions of My Fair Lady [including the multi Olivier award-winning one starring Martine McCutcheon]. I have done new versions of Oliver! I have done completely new versions of Miss Saigon. With Les Mis, I wanted to have another go and start from scratch."