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Karl E. Held, a longtime arts advocate who was a producer on the Tony Award-nominated 2009 Broadway production of Ragtime and most recently on the Off Broadway hit Kowalski, died of a heart attack June 23 in New York City shortly after attending a performance at Carnegie Hall. He was 63.

His death was announced by a spokesperson for Kowalski. Gregg Ostrin’s comedy, about the first meeting between Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando, ran in January and February at Off Broadway’s Duke on 42nd Street. Producers recently announced their intentions to move Kowalski to Broadway.

Karl Edward Held was born on June 7, 1962, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1990 he joined Emmy Award-winning producer Roger Englander and Freddie Gershon of Music Theatre International to create an acclaimed video series capturing the conception and creation of Broadway shows with their original creators.

Amanda Seyfried recalls her time on Les Misérables and says she was not quite ready for the challenging role.

The actress played Cosette in the epic period musical film directed by Tom Hooper. In it, she had to sing live, which she found “infuriating.”

“Les Mis was an incredible movie. I loved it. The costumes, the people… We were all really happy to be there, but I, unfortunately, was not technically ready or capable of the live singing in the way that I would’ve liked to be,” Seyfried reflected during an interview with GQ.

She continued, “The process was infuriating. I knew what I had to sing, but they were hard songs. And the acting part of it came naturally and I loved it.”

Seyfried also said she was “worried” about her accent, adding, “But that was the least of my worries.” She noted that having “to be very...

Les Miserables Les Miserables, streaming now on Itvx

Do You Hear The People Sing? asks Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's hit musical - and you most certainly do in this big-screen adaptation, which shot the songs live on set rather than lip-synching later, lending it a vibrant immediacy. Hugh Jackman has the musical chops for it and takes centrestage as Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who becomes a man of substance, while being hunted by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). An epic tale, involving the Paris uprising and the care of youngster Cosette, this is a rousing adaptation whose cast, which also includes Eddie Redmayne and Anne Hathaway, deliver vocally as well as emotionally. Warning, you'll have that Do You Hear The People Sing? earworm all week, even reading about it may have been enough to trigger it!

Little Richard: I Am Everything, 1.25am, Channel 4, Wednesday,...

It’s been almost 12 years since the release of “Les Misérables,” Tom Hooper’s adaptation of the hit musical and a triumphant follow-up to the director’s 2010 Oscars-dominating smash hit “The King’s Speech.” It was a film that earned more than $442 million globally and saw Anne Hathaway famously declare “it came true” after winning the Academy Award for best supporting actress.

It’s also been almost five years since Hooper’s most recent feature, “Cats,” an expensive adaptation of another hit musical that didn’t quite land with the same splash.

But as a remastered “Les Misérables” heads back to U.K. cinemas in time for Valentine’s Day (in the U.S. it’s scheduled for Feb. 23), Hooper hints to Variety that he’s ready to return to feature filmmaking, with several projects nearing.

“I’m certainly quite close on a couple of things,” he explains. “I’ve been busy.

The story of Eddie Redmayne's rise to prominence as an actor pretty much begins with his casting in "Les Misérables" as smitten revolutionary Marius Pontmercy. In less than half a decade after the 2012 film was released, he had earned an Oscar for Best Actor for "The Theory of Everything" and a nomination for "The Danish Girl." Not to mention, he had played Newt Scamander in the "Harry Potter" Wizarding World spin-off film, "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them." All the same, Redmayne's journey to earning a role in the highly-anticipated stage musical adaptation — let alone as one of the central characters — was a decidedly rocky one.

A film version of the "Les Misérables" stage musical was a long time in the making. From the moment Tom Hooper signed on to direct the film, actors were coming out of the woodwork to get their foot in the door. The...

This year’s Oscars telecast incorporated reunions of cast members from classic movies such as “The Godfather,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Juno.” Last year’s Tony Awards actually did something similar, bringing together cast members from different Broadway classics such as “Hairspray,” “Ragtime,” “Rent,” and “Wicked” for performances as the industry was fighting to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the Tonys will be presenting their landmark 75th annual ceremony this year, I think it would be even more fitting if they reunite more co-stars from Broadway classics of yesteryear to perform or even present awards. Here are some suggestions. Vote in our poll at the bottom of this post to let us know which you’d most like to see.

SEE2022 Tony Awards: Full awards season calendar revealed

Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury – “Sweeney Todd”

In 1979 Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler‘s adaptation of Christopher Bond‘s 1973 stage play won...

Miss Saigon in 2019 is not the Miss Saigon I remember from 1997.

With music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil, Miss Saigon is inspired by the opera Madame Butterfly and revered as a theater classic since it made its London debut in 1989. It later premiered on Broadway in 1991 to wild success, with Lea Salonga winning a Tony and Olivier Award and putting her on the map as one of the most talented stage actresses. It was a big score for Asian representation as Salonga, of Filipino descent, went on to become the singing voices of Jasmine in 1992’s Aladdin and the titular heroine in Mulan.

In 1989 and 1991, Miss Saigon was seen through a different scope, being one of the few musicals, films and TV series providing representation for Asians and Asian Americans. In 2019, when there’s a craving for authentic representation and inclusion, those optics are vastly different.

Casting for Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Miserables, has been announced.

Who knew Kevin Spacey would do so much singing? Kevin Spacey Kicks Off (With the Rockettes) Who knew Frank Underwood could sing? The host croons his way through homages to some of the season’s biggest hits, from “Evan Hansen” to “Sunset Boulevard.” “Come From Away” The Canada-set 9/11 musical earned a Tony for director Christopher Ashley — and impressed with its opening number, “Welcome to the Rock.” “Miss Saigon” Eva Noblezada was a teenager when she was cast to lead the revival of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil’s 1989 re-telling of “Madame Butterfly.” And she wows in this medley. “Falsettos” Christian Borle,...

At age 21, Eva Noblezada has accomplished what most thespians her age dream of: a Tony Award nomination! For her stunning work as Kim in this spring’s West-End-to-Broadway production of “Miss Saigon,” Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Vietnam War epic, Noblezada joins the ranks of musical theater leading ladies before her—including Lea Salonga, the original, award-winning Kim. Not long after a casting director saw the North Carolina–based Noblezada perform at New York City’s 2013 National High School Musical Theatre Awards (a.k.a. the Jimmy Awards), she auditioned for and booked the London revival of “Miss Saigon.” At age 17, having never left the country, she found herself headlining a West End hit. As she put it, “Crazy how things end up turning out!” The actor (and blogger!) also pointed out that “insecurity will always peek through the door.” Backstage chatted with Noblezada about dealing with those self-esteem issues while in the limelight,...

The helicopter is real this time, as is the Asian heritage of the leading man, as Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's Miss Saigon lands at the Broadway Theatre once more. Laurence Connor does a solid job of mounting producer Cameron Mackintosh's newest version, with three of its West End stars crossing the Atlantic to make their Broadway debuts.

Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil have a lot to answer for. Under the umbrella of producer Cameron Mackintosh, their back-to-back hits “Les Miserables” and “Miss Saigon” were part of the British invasion that filled a creative void in the 1980s and ’90s when AIDS devastated the Broadway theater community. Those musicals brought anthem-itis to these shores, and popularized the sung-through musical in all its serious dreariness while providing none of opera’s glorious grandeur. Stephen Sondheim once said that recitative is like pouring molasses over a score. Great opera composers have known how to distinguish their breakout arias from the sung speech.

The triple threat is rare in the theater, and for good reason. An adventurous Dave Malloy gives us the quadruple threat with his musical “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” which opened Monday at the Imperial Theatre after a long run Off Broadway. He writes the music, lyrics, book, and orchestrations. He is by far the most successful with his orchestrations. There’s always a catchy ostinato to grab our attention under the sometimes less-than-inspired melodies. As a composer, he borrows from everybody: Carole King, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Giacomo Puccini, Michael Bolton. Josh Groban, making his Broadway debut, comes to grief.

Cameron Mackintosh's production of Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's legendary musical Les Miserables will end its acclaimed two-and-a-half-year return to Broadway today, September 4, 2016 at the Imperial Theater 239 West 45th Street after 1,024 performances. In total, since the 1987 opening of the original production, Les Miserables will have played 8,200 performances on Broadway.How well to ordinary New Yorkers know Broadway's most cherished musical Randy Rainbow is on the scene to find out...

Serenbe Playhouse, recipient of the prestigious American Theatre Wing grant 2015, presents the fourth show in its 2016 season, Miss Saigon, with music by Claude- Michel Schonberg lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and Alain Boublil adapted from the original French lyrics by Alain Boublil. The show is directed by Brian Clowdus, music direction is by Chris Brent Davis, and choreography is by Bubba Carr. The show opened on July 21 and has already been extended to August 14. Click below to watch highlights from the show, including footage of the production's real-life helicopter...

Serenbe Playhouse, recipient of the prestigiousAmerican Theatre Wing grant 2015, presents thefourth show in its 2016 season, Miss Saigon, with music by Claude- Michel Schonberg lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and Alain Boublil adapted from the original French lyrics by Alain Boublil. The show is directed by Brian Clowdus, music direction is by Chris Brent Davis, and choreography is by Bubba Carr. The show opened on July 21 and has already been extended to August 14. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast-- plus the production's real-life helicopter -- in action...

Happy Birthday Claude-Michel Schonberg Schonberg is best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alain Boublil. Thier stage musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, which opened at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980, opened to acclaim in London in 1985 and on Broadway in 1987. In 1989, their success continued with the musical Miss Saigon, which starred Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce. Schonberg's next project with Boublil was The Pirate Queen, a musical about the 16th century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley, which opened on Broadway on April 5 2007.

Last night, May 2, 2016, The New York Pops celebrated its 33rd birthday with a grand gala evening celebrating the revolutionary collaborations of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, the songwriting team behind Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and more. Serving as Honorary Co-Chairs for the event were musical theatre legends Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Patti LuPone. BroadwayWorld was on hand all evening to capture the star-studded events - check out photo coverage of the red carpet below...

Last night, May 2, 2016, The New York Pops celebrated its 33rd birthday with a grand gala evening celebrating the revolutionary collaborations of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, the songwriting team behind Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and more. Serving as Honorary Co-Chairs for the event were musical theatre legends Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Patti LuPone. BroadwayWorld takes you inside the dinner following the show below...

The first-ever international tour of Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's Les Miserables Les Mis must close this Sunday, May 1, after three extensions. With nearly sold out tickets day in and day out, this production can easily be one of the most successful productions staged at the relatively brand new theatre The Theatre at Solaire.

Today in 1991, Miss Saigon opened at the Broadway Theatre, where it ran for 4092 performances. Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The musical premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on 20 September 1989, closing after over four thousand performances, on 30 October 1999.The musical represented Schonberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Miserables in 1985.

While watching a revival production of Lionel Bart's 'Oliver' in London, Les Miserables Co-creator Alain Boublil saw the similarities between literature's favorite little street urchins Oliver Twist, from Charles Dicken's novel of the same name, and Gavroche, from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, which sparked the idea to cowrite the novel-to-stage adaptation of the latter with Claude-Michel Schonberg more than 30 years ago.

Today in 2007, The Pirate Queen opened at the Hilton Theatre now the FoxwoodsTheatre, where it ran for 85 performances. The Pirate Queen is a musical written by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, best known for their adaptation of Les Miserables. It is based on the life and adventures of the 16th century Irish chieftain and pirate Grainne O'Malley, who was one of the last Irish clan leaders to resist the English conquest of Gaelic Ireland. The cast featured Stephanie J. Block as the title character and Linda Balgord, who was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I.

Helpmann Award winners Simon Gleeson Jean Valjean and Kerrie Anne Greenland Eponine, current stars of the international touring production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's phenomenal musical Les Miserables, took time out from their daily performances at the Theatre at Solaire, Solaire Resorts and Casino, to launch their newest solo albums held at Pangea Ultra Lounge at City of Dreams last Wednesday, March 30.

Les Miserables stirred a musical maelstrom in Manila last Wednesday March 16, and is poised to win audinces over via a memorable theatrical experience. At the heart of its seamless and dynamic storytelling beats a conscience that rouses, provokes, mangles, and transforms souls a singular man's search for acceptance and meaning in a fractured and unforgiving 19th century France. This Cameron Mackintosh new production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's legendary and popular musical takes center stage again, this time against the canvases of Victor Hugo's lesser known paintings--never before seen in the original London's West End and Broadway productions--providing a perfect complement to the production's memorable music and breath-taking sets of that iconic turning-barricade-flying-helicopter-falling-chandelier stature Mackintosh productions are known for.

No less that theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh, the world's first 'theater billionaire' according to Forbes, much-lauded composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, and prolific theater director Laurence Connor attended the gala premiere of the reimagined production of Schonberg and Alain Boublil's phenonemal musical Les Miserables' first-ever Asian Tour, which kicked off at the state-of-the-art The Theatre at Solaire, Solaire Resort and Casino, last Wednesday, March 16.

No less that theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh, the world's first 'theater billionaire' according to Forbes, much-lauded composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, and prolific theater director Laurence Connor attended the gala premiere of the reimagined production of Schonberg and Alain Boublil's phenonemal musical Les Miserables' first-ever Asian Tour, which kicked off at the state-of-the-art The Theatre at Solaire, Solaire Resort and Casino, last Wednesday, March 16.

No less that theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh, the world's first theater billionaire according to Forbes, much-lauded composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, and prolific theater director Laurence Connor attended the gala premiere of the reimagined production of Schonberg and Alain Boublil's phenonemal musical Les Miserables' first-ever Asian Tour, which kicked off at the state-of-the-art The Theatre at Solaire, Solaire Resort and Casino, last Wednesday, March 16.

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Might Danny Boyle go from Trainspotting 2 to a film of Miss Saigon?

The latest big musical set for the big screen treatment looks like it might well by Miss Saigon. Les Miserables producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, the Working Title team, are circling a possible screen adaptation of the movie.

The Daily Mail (yeah, we know, but it's Baz Bamingboye, who tends to have a good hit rate on theatre stories) is reporting that Danny Boyle is in talks to direct the film version of Miss Saigon. The musical itself premiered back in 1989, having been put together by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boubill. Working Title will be looking for another Les Miserables-size success.

There's nothing formally confirmed at this stage, but Danny Boyle taking on a big stage musical - presumably once he's done with the Trainspotting sequel - would be a further chapter in...

The reimagined production of Les Miserables' Les Mis producing and creative team, represented by producer Cameron Mackintosh, composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, and director Laurence Connor, who are also in town holding new auditions for the upcoming global productions of the mega-musical 'Miss Saigon,' presented to the members of the Philippine Press the full cast of the first Asian Tour of the new Les Mis earlier today.

The reimagined production of Les Miserables' Les Mis producing and creative team, represented by producer Cameron Mackintosh, composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, and director Laurence Connor, who are also in town holding new auditions for the upcoming global productions of the mega-musical 'Miss Saigon,' presented to the members of the Philippine Press the full cast of the first Asian Tour of the new Les Mis earlier today.

Today in 1987, Les Miserables opened at the Broadway Theatre, where it ran for 6680 performances. Written by Claude-Michel Schonberg, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, Les Miserables is set in early 19th-century France. The plot follows the stories of many characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. An ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers, and others joins the lead characters. In January 2010, it played its ten-thousandth performance in London, at Queen's Theatre in London's West End. On 3 October 2010, the show celebrated its 25th anniversary with three productions running in the same city the original show at London's West End the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary touring production at the original home of the show, the Barbican Centre and the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary concert at London's O2 Arena. The original Broadway cast included Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, David Bryant as Marius, Judy Kuhn as Cosette, Michael Maguire as Enjolras,...

The original London production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Miserables Les Mis, which was Messrs Schonberg and Boublil's first collaboration with theater producer Cameron Mackintosh, opened to very mixed reviews from the critics in 1985. But 'Les Mis has always been big for criticism,' says Meghan Lewit for The Atlantic. 'Bombast Bathos That's the point. The original production which remains intact and continues to play at the Queen's Theatre in London until today has endured because it gave audiences exactly what they wanted.'...

The West End revival of Miss Saigon closed yesterday, February 27th, after a nearly two-year run. The show's creators,Cameron Mackintosh, Alain Boublil, and Claude-Michel Schonberg, took to the stage at the final curtain yesterday to speak about the production's success.Mackintosh told fans that the 25th Anniversary production of Miss Saigon was filmed, and he said that because it was so successful, he believes that the musical will find itself in a big screen adaptation very soon...

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, New Zealand native Hayden Tee will assume the role of Javert beginning tonight, January 29 in Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new Broadway production of Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's Les Miserables, now in its second year at the Imperial Theatre 249 West 45th Street. Tee comes directly to Broadway from the new Australian production of Les Miserables, for which he has received wide acclaim. He was recently named Best Actor in A Musical at the Sydney Theatre Awards for his performance as Javert.

British actor Earl Carpenter, who originated the role of Inspector Javert in the reimagined production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's book-to-stage adaptation of Les Miserables Les Mis and abruptly left the Broadway production last November due to a neck injury cervical vertebrae impingement, will rejoin the company of the new production of Les Mis in its first Asian Tour Manila-Singapore, which has been set to kick off at The Theatre at Solaire, Solaire Resort and Casino, in Manila from Friday, March 11, until Sunday, April 17.

After a 19-month run across Australia Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Brisbane, amassing 588 performances, Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed reimagined production of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's 30-year-old megamusical Les Miserables closes today, January 17, at Queensland Performing Arts Centre's Qpac 2,000-seat Lyric Theatre. Fans of the musical can still catch the free supplementary exhibition titled 'Les Miserables From Page to Stage' at Qpac's Tony Gould Gallery until this Friday, January 23.

BroadwayWorld has just learned that Cameron Mackintosh's current Broadway revival ofClaude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's legendary musicalLES MISERABLESwill end its acclaimed run on Sunday, September 4, 2016 at the Imperial Theater 239 West 45thStreet. The current Broadway version ofLES MISERABLESis the only production of the musical currently playing in North America and starsAlfie Boe, the acclaimed star of the London 25thAnniversary Concert, as Jean Valjean through February 28.John Owen-Jones, who is currently starring as The Phantom in Mackintosh's London production ofThe Phantom of the Opera, and has played Valjean both on Broadway in 2007 and in London, will succeed Boe in the role beginning March 1 for the duration of the show's Broadway run. This new production of the musical will have given 1,026 performances over two-and-a-half years. In total, since the 1987 opening of the original production,Les MISERABLESwill have played 8,202 performances on Broadway.

Can you hear the helicopters in the distance? Miss Saigon, the 1989 musical from Les Misérables creators Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, is headed back to Broadway after almost 25 years. The show, a Vietnam War–era update of the opera Madame Butterfly, tells the story of a romance between a Vietnamese bargirl and an American soldier. EW reports that the show will debut at a Shubert theater in the spring of 2017, where it will run until January 18, 2018; after that, it will launch a national tour of cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston. Producer Cameron Mackintosh shares that this iteration of the show will be an import of the current West End revival, which stars Eva Noblezada as Kim (a role originated by Lea Salonga) and Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer. Mackintosh promises "a grittier, more realistic approach than the original production" that maintains "the power and...

Today in 2006, the first Broadway revival of Les Miserables opened at the Broadhurst Theatre, where it ran for 463 performances. Written by Claude-Michel Schonberg, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, Les Miserables is set in early 19th-century France. The plot follows the stories of many characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. In January 2010, it played its ten-thousandth performance in London, at Queen's Theatre in London's West End. On 3 October 2010, the show celebrated its 25th anniversary with three productions running in the same city the original show at London's West End the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary touring production at the original home of the show, the Barbican Centre and the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary concert at London's O2 Arena.

'If you don't have a camera zooming straight into the eyes or catching a close-up of a hand touching another hand, it doesn't work,' said Claude-Michel Schonberg, the French composer of now 30-year-old musical 'Les Miserables' Les Mis, about the possibility of adding the Oscar-nominated song 'Suddenly,' especially written for the 2012 movie adaptation, to 'Les Mis' onstage.

New Zealand native Hayden Tee will assume the role of Javert beginning Friday, January 29 in Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new Broadway production of Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's Les Miserables, now in its second year at the Imperial Theatre 249 West 45th Street. Tee comes directly to Broadway from the new Australian production ofLES Miserables, for which he has received wide acclaim. Earl Carpenter will give his final performance as Javert at the matinee on Sunday, January 24 before departing to star in the upcoming Manila engagement of Les Miserables.

It's been 30 years since Claude-Michel Schonberg ampAlain Boublil's phenomenon of a musical opened in London and finally videos have just started to appear online from the special 30th Anniversary event, including Patti LuPone, Colm Wilkinson, Frances Rufelle, John Owen Jones, Geronimo Rauch, Peter Lockyer, Rachelle Ann Go, Carrie Hope Fletcher and other members of the current and original cast...

In a new interview with BBC's Graham Norton, acclaimed producer Cameron Mackintosh confirmed that Les Miserables and Miss Saigon creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg are still hard at work on a revised version of Martin Guerre, which played at the Prince Edward Theatre back in 1996. The pair are looking to revive the a new version of the musical in London's West End.

It's hard to remember life without Les Miserables. That's because today marks 30 years since Claude-Michel Schonberg ampAlain Boublil's phenomenon of a musical opened in London. Les Miserables originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on October 8, 1985. It transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 where it ran for 19 years before moving to its current home at the Queen's Theatre on 3 April 2004 where it has already played for 11 years and looks set to at least equal the run at the Palace Theatre as it is still playing to standing room only. When Les Miserables 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.

Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new production of Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's Les Miserables will celebrate the upcoming 30th Anniversary of the show's original and still going strong London production with a special Fan Day on Broadway on Tuesday, October 6 at the Imperial Theatre 249 West 45th Street. For that one day only, fans can purchase two tickets select mezzanine seats for 60.01 at the box-office only. Fan Day will also include a photo booth in the lobby, special contest offers, and promotional item give-aways.

Alfie Boe returns to Broadway as 'Jean Valjean' tonight in Cameron Mackintosh's production of Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's Les Miserables, now in its second year at the Imperial Theatre. Tony Award nominee Ramin Karimloo gave his final performance just last Sunday, August 30. Bww welcomes Boe back to Broadway with a roundup of his top performances - check them out below, and be sure to let us know your favorites below...

As reported yesterday, Tony Award-nominee Montego Glover and Alex Finke will join Alfie Boe, the internationally-acclaimed performer who takes over the role of Jean Valjean in Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil's Les Miserables, on Sept 1. Glover succeeds Erika Henningsen as Fantine, while Finke making her Broadway debut replaces original cast member Samantha Hill. In honor of the trio boarding of one Broadway's most beloved hits, Bww brings you a brief look at their past performances...

Tony Award-nomineeMontego GloverMemphis will assume the role of Fantine beginningTuesday, September 1in Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed new Broadway production of Claude-Michel Schonberg amp Alain Boublil'sLES Miserables,now in its second year at the Imperial Theatre 249 West 45thStreet. She succeeds Erika Henningsen in the role. Glover, who also received the Drama Desk and Outer Critics' Circle Awards for her acclaimed performance inMemphis, most recently co-starred on Broadway in the musicalIt Shoulda Been You. Also onSeptember 1,Alex Finkemakes her Broadway debut in the role of Cosette, succeeding Samantha Hill.

Happy Birthday Claude-Michel Schonberg Schonberg is best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alain Boublil. Thier stage musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, which opened at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980, opened to acclaim in London in 1985 and on Broadway in 1987. In 1989, their success continued with the musical Miss Saigon, which starred Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce. Schonberg's next project with Boublil was The Pirate Queen, a musical about the 16th century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley, which opened on Broadway on April 5 2007.