The day after “Les Misérables” premiered at London’s Barbican Theater 40 years ago this week, its creative team gathered for a toast. But the celebration quickly “turned into a wake,” recalled John Caird, who directed the production with Trevor Nunn. As attendees read that day’s newspapers, it was clear that the musical had not won over Britain’s theater critics.
The Evening Standard dismissed it as a “glum opera” more suited to Victorian times than 1980s Britain. The Daily Mail lamented that Caird and Nunn had transformed the “tidal wave of emotions” in Victor Hugo’s novel “into ripples of cheap sentiment.”
Adding to the pressure, the show’s lead producer had 48 hours to decide whether to pay the deposit for a West End transfer. If he didn’t, the musical would vanish after just a few weeks.
Fortunately for the team, the critics didn’t have the final say. Thanks to word of mouth, the Barbican had to expand its box office team to field phone calls from theatergoers seeking tickets. It was “two or three days” of worry, Caird said. “Then it became apparent this thing was unstoppable.”
Today, “Les Misérables” — the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict, being relentlessly pursued by Javert, an unforgiving police officer — is an icon of musical theater. It has run for over 15,500 performances in London and is a staple of school theater programs. (In New York, it ran for more than 8,000 before closing in 2016.) It’s been translated into 22 languages and staged in 53 countries.
Today’s newsletter is about how it came to be.
Adapting an adaptation
The idea of turning Hugo’s sweeping 1,400-page novel about poverty and social upheaval in 19th-century France into a musical came from a French composer and a French lyricist. They staged it in Paris in 1980. When Cameron Mackintosh, an English producer, heard the music a few years later, he was blown away — particularly by what became “On My Own” and “I Dreamed a Dream.”
But he and his directors knew it needed an overhaul: The show was little more than “a series of tableaux,” and required audiences to know Hugo’s book inside out. Their team read the book and decided to open the musical with a scene in which Jean Valjean steals silver candlesticks from a bishop, only for the prelate to forgive him.
Suddenly, the character’s motivations were clear: Valjean believed in the New Testament idea of forgiveness, while Javert, his pursuer, adhered to a sterner Old Testament form of justice. “As a bunch of liberal humanists, we had tried to avoid every mention of religion,” Caird said, but “sewing God into the show was what animated the characters.”
Even with such breakthroughs, progress was slow at first. The original librettist took so long that they had to delay the musical’s planned opening by a year. Then the musical continually changed in rehearsals. Just weeks before opening, for instance, the directors added “Bring Him Home,” a ballad for Valjean. During rehearsals, the new librettist changed the opening lyrics from “Do you hear the people sing? / Singing the song of common men” to “a song of angry men.”
By the premiere, Caird recalled, everyone involved thought they had something special, so it was a shock when the critics disagreed.
A musical’s meaning
Part of the appeal of “Les Misérables” is its political undertones, with scenes of students trying to overthrow the French government. In recent years, demonstrators in places like Hong Kong, Venezuela and Turkey have sung, “Do you hear the people sing?”
Dann Fink, a producer who acted in the original Los Angeles production of “Les Misérables,” said he believed that the musical’s message of “fighting for what you believe in” struck a chord with audiences. He recalled one night in June 1989 when the cast, backstage during intermission, watched live TV news coverage of tanks rolling into Tiananmen Square in Beijing as the Chinese government tried to stop student-led protests.
That footage, Fink recalled, seemed to echo the musical’s story, and soon he was onstage, climbing up a barricade with a flag in hand. “We ran on feeling like we needed to vent our rage for what was happening to those people in China,” Fink recalled. “We were singing to empower them.”
“I’ve never had a more charged night in a theater,” he added.
See more photos from Les Mis, and read the full story.
THE LATEST NEWS
Conversion Therapy Case
A decade ago, experts had reached a consensus that conversion therapy was harmful and ineffective. But a growing fight over gender has returned the issue to the fore.
The therapist challenging Colorado’s ban says it censors her speech, because she cannot help patients under 18 who voluntarily seek her care.
Justices asked pointed questions about the potential harms, free speech and the politicization of medical consensus. Hear highlights from the arguments.
Government Shutdown
The White House suggested it may try to deny back pay to some furloughed federal workers. In Trump’s first term, he signed a law making those payments automatic.
The F.A.A. said air traffic control facilities in several cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston and Boston, were short-staffed yesterday.
The mass layoffs that Trump has threatened during the shutdown may be illegal or unnecessary, experts say.
Politics
Bondi fielded hostile questions from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee about politicization in the Justice Department by going on the attack. See three takeaways.
The Chicago Marathon is this weekend. It passes through immigrant neighborhoods and draws many foreign participants. Trump’s immigration crackdown is on runners’ minds.
Gaza War Negotiations
Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to join mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
“I think we’re doing very well,” Trump said of the negotiations, adding that Hamas was “agreeing to things that are very important.” He did not elaborate.
More International News
Deadly clashes broke out between Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters. It was one of the most serious outbreaks of violence since the new government came to power.
A man convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot claimed in court that he didn’t know she had been drugged. Her ex-husband, who admitted drugging her and inviting strangers to join him in raping her, testified that the man knew.
Pope Leo XIV plans to take his first international papal trip next month. He’s going to Lebanon and Turkey.
A Sudanese warlord was convicted of crimes against humanity, more than 20 years after he helped lead atrocities in Darfur.
The European Union wants to double steel tariffs to 50 percent to protect its steel industry from cheap Chinese competition.
Other Big Stories
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three scientists who developed a new type of molecular architecture.
Tesla unveiled cheaper versions of two of its cars after a federal tax credit program expired. They will start at around $37,000.
Hunter Biden pursued a deal to sell land around the U.S. Embassy in Romania, a proposal that stemmed from relationships that started while his father was vice president.
Detectives found more than 200 animals living in squalor at a house on Long Island.
WHAT SHUTDOWN?
Why is the stock market soaring while the government is closed? The S&P has notched four successive records in the past week (until yesterday, when a weak financial report from Oracle snapped the winning streak).
One reason is that Washington dysfunction is not the only thing investors care about. Artificial intelligence companies are making deals. The economy is growing. The government forecasts strong results for the rest of the year. In that context, the economic effects of a temporary shutdown “will be negligible and easily contained, even in the worst-case scenario where some federal workers are permanently laid off,” said Joao Gomes, a finance professor at the Wharton School.
While the government is closed — speculators in prediction markets think it will last around 20 days — investors lose some important metrics they use to understand what’s happening: jobs numbers, inflation data, trade and so on. But investors don’t need those metrics to see that A.I. spending is the main event right now. Investors are taking a long view, and a few weeks seems like a blip. They’ve learned not to bet against 80 years of momentum: Generally, stocks keep going up.
OPINIONS
Ghada Abdulfattah is nostalgic for her home in Gaza. She still lives there — but war has made it unrecognizable, she writes.
The Trump administration wants to move away from animal testing. Political cynicism toward Trump has distracted from the win, Deborah Blum writes.
Here is a column by Thomas Edsall on Trump’s assault on the left.
MORNING READS
Life of luxury: “Buy Now, Pay Later” has built a delirious new culture of consumption — and trapped users in a vortex of debt.
200 text messages: One of Monday’s Nobel Prize winners found out nearly 12 hours late because he was on vacation in the Rockies.
Eggs! Mel Brooks created a personality test for The Times. See one response.
Your pick: The most-clicked story in The Morning yesterday was about the best Prime Day deals.
True New Yorker: What was Times Square’s former name? How do you pronounce “Houston Street”? Test your city knowledge.
Lox king: Saul Zabar, who oversaw the Upper West Side food emporium bearing his family name, died at 97. For seven decades he kept New Yorkers amply fortified with smoked fish, earthy bread and tangy cheese.
SPORTS
M.L.B.: The Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh hit a homer right to a fan wearing a shirt that read “Dump 61 here,” as Seattle took a 2-1 series lead over Detroit. In New York, the Yankees returned from a five-run deficit to stave off elimination by Toronto. (People were searching for these games on Google yesterday.)
N.C.A.A.: The new college football spring portal window was approved. But it slams shut after 15 days.
N.F.L.: For now, a Super Bowl halftime performance isn’t on Taylor Swift’s wish list. Read why.
‘INSANE’ ART PROJECT
Marina Abramovic is no stranger to challenging and bizarre projects. She has, for the sake of art, screamed until she lost her voice; lain on giant blocks of ice; and stared into the eyes of strangers for seven hours a day.
Her new project, called “Balkan Erotic Epic,” is “the most demanding, difficult, insane project I have ever done,” she says. It employs more than 70 performers, including dancers, musicians and singers. Scenes include “Scaring the Gods to Stop the Rain” (women baring their vaginas to the heavens), “Massaging the Breast” (what it says) and “Magic Potions” (a singer flanked by 16-foot projections of penises).
Abramovic is debuting the piece in Manchester, England. “It will be completely misunderstood in Britain, it’s so puritan here,” she told The Times. “I can’t wait.”
More on culture
Here are the National Book Award finalists.
Clowning no longer resides in the bargain basement of artistic respect.
The late night hosts joked about the shutdown.
THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …
Add fried shallots to this classic aglio e olio pasta.
Listen to these songs inspired by Ophelia, the doomed heroine of “Hamlet.”
Use these Wirecutter-approved pimple patches.
GAMES
Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was gratify.
And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands.
Clarification: We got some email yesterday about a word I added to our piece about the Navy: “grunts.” Several readers pointed out that the term actually refers to junior enlisted troops in the Army and Marines. We shouldn’t have used it. — Adam B. Kushner
Claire Moses contributed to this newsletter.
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