Surely sparked by the popularity of the recent Les Miserables film, a new production of Cameron Mackintosh’s Tony Award-winning mega-musical will open on Broadway in March 2014 at a yet to be determined Shubert-owned theater. Casting for the forthcoming Broadway production has not been announced at this time.
The “newly re-imagined” show is based on the U.S. national tour, which launched in November 2010. The tour has since played in 64 cities in North America, and productions are also slated to open in Japan, Canada, Australia and Brazil in the near future.
“To my constant surprise, my productions continue to be enjoyed as much as ever by audiences all around the world and I’m thrilled to have the unique chance of redoing them all over as if they were brand new shows,” said Mackintosh in a statement. “I am delighted that Broadway audiences will now join the millions of Americans who have already flocked to see this glorious new staging and spectacular re-imagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo.”
Directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, the new production is designed by Matt Kinley, with costumes by Andreane Neofitou, additional costumes by Christine Rowlands, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Mick Potter and projections by Fifty-Nine Productions. Based on Victor Hugo's novel, the groundbreaking musical is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, original French text by Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, original adaption by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and additional material by James Fenton.
Les Miserables originally opened at London’s Barbican Theatre in 1985. The Broadway production first premiered at the Broadway Theatre on March 12, 1987 before transferring to the Imperial Theatre in 1990, where it ran for 6,680 performances. The first Broadway revival opened on November 9, 2006 and ran through January 6, 2008. The show remains the fourth longest-running Broadway show of all time. The Oscar-nominated film adaptation has already taken in $378 million worldwide, and is scheduled to hit DVD on March 22.