Return for Les Misérables – The Staged Concert planned

Jon Robyns plays Jean Valjean in Les Miserables – The Staged Concert at the Sondheim Theatre. Picture: Johan Persson

Cameron Mackintosh has announced plans for the return of Les Misérables – The Staged Concert in May followed by the eagerly awaited resumption of performances of the full production of Les Misérables in September and the re-launch of the touring production from November.

If all goes to plan with the third stage of the Government’s roadmap to normality, the acclaimed concert version of the hit show will resume performances at the Sondheim Theatre on 20 May 2021 for a new season running until 5 September.

The full production will move back into the Sondheim Theatre, subject to the removal of Government social distancing directives, from 25 September. The tour will resume with a pre-Christmas season at the Theatre Royal Glasgow from 24 November until 18 December.

Commenting on the latest piece of good news for theatre-lovers, Mackintosh said: “As the West End marks the first anniversary of the enforced closure of British Theatre due to the pandemic, I am delighted to announce that the acclaimed spectacular staged concert of Les Misérables, which previously sold out all performances on Shaftesbury Avenue, will return to the Sondheim Theatre on 20 May 2021 with a reduced capacity and necessary social distancing requirements.

“The cast drawn from the West End and national tour companies will be headed by Jon Robyns as Jean Valjean, Bradley Jaden as Javert, Lucie Jones as Fantine, Shan Ako as Eponine and Harry Apps as Marius. Gerard Carey and Josefina Gabrielle will play the Thénardiers.

“During the run other celebrated Jean Valjeans will be playing guest performances alongside Jon Robyns. The Staged Concert will play until 5 September 2021 only, when the theatre will close for three weeks in order to re-mount the full production of Les Misérables which opened just over a year ago to rave reviews. The national tour of Les Misérables will also resume performances in November at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow starring Dean Chisnall, Nic Greenshields and Katie Hall.”

The star-studded concert version of Les Misérables previously played to packed houses at the Gielgud Theatre in 2019 while the much-loved show’s original home, the Queen’s Theatre, was closed for refurbishment ahead of its reopening as the Sondheim Theatre.

Featuring a company of over 50 actors and musicians drawn from the alumni of several productions of the much-loved show, public demand for the 2020 Christmas season of the show was so strong tickets sold out within 24 hours and the season was extended twice. The season however was suspended after only 10 performances when the Government was forced to re-instate Covid-safety measures.

When Les Misérables – The Staged Concert returns in May the principal cast will include Jon Robyns as Jean Valjean, Lucie Jones as Fantine, Shan Ako as Éponine, Harry Apps as Marius, Gerard Carey as Thénardier, and Josefina Gabrielle as Madame Thénardier. Further casting will be announced soon.

The Staged Concert is directed by James Powell and Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy and conducted by Alfonso Casado Trigo.

The critically-acclaimed new full production of  Les Misérables which opened in January 2020 is currently expected to return to the Sondheim Theatre on 25 September subject to the Government allowing full capacity audiences. All plans for the reopenings are in accordance with the Government’s current directives.

The original 1985 production of Les Misérables took its final bow at the Queen’s Theatre on 13 July 2019 when the theatre closed to allow for major refurbishing work including the restoration of architect W.G. Sprague’s original boxes and loges, which were destroyed, along with the entire front of house, by a bomb in 1940.

Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Misérables is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel with additional material by James Fenton and adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

Angela Thomas