0:00:05 > 0:00:09Les Miserables is the world's longest-running musical.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12It's moved and mesmerised audiences in more than 300 cities
0:00:12 > 0:00:16around the world and has been seen by nearly 60 million people.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19But it nearly never happened.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Written in the '70s by two unknown French composers,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Les Miserables was all but forgotten after it first played in Paris.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31If I hadn't gone, "This is something I have to do"
0:00:31 > 0:00:34I suspect it would never have left France.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38And it got panned by critics when it launched in London in 1985.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42We woke up the next morning and the reviews are awful!
0:00:42 > 0:00:46I mean, they reduce everything to a kind of sentimental, mawkish gibberish.
0:00:46 > 0:00:53Now, Les Mis is celebrating its 25th birthday with the largest of the production of the show
0:00:53 > 0:00:58at London's O2 Arena, a massive concert featuring more than 400 performers.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01- Yeah, but, no, but... - Little Britain star Matt Lucas,
0:01:01 > 0:01:09one of Les Mis's biggest fans, has been invited to fulfil a lifelong dream by performing in the show.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12My mum loves Les Miserables as much as I do.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Aside from being in Coronation Street, this is about the best present I can give her.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22But Matt will be the only performer on stage it never to have been in the show before.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26- This will be the ultimate test of his performing skills.- What?
0:01:26 > 0:01:29What's that? Start when I like?
0:01:29 > 0:01:33- Right, I was...- You were waiting for me, I was waiting for you!
0:01:33 > 0:01:36This is the story of how Les Miserables took over the world
0:01:36 > 0:01:41and how Matt Lucas got to live out the dream of dreams.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Oh, my word!
0:01:43 > 0:01:44Oh, no!
0:01:52 > 0:01:56Do you know that this is actually Cameron Mackintosh's office?
0:01:56 > 0:02:02Look at the ceiling. Look at that. It's pretty grand, isn't it?
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Look, Cameron Mackintosh knows Christopher Biggins.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Look. This is pretty cool. Seriously.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Cameron Mackintosh and Lionel Bart,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13that genuinely is rather magical.
0:02:13 > 0:02:14You can't see it,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17but there's also Cameron with Colonel Gaddafi round there. LAUGHTER
0:02:17 > 0:02:19# Ah-ah-ah-ah
0:02:19 > 0:02:20# Ah-ah-ah-ah
0:02:20 > 0:02:24# Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah... #
0:02:24 > 0:02:27As a child, I fell in love with musicals.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29My parents took me
0:02:29 > 0:02:35and a friend to see Oliver when I was five or six.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38I think Ron Moody was in it, actually, at the Albery.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I was just blown away by it.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44# Eh-eh-eh-eh... #
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'I continued to go and watch shows.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50'My grandmother would take me, my parents would take me.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55'42nd Street with Frankie Vaughan at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, was a favourite.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00It just felt like a safer world to me than the one I was in,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04because I was six years old and my hair fell out
0:03:04 > 0:03:09and I'm atopic, so I had asthma and eczema, all that sort of stuff.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13For me, it was a real refuge, the world of musicals, long before
0:03:13 > 0:03:17I knew I was gay, actually, because there is this correlation
0:03:17 > 0:03:20between being gay and loving musicals, I'm not quite sure why.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23But maybe that was my coming out.
0:03:23 > 0:03:30I first became aware off Les Mis when it was on in its original production at the Barbican,
0:03:30 > 0:03:34because my mum went to see it and she came home crying and she said,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38"I've seen this marvellous show," and she was raving about it.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44For my 13th birthday, I was taken along with family and friends
0:03:44 > 0:03:48to see the show. And I loved it.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53From that moment on, it has been my favourite musical.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56I think I'm going to have to carry you up.
0:03:56 > 0:04:04I am an enormous admirer of Matt's skill at creating, then sticking to a character, whatever it is.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05But when he first mentioned
0:04:05 > 0:04:09that Les Miserables had been a really important milestone
0:04:09 > 0:04:12in his decision to become a performer,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15I said, "Let's do a little bit of work."
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Righty-ho. No time like the old present. Oh!
0:04:19 > 0:04:26I told him what a fan I was of Les Miserables and he said, "Why don't you play Thenardier?"
0:04:26 > 0:04:29As one of just two comedy characters in the show,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32the role of the unscrupulous innkeeper Thenardier
0:04:32 > 0:04:34is perfect for Matt to play.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39But I've never had that time clear in my schedule to come and do it.
0:04:39 > 0:04:45So when the opportunity came to do a shorter run here at the O2,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48I wrote him letter after letter
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and said, "You've got to let me do this, please."
0:04:51 > 0:04:55And he very kindly wasn't able to find anyone else.
0:05:00 > 0:05:06Matt Lucas will be joining a show that's become a phenomenon,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09with its universal story of revolution, love and redemption.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14# I had a dream my life would be... #
0:05:16 > 0:05:21For 25 years, Les Mis has entertained audiences across the world
0:05:21 > 0:05:25with its infectious songs and unforgettable staging.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28# Everybody bless the landlord
0:05:28 > 0:05:31# Everybody bless his spouse... #
0:05:31 > 0:05:36It's a success story that no-one could have envisaged when the musical was first conceived
0:05:36 > 0:05:40more than 30 years ago.
0:05:40 > 0:05:52# ..more. #
0:05:57 > 0:06:02The story starts in 1970s Paris, with two young Frenchmen.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06One was a songwriter, the other a music publisher.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10They shared a mutual passion for one thing in particular -
0:06:10 > 0:06:12the world of music theatre.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17We used to travel and to watch musicals in England.
0:06:17 > 0:06:22Once we went to Broadway to see a musical in the '70s.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25One day, Alain saw in New York Jesus Christ Superstar
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and you realise that two guys like Andrew and Tim,
0:06:29 > 0:06:34being pop song writers, managed to put on stage a musical.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38They were reintroducing an operatic form to the musical
0:06:38 > 0:06:42because they were writing through sung operas,
0:06:42 > 0:06:47which is what Jesus Christ Superstar was. And that spoke to me.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53Alain came back to Paris and told me, "Why don't we try to do
0:06:53 > 0:06:57"the same thing with the 1789 French Revolution?"
0:06:57 > 0:06:58# Francaise
0:06:58 > 0:07:00# Francaise
0:07:00 > 0:07:04# La revolution de la liberte
0:07:04 > 0:07:06# Citoyens
0:07:06 > 0:07:09# La Bastille est tombee... #
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Claude-Michel and Alain had written a great rock opera years before Les Miserables
0:07:13 > 0:07:15called La Revolution Francaise,
0:07:15 > 0:07:16which is a musical theatre version
0:07:16 > 0:07:18of the whole of the French Revolution.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21# Lutte sans pitie
0:07:21 > 0:07:27# Pour sa liberte... #
0:07:27 > 0:07:30You think Les Miserables was ambitious, boy!
0:07:30 > 0:07:37Definitely, Alain and me were caught by the virus of musical shows on stage.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Without having any culture of musicals.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43# Consider yourself at home... #
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Years before they were destined to meet, Alain Boublil
0:07:46 > 0:07:51found himself seeing Cameron Mackintosh's revival of Oliver in London.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55It made him think of a young boy from the story of Les Miserables.
0:07:55 > 0:08:03I was enjoying immensely this musical, until the Artful Dodger suddenly started to disturb my mind
0:08:03 > 0:08:07and that's the minute I remember thinking of Gavroche.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12And from there on, of the whole novel.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Victor Hugo was a great political figure,
0:08:19 > 0:08:23an artistic figure in 19th-century France.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26He grew in stature all through his career
0:08:26 > 0:08:28until he really became the father of the nation.
0:08:28 > 0:08:34You don't have one town in France without a Victor Hugo Street,
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Rue Victor Hugo, or Avenue Victor Hugo in all the French towns.
0:08:39 > 0:08:46His works are very remarkable because they tell thumping good stories on the one hand
0:08:46 > 0:08:51and they tell an extraordinary number of truths about French history on the other.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55And it's that mixture of history and romance that makes them so powerful.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59It's about all the big words -
0:08:59 > 0:09:03redemption, truth, forgiveness.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07It's about two strong men facing each other,
0:09:07 > 0:09:12two men of equal moral strength and certainty.
0:09:12 > 0:09:19The hero of Les Miserables is the ex-convict Jean Valjean. He jumps parole, changes his name
0:09:19 > 0:09:26and becomes a town mayor. But he's pursued relentlessly by his nemesis, the self-righteous Inspector Javert.
0:09:26 > 0:09:34Valjean's journey takes him to 1830s Paris, amidst the destitute and the students of the June Rebellion.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39As he goes through his life, he learns the value of love.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44And all the other things that are wrapped up in the story
0:09:44 > 0:09:47are nowhere near as important as that central idea.
0:09:47 > 0:09:53We spent a two years between '78 and 1980 to write the show.
0:09:53 > 0:10:01I did a demo tape of the show with me at the piano singing every part and the tape is still over there.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03# La journee est finie 14 heures a la peine
0:10:05 > 0:10:07# Le nez sur l'etabli 14 heures a la chaine
0:10:07 > 0:10:10# C'est fini, ca recommence
0:10:10 > 0:10:12# Dans la vie, nous les femmes on a la chance
0:10:12 > 0:10:15# D'avoir un deuxieme patron a la maison... #
0:10:15 > 0:10:19And during several months, nobody was interested by it.
0:10:19 > 0:10:25Nobody. They thought Les Miserables as a musical was irrelevant,
0:10:25 > 0:10:29that musicals were not working in France.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36After much persistence, in September 1980, Boublil and Schonberg finally managed
0:10:36 > 0:10:40to get their new French musical off the ground in Paris.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43And Les Miserables was born.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46# La journee est finie 14 heures a la peine
0:10:46 > 0:10:50# Le nez sur l'etabli 14 heures a la chaine
0:10:50 > 0:10:52# C'est fini, ca recommence
0:10:52 > 0:10:54# Dans la vie, nous les femmes on a la chance
0:10:54 > 0:10:56# D'avoir un deuxieme patron a la maison
0:10:57 > 0:11:01# Que l'on sert en silence... #
0:11:01 > 0:11:04The French have never really embraced musicals and indeed,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07when they premiered Les Mis in 1980
0:11:07 > 0:11:08as an arena stage production,
0:11:08 > 0:11:13it was a success and an album but it didn't have a long life.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15It completely vanished.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16# On ne peut que s'aimer bien
0:11:16 > 0:11:18# Pour mettre un peu d'azur dans notre enfer
0:11:18 > 0:11:21# Et pouvoir encore sourire
0:11:21 > 0:11:23# Continuer a vivre... #
0:11:23 > 0:11:25LOUD PIANO AND MAN SINGING
0:11:28 > 0:11:34I have been in one musical before called Taboo, which is Boy George's musical.
0:11:34 > 0:11:40I finished in Taboo early in 2002, so eight-and-a-half years ago,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and I haven't really done much singing since,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46apart from Shooting Stars.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50# Baked potato changed my life
0:11:50 > 0:11:54# Baked potato showed me the way... #
0:11:54 > 0:12:00One of the songs that I'm most fond of is the Baked Potato Song.
0:12:00 > 0:12:06# B-A-K-E-D P-O-T-A-T-O
0:12:06 > 0:12:09# Baked potato! #
0:12:09 > 0:12:11CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:12:11 > 0:12:12Yeah! Baked potato!
0:12:12 > 0:12:18I have performed in front of large audiences before, but never under the pretence of being a singer.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21More of being a comedian.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24So I'm pretty nervous.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36It was in October 1982, just after I'd opened Cats on Broadway,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40and a Hungarian director, Peter Farago,
0:12:40 > 0:12:47walked into my office and said to me, "Look, I'd like to talk to you about Les Miserables.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52"I've got a concept album, a French concept album, of the show that was done in Paris
0:12:52 > 0:12:56"in 1980, and I'd be really interested for you to look at it."
0:12:56 > 0:13:02And I put it on, and by the opening... I was tingling, by the second and third track.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04There was just something extraordinary about it.
0:13:04 > 0:13:11# La misere enfante la detresse
0:13:13 > 0:13:19# Bien des vices et toutes les faiblesses... #
0:13:19 > 0:13:24Suddenly we had a phone call from London that a guy called Cameron Mackintosh,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28who had been producing Oliver! and Cats wanted to meet us.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33I said I wanted to rebuild it with them and take them on a journey
0:13:33 > 0:13:37and find the collaborators that could actually turn it into
0:13:37 > 0:13:42a proper musical that anyone who'd never read Les Miserables would be able to understand.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50To find the people who would create the new Les Mis, Cameron Mackintosh turned to
0:13:50 > 0:13:57a trusted collaborator who'd recently staged another 19th-century tale - the director Trevor Nunn.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Not only had I worked with Trevor on Cats, but in the meantime I had
0:14:01 > 0:14:06obviously seen Nicholas Nickleby, which was a brilliant piece.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07Of course, people said,
0:14:07 > 0:14:12"You can't possibly do a musical with "miserable" in the title.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14"There is no such thing!
0:14:14 > 0:14:16"What are you saying?!
0:14:16 > 0:14:21"You're asking everybody to pay their money and come and have a miserable experience.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23"It's intolerable, you can't do that."
0:14:23 > 0:14:26On the face of it, Les Miserables is
0:14:26 > 0:14:29a very bad idea as the book of a musical.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Just the title alone, Les Miserables - it sounds awful, doesn't it?
0:14:32 > 0:14:39And it's huge. It's 1,500 pages long. And it's in French.
0:14:39 > 0:14:45New words in English were written by the acclaimed poet James Fenton, but in time,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49the team realised that someone more steeped in song lyrics was required
0:14:49 > 0:14:52for this Herculean task.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01Fortunately, there was just the man for the job. His credits included writing the words of a TV theme tune
0:15:01 > 0:15:05for another Frenchman that went on to become a worldwide hit.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11# She may be the face I can't forget
0:15:11 > 0:15:16# A trace of pleasure and regret... #
0:15:16 > 0:15:20When I was brought in to Les Miserables in January '85,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23a lot of work had already been done on it.
0:15:23 > 0:15:28For six months, we laboured in my flat in Basil Street.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30We were working like dogs.
0:15:30 > 0:15:37Because we have been reshaping and rewriting the show until the previews.
0:15:37 > 0:15:43I felt very often that I was going to have to disappoint my collaborators and friends
0:15:43 > 0:15:46because the work had not been done in that time.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52The cast was only handed the first act when they gathered together on August 1st.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Some of the key songs had not yet been written.
0:15:55 > 0:16:03A song like Bring Him Home had not even been conceived when rehearsals began.
0:16:03 > 0:16:09When it came to casting the show, the first challenge was to find the star role, Jean Valjean.
0:16:09 > 0:16:15The directors needed someone with stature, stamina and the best voice in the West End.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Colm Wilkinson suddenly came into the frame.
0:16:18 > 0:16:24There was something otherworldly about him, there was a life experience in him.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26# When the feeling hit me
0:16:26 > 0:16:29# Yet I had to move along
0:16:29 > 0:16:31# You said, "You were right, I guess
0:16:31 > 0:16:33# "You must sing your song"
0:16:34 > 0:16:36# And a man is born to do one thing
0:16:36 > 0:16:38# And I was born to sing... #
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Trevor Nunn said, "We need a guy who looks like a convict,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47"can carry a guy on his shoulders and sing like an angel,"
0:16:47 > 0:16:49and he says, "That's Colm Wilkinson!"
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And he came to see us at the New London, where the Cats set was,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57and moment he picked up these songs, we knew we'd found our Jean Valjean.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01# Take an eye for an eye
0:17:01 > 0:17:06# Turn your heart into stone
0:17:06 > 0:17:10# This is all I have lived for
0:17:10 > 0:17:13# This is all I have known... #
0:17:25 > 0:17:30# A heart full of love... #
0:17:30 > 0:17:36I'd heard about Michael Ball from friends, and I trotted up to Manchester,
0:17:36 > 0:17:44to the Opera House, to see him play Frederick in a tour of Pirates Of Penzance, opposite Bonnie Langford.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49We went to a matinee, and at the end of the matinee, I went back to meet him.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52I said, "You've got to come and play Marius."
0:17:52 > 0:17:56The first day of rehearsal, Trevor asked if everybody had
0:17:56 > 0:17:58read the book, and everybody put their hands up,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01except for me. I was sitting next to Michael Ball.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04He put his hand up. And he was gorgeous, as well.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08He was so gorgeous in those days, and Michael, you still are gorgeous,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11but he was absolutely so handsome, giggly, little dimples.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15I'd had two ambitions when I left drama school. I wanted to
0:18:15 > 0:18:18work for the RSC, I wanted to be in Coronation Street.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23While I was doing Pirates in Manchester, I got two episodes of Coronation Street. Result!
0:18:23 > 0:18:30Two weeks later, I'd got my audition and got into Les Mis at the RSC.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33So as far as I'm concerned, I was thrilled.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36I'd never done a big musical before.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I'd done Poppy at the RSC a couple of years before,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I'd done Kiss Me, Kate in rep,
0:18:43 > 0:18:51I'd a lot of shows that required music and singing, but I'd never done a big musical like this before.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54The first week was generally improvisation and games.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57We had to be cartoon characters.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02I played Woody Woodpecker, so I don't quite know what effect that had on my character!
0:19:09 > 0:19:14When we got into rehearsal, the first act was pretty much written,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18except there were two or three major songs that hadn't been written.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22On My Own hadn't been written, Stars hadn't been written, but we didn't even know
0:19:22 > 0:19:28we are going to have a song called Stars at that point. But the second act was almost entirely unwritten.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30It was really only sketched.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34And the second act was written in the first three weeks of rehearsal.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Everybody knew that it was something very special that we were doing.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43We knew that there was something there that was totally unusual.
0:19:43 > 0:19:49After a year's long slog, on 8th October 1985,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52the show finally opened, at London's Barbican Centre.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55# At the end of the day, you're another day older
0:19:56 > 0:19:59# And that's all you can say for the life of the poor
0:19:59 > 0:20:01# It's a struggle, it's a war
0:20:01 > 0:20:03# And there's nothing that anyone's giving
0:20:03 > 0:20:06# One more day standing about, what is it for?
0:20:06 > 0:20:08# One day less to be living... #
0:20:08 > 0:20:15Tonight at London's Barbican Centre, they're already celebrating the opening of an ambitious new musical,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17which seems certain to offer stiff competition
0:20:17 > 0:20:21to the 12 other musical shows already running in the West End.
0:20:21 > 0:20:22Joan Bakewell is down there,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24covering the first-night celebrations. Joan.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29The performance ended over an hour ago, and the party is now in full swing.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34The music is very simple, and full of instantly-likeable tunes.
0:20:34 > 0:20:35The audience loved it.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- It was tremendous. - This is absolutely marvellous.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40One of the best we've ever seen.
0:20:40 > 0:20:41Magnifique!
0:20:41 > 0:20:46'We had a party afterwards, in the Barbican, in the atrium there, and I can remember
0:20:46 > 0:20:51'myself and Becky and Frances being interviewed by Joan Bakewell.'
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I'd never been on telly before!
0:20:53 > 0:20:58And all of us trying to be our best received pronunciation, trying to talk sensibly.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00What do you think are the merits of the piece?
0:21:00 > 0:21:03I think the beauty of it is that it's so unique.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07- I don't think there's anything you can compare it with.- We love it!
0:21:07 > 0:21:13And then we woke up the next morning, and the reviews are awful!
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, is one of those daunting French novels
0:21:22 > 0:21:24that generally comes in two volumes.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27I've had them in the house for 20 years and still haven't read them.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32But I've never seen, till now, any of the attempts made to popularise the book.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36- Well, have they managed it? - I mean, it gave me a headache, I have to admit.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39I'd have thought that it was impossible to pastiche the music
0:21:39 > 0:21:44of Andrew Lloyd Webber, given that the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber is entirely pastiche.
0:21:44 > 0:21:50We are also given an endless sequence of extremely banal lyrics, and songs which seem to be
0:21:50 > 0:21:53specifically arranged not to refer to the drama.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58What these lyrics actually manage to do is an-all purpose bland-out.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02They reduce everything to a kind of sentimental, mawkish gibberish.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07The first reviews were very poor.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11I mean, almost entirely bad. Rather predictably so, because the average
0:22:11 > 0:22:16drama critic in England then, and pretty much the same now,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20they don't really like musicals very much.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22We read in some dailies,
0:22:22 > 0:22:28"What could be worse than a bad musical? A French musical!"
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Cameron used to have a lunch after the opening night, and the lunch of Les Miserables
0:22:33 > 0:22:38after the opening at the Barbican was like attending a funeral.
0:22:38 > 0:22:46It was joyless, and everybody depressed.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50The great Bernie Jacobs, who owned half the theatres in New York at that time,
0:22:50 > 0:22:57came and he said, "My advice to you, gentlemen, is, if you've git a stiff, you bury it."
0:22:57 > 0:23:03We thought that the critics are so bad that we do the run at the Barbican for two months,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06because it was the Barbican, and that's it.
0:23:08 > 0:23:14Cameron Mackintosh had just 24 hours to decide whether to keep Les Mis alive and to transfer it
0:23:14 > 0:23:16into London's West End.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20He'd already paid a substantial deposit on the 1,100-seat Palace Theatre.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24It's like trying to get through to the box office at the Barbican.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29To my surprise, I had to make several attempts, and eventually
0:23:29 > 0:23:33I got through, and the box-office man... I said, "What's been happening?"
0:23:33 > 0:23:35He said, "It's extraordinary.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37"We can't understand it.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39"We've sold 5,000 tickets already.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43"We've never had a rush for tickets in the way that this has happened.
0:23:43 > 0:23:44"And we can't explain it."
0:23:48 > 0:23:54Against all the odds, in December 1985, Les Miserables opened at the Palace.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00It soon became a massive hit, and has been selling out in the West End ever since.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03It was very hard, other than looking at the box-office figures,
0:24:03 > 0:24:06to work out what your indictor of success might be.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10And in our case, they were the ticket touts who arrived outside your theatre!
0:24:10 > 0:24:15The one problem they had, that everybody had, they couldn't pronounce it.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18I remember one day a particularly large, burly guy,
0:24:18 > 0:24:19who I'd seen outside Cats
0:24:19 > 0:24:22many times before, walked along, going,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27"Lesbian Rebels! Lesbian Rebels! Get your tickets for Lesbian Rebels!"
0:24:27 > 0:24:32I found myself correcting him. After all, I said, "Call it what you like, it's fine!"
0:24:35 > 0:24:36Hello there.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Can I go to the O2, please? Thanks.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44Today, I'm going for my very first rehearsal for these two Les Miserables concerts.
0:24:44 > 0:24:50It's Saturday and the show's on next Sunday. I did do a couple of days of singing rehearsal, and I had
0:24:50 > 0:24:56one session with Jenny Galloway, who plays Madame Thenardier, and Alfie Boe, who's playing Jean Valjean.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00I haven't had much of a chance to rehearse properly with them. I'm a bit in awe of Jenny.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04She's sort of famous for never having done the same performance twice.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07When I met her, she was very quiet and very reserved,
0:25:07 > 0:25:11and apparently in the rehearsal room, she can be quite quiet,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15but then when she gets out on that stage, all hell breaks lose!
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Thank you very much. What's the damage?
0:25:24 > 0:25:28Matt's first rehearsal is being run by co-directors James Powell and
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Laurence Connor, both of whom have previously performed in the show.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35# Master of the house, quick to catch your eye... #
0:25:35 > 0:25:39'You need quite a lot of stamina and quite a lot of breath to sing this song.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43'And it's very wordy, and I'm always getting the words mixed up.'
0:25:43 > 0:25:48# Everybody's boon companion, gives 'em everything he's got
0:25:48 > 0:25:50# Dirty bunch of geezers
0:25:50 > 0:25:52# Jesus, what a sorry little lot! #
0:25:52 > 0:25:54Ok, good. Good.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58'Monsieur and Madame Thenardier are the comic relief of the show.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01'Much needed, I have to say, because...'
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Phew! Oh, it's depressing!
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Oh, it's bleak!
0:26:05 > 0:26:08'I think you're quite grateful when they come on.'
0:26:08 > 0:26:15- What's going on? Going all right? - Look!- I'll have a look.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21# My band of soaks, my den of dissolutes... #
0:26:21 > 0:26:26Well, Matt's got this great anarchy, which I find really interesting.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Bit of a drunken swagger here.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32And he has a completely different take on it. And he's Matt Lucas,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34we wanted to see a little bit of that.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Little girl walks in, pursued by...
0:26:38 > 0:26:40I found her wandering in the woods, very good...
0:26:40 > 0:26:46Today, Matt needs to create his version of Thenardier, and to rehearse the bargain scene, in which
0:26:46 > 0:26:53he and his greedy wife take money from Jean Valjean in exchange for giving away the orphan, Cosette.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57"This is my girl." Do you know what I mean? To really try and...
0:26:57 > 0:26:58- Face in to...- Yeah...
0:27:01 > 0:27:05I've got to link myself with her in order to justify getting all this money.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09# Beggar at the feast, master of the dance
0:27:09 > 0:27:12# Life is easy pickings if you grabs your chance
0:27:12 > 0:27:14# Everywhere you go, law-abiding folk
0:27:14 > 0:27:17# Doing what is decent, but they're mostly broke... #
0:27:17 > 0:27:25'What I think this musical really has... Every song has a soaring, rousing melody,'
0:27:25 > 0:27:27the most delightful, catchy tunes.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32They lyrics are emotive without being sentimental,
0:27:32 > 0:27:38and intelligent and witty, but without taking you out of the show.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44I really don't think any musical has come along in the last 25 years to topple it.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56# I dreamed a dream in time gone by
0:27:58 > 0:28:03# When hope was high and life worth living... #
0:28:03 > 0:28:07I wrote it, of course, for French lyrics,
0:28:07 > 0:28:11and we used for the start of the song
0:28:11 > 0:28:17what Victor Hugo had written in his book, "J'avais reve de notre vie."
0:28:17 > 0:28:22# Then I was young and unafraid
0:28:23 > 0:28:28# And dreams were made and used and wasted
0:28:30 > 0:28:34# There was no ransom to be paid
0:28:36 > 0:28:42# No song unsung, no wine untasted... #
0:28:42 > 0:28:49The tragic thing is, it's not a song sung by an old person
0:28:49 > 0:28:52about the dreams of their youth.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55It's sung by a very young person,
0:28:55 > 0:29:00about the fact that her life is over all too soon.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05# He slept a summer by my side
0:29:06 > 0:29:11# He filled my days with endless wonder
0:29:13 > 0:29:18# He took my childhood in his stride
0:29:18 > 0:29:23# But he was gone when autumn came... #
0:29:24 > 0:29:29# Bring him home
0:29:29 > 0:29:33# Bring him home
0:29:33 > 0:29:37# Bring him home... #
0:29:37 > 0:29:38We asked Claude-Michel
0:29:38 > 0:29:45to go away and write a song for Jean Valjean. More specifically, to write a song for Colm Wilkinson.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49# If God had granted me a son
0:29:49 > 0:29:53# The summers die one by one
0:29:53 > 0:29:58# How soon they fly on and on
0:29:58 > 0:30:04# And I am old and will be gone... #
0:30:04 > 0:30:10'When I heard it being played, and then I heard Herb Kretzmer's lyrics to it,'
0:30:10 > 0:30:13it just was beautiful.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20# Bring him joy
0:30:23 > 0:30:26# He is young
0:30:27 > 0:30:31# He is a only a boy... #
0:30:31 > 0:30:33In the score, it's called the prayer.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38It's a moment for me to really seriously pray on my own.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42And once you get that attitude, that feeling inside your body that
0:30:42 > 0:30:46you are praying, then the song really does carry you.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49# Let him live
0:30:51 > 0:30:58# If I die, let me die
0:31:00 > 0:31:04# Let him live... #
0:31:06 > 0:31:08The big moment in the song is
0:31:08 > 0:31:10the last line...
0:31:10 > 0:31:13# Bring him home... #
0:31:13 > 0:31:19We can all hit it for a little bit. Even quite long. Hit it to the end of the phrase. Try it.
0:31:19 > 0:31:26# Bring him home... #
0:31:34 > 0:31:36And he was doing it without breathing!
0:31:36 > 0:31:37He'd go...
0:31:37 > 0:31:40# Bring him home... #
0:31:40 > 0:31:42You're going, "How can you do that?!"
0:31:45 > 0:31:48APPLAUSE
0:31:48 > 0:31:52When I've had the misfortune of doing it in concert, you go...
0:31:52 > 0:31:55# Bring him ho... #
0:31:55 > 0:31:58VOICE FADES OUT
0:31:58 > 0:31:59# ..ome! #
0:31:59 > 0:32:04Make it look like the mic's got you, "They're too loud! The mic's a little bit..." And you cheat it!
0:32:04 > 0:32:06It's the only way I can do it!
0:32:07 > 0:32:09# One day more
0:32:09 > 0:32:14# Tomorrow you'll be worlds away
0:32:14 > 0:32:19# And yet, with you my world has started... #
0:32:19 > 0:32:27I cannot think of a more rousing end to an act in any musical ever
0:32:27 > 0:32:29than One Day More.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33# One more day with him not caring
0:32:33 > 0:32:36# I was born to be with you
0:32:36 > 0:32:40# What a life I might have known
0:32:40 > 0:32:42# And I swear I will be true... #
0:32:42 > 0:32:45It's what's know in music as a quodlibet, which is
0:32:45 > 0:32:49all the different tunes being brought together
0:32:49 > 0:32:54in a great sort of cauldron of different contrapuntal tunes.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58# One more day before the storm
0:32:58 > 0:33:05# At the barricades of freedom... #
0:33:07 > 0:33:08The entire company's on stage -
0:33:08 > 0:33:16everybody is singing about their own predicament, their own fears, their own hopes, their own needs.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20# The time is now, the day is here
0:33:22 > 0:33:23# One day more
0:33:23 > 0:33:28# One more day to revolution, we will nip it in the bud
0:33:28 > 0:33:31# I will join these little schoolboys
0:33:31 > 0:33:34# They will wet themselves with blood
0:33:34 > 0:33:36# Watch 'em run amuck, catch 'em as they fall... #
0:33:36 > 0:33:39'Everyone thinks their part is the best.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42'But I think Marius is, because he has that final...'
0:33:42 > 0:33:46# My place is here, I fight with you! #
0:33:46 > 0:33:52# My place is here, I fight with you... #
0:33:52 > 0:33:55# One day more, I did not live... #
0:33:55 > 0:33:58And I just love it to bits.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04# Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in Heaven has in store
0:34:05 > 0:34:07# One more dawn
0:34:08 > 0:34:11# One more day
0:34:12 > 0:34:16# One day more! #
0:34:28 > 0:34:29APPLAUSE
0:34:42 > 0:34:45You've got lots of hats -
0:34:45 > 0:34:48you've had different actors with different-sized heads playing this role.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52- So, am I going to be wearing a hat worn already by somebody?- Yeah.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Who wore this hat?
0:34:54 > 0:35:00'At the costume fitting, I met Tracy, who had worked on the show since its inception.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04'I looked through some of the costumes that people have worn,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06'and I got very excited at the prospect of wearing
0:35:06 > 0:35:10'Alun Armstrong's hat, because he was the original Thenardier.'
0:35:10 > 0:35:12- All right.- The buckle goes at the back.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16- No, the other way.- The other way round? Like that? And it fits!
0:35:16 > 0:35:18There's got to be a wig underneath.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22So, I've got one of the smallest heads in show business.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Vic Reeves probably has the biggest head, along with Rory Bremner.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27These are the things you learn.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31So, Alun Armstrong, we know, had...
0:35:31 > 0:35:36He doesn't have a small head - he certainly had a small head. So there's a Les Mis fact for you.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39How about that? Now, how many items of clothing are there
0:35:39 > 0:35:42in the production of Les Miserables, roughly?
0:35:42 > 0:35:45- It's over 500.- Over 500?
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Not including all the understudy stuff, which we have to keep as well.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54For me, the character comes alive when I'm actually performing it, but a big part of it is
0:35:54 > 0:36:00the costume and make-up, so it's really important to get these things right.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04'It was fun to put the costume on, and the hair, as well, with the hat.'
0:36:04 > 0:36:05Here we go.
0:36:06 > 0:36:12'It looks pretty grotesque, which is something I always enjoy playing, grotesque.'
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Brilliant. Love it. Do you need to take pictures?
0:36:15 > 0:36:19They're for my album. We've got two different albums.
0:36:26 > 0:36:27Another British success has
0:36:27 > 0:36:30crossed the Atlantic to a rapturous reception.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33This time it was the Royal Shakespeare Company's
0:36:33 > 0:36:34epic musical Les Miserables,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37which has already been a smash hit in London's West End.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Broadway is used to British success.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45Cats has been the greatest hit for years, Me And My Girl is doing quite nicely, thank you,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47and now, Les Miserables.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Right in, please. Don't block the doors, folks.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Last night it opened, and if the critics are anything
0:36:53 > 0:36:56to go by, it will stay open for some considerable time.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01It became the biggest box-office ticket sale in New York.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06It was absolutely lauded by every critic in New York.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11My last night on Broadway, they were selling tickets for 2,500.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14I said, "Why didn't you tell me, for Christ's sake?
0:37:14 > 0:37:17"I would have got a few and went out and sold them myself!"
0:37:19 > 0:37:24With the Broadway show up and running, in just a year Les Mis was also launched in a handful of
0:37:24 > 0:37:29other countries, including Japan, where it plays to this day.
0:37:33 > 0:37:39The Japanese came to me very shortly after in January and said, "We want to open it
0:37:39 > 0:37:42"in June of the following year," which is incredibly fast
0:37:42 > 0:37:44for the Japanese, I mean literally,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47I said, "Don't you want to wait and see how it goes on Broadway?,"
0:37:47 > 0:37:50and they went, "We don't care what happens to Broadway."
0:37:50 > 0:37:53I met the Japanese translator,
0:37:53 > 0:37:58and he said it takes three words to equal one word in the English version.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03If he was to translate every single word, it would be a nine-hour show.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06I said, "Well, even the hardy Japanese would
0:38:06 > 0:38:08"find that difficult going."
0:38:23 > 0:38:25Then Norway came.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29The National Theatre in Norway said, "We'd like to put it on." I said, "Where?"
0:38:29 > 0:38:34"In the National Theatre." They closed down the National Theatre in Norway
0:38:34 > 0:38:37and ran for 15 months with a reproduction of our show.
0:38:37 > 0:38:45We put it on there. It played to 15% of the entire population of Norway, which is unheard of!
0:38:45 > 0:38:50And the only reason they took it off is because they felt they had to put some Ibsen back on!
0:38:50 > 0:38:53HE SINGS IN NORWEGIAN
0:39:01 > 0:39:07What had struck me about the show is how it evokes these identical responses all around the world.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Even if I don't understand the language, even if I'm hearing it
0:39:10 > 0:39:16in Swedish or Japanese, there are points in the show where you feel the emotion of the audience.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21# Oh, my friends, my friends, forgive me
0:39:24 > 0:39:27# That I live and you are gone
0:39:29 > 0:39:32# There's a grief that can't be spoken
0:39:33 > 0:39:38# There's a pain, goes on and on... #
0:39:39 > 0:39:46When we see Marius sing Empty Chairs At Empty Tables, he's returned to the ABC Cafe, where he used to meet
0:39:46 > 0:39:50with his friends, all the other students, who believed they could make the world better.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54But this time, he's gone back and he finds himself alone, of course,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57because his friends have died, fighting for what they believe in.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02# Oh, my friends, my friends
0:40:03 > 0:40:09# Don't ask me what your sacrifice was for
0:40:12 > 0:40:15# Empty chairs and empty tables
0:40:17 > 0:40:24# Now my friends will sing
0:40:24 > 0:40:26# No more. #
0:40:31 > 0:40:34'It's an incredibly emotional song.
0:40:34 > 0:40:40'It's where Marius becomes a man, where he loses his idealism, where he realises that the price that
0:40:40 > 0:40:44'one pays fighting for what you believe in is enormous.'
0:40:44 > 0:40:45APPLAUSE
0:40:52 > 0:40:56The O2 arena events in six days' time will involve no fewer than
0:40:56 > 0:40:59400 Les Mis performers past and present,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02the largest-ever production of the show.
0:41:02 > 0:41:09Today, they have been called to rehearse the start of Act I, and to greet a newcomer to their ranks.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13- I'm Gemma.- Hi, I'm Matt.- I'm Laura. - Nice to meet you. Matt.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15- Hello, you all right?- Kyle.
0:41:15 > 0:41:16Hi.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Yeah. Yeah, I'm a bit nervous.
0:41:19 > 0:41:26The star role of Jean Valjean will be sung on Sunday at the O2 by the celebrated tenor Alfie Boe.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Someone like me would never normally get to meet, let alone perform with,
0:41:30 > 0:41:35someone of the magnitude of Alfie Boe. Yesterday, he invited me to come to one of his shows,
0:41:35 > 0:41:41and I said, "Of course," and I said, "Where is it?," and he said, "Oh, it's at the Albert Hall."
0:41:41 > 0:41:45I said, "Wow, who are you singing with?" He said, "Jose Carreras and Kiri Te Kanawa."
0:41:45 > 0:41:50So it's pretty amazing to think that I'll be working with the genuine article.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53And wipe.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02# The earth is still, I feel the wind
0:42:02 > 0:42:05# I breathe again... #
0:42:05 > 0:42:06OK. That's good.
0:42:09 > 0:42:10Matt, a while back, said to me,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13"I can't sing, I don't have a voice.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15"It's just characters that I do."
0:42:15 > 0:42:18But I was convinced that he had an ability to sing,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21that he has an ability to sing, by the way
0:42:21 > 0:42:26he does his characters, all the different voices he puts on.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30'You can hear it in those accents that he can hold a tune.'
0:42:30 > 0:42:33# At the end of the day, you're another day older
0:42:33 > 0:42:37# And that's all you can say for the life of the poor
0:42:37 > 0:42:38# It's a struggle, it's a war
0:42:38 > 0:42:40# And there's nothing that anyone's giving
0:42:40 > 0:42:43# One more day standing about, what is it for?
0:42:44 > 0:42:46# One day less to be living... #
0:42:46 > 0:42:50Guys, sorry, I'm going to pick on you on the text here, OK?
0:42:50 > 0:42:53At the moment, we're not really giving a story here.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56"At the end of the day, you're another day colder,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59"and that's all you can say for the life of the poor."
0:42:59 > 0:43:05- What is it? "It's a struggle, it's a war, and there's nothing that those- BLEEP- are giving." Yeah?
0:43:05 > 0:43:08Really bite into the text. The text is everything. One more time.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12# At the end of the day, there's another day dawning
0:43:13 > 0:43:16# And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise
0:43:16 > 0:43:17# Like the waves crash on the sand
0:43:17 > 0:43:20# Like a storm that'll break any second
0:43:20 > 0:43:24# There's a hunger in the land
0:43:24 > 0:43:28# There's going to be hell to pay
0:43:28 > 0:43:29# At the end of the day! #
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Split! Good. Much better, guys.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36As rehearsals continue, Cameron Mackintosh has invited Matt for
0:43:36 > 0:43:39a sneak preview of the enormous set being built in the arena.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46Thank you for letting me be in your show. I'm so thrilled.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48- Look at this.- Oh, no!
0:43:48 > 0:43:53- I mean, look.- Oh, my word! How many are we going to be playing to?
0:43:53 > 0:43:59The last figure I heard was about 16,500, in this configuration.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04But it's amazing how good the sightlines are. We've managed to sell absolutely everything.
0:44:04 > 0:44:10Even the matinee, which is the extra show we put on, has now only got a few hundred seats left.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13- So it'll be packed by Sunday. - What was the budget for this show?
0:44:13 > 0:44:18One of the reasons we're doing two shows on the Sunday is that
0:44:18 > 0:44:22- I knew it would cost about £2 million to stage this one day.- Really?
0:44:22 > 0:44:29When the first one sold out, we could take about 1.3 on the first concert.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31So we knew we had to do a second.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36Luckily, we're going to more than break even, which is a great relief!
0:44:36 > 0:44:40- What's next for Les Miserables? - The next big adventure is that
0:44:40 > 0:44:45- I've just signed a contract to make the movie, at long last.- Really?! This is very interesting news!
0:44:45 > 0:44:48- Which I'm doing with Working Title.- Congratulations.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52The author of the screenplay will be watching one of the performances this weekend.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57So we hope, within the next year or two, that will finally happen.
0:45:01 > 0:45:06By 2009, Les Mis had sold more than 50 million tickets around the globe.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10With its 25th anniversary looming, a new production was unveiled,
0:45:10 > 0:45:15which broke audience records on tour across the UK.
0:45:15 > 0:45:20But no-one could have predicted that the next chapter of this remarkable story would
0:45:20 > 0:45:22come from outside the world of theatre altogether.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Susan Boyle and Britain's Got Talent was
0:45:29 > 0:45:32one of those extraordinary things, the thunderbolt from leftfield
0:45:32 > 0:45:35that changed the way everybody thought about the show.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37The funny thing is, there's this belief that
0:45:37 > 0:45:41the show's been running for 25 years but there's never been a hit from it.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44But there has now, with I Dreamed A Dream.
0:45:44 > 0:45:49# I dreamed a dream in time gone by
0:45:51 > 0:45:55# When hope was high and life worth living... #
0:45:55 > 0:45:57You didn't expect that today, did you? No!
0:45:57 > 0:46:02# I dreamed that love would never die... #
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Within hours, within days, people were talking about it everywhere in the world.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10It became number-one news.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14Perhaps you're one of the more than five million people who've seen
0:46:14 > 0:46:16the world's newest singing sensation online -
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Susan Boyle, from the hit UK show Britain's Got Talent.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24# And dreams are made and used and wasted... #
0:46:26 > 0:46:33Not many people had connected it with Les Miserables, and the fact that everywhere, they kept saying,
0:46:33 > 0:46:40"This is I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables," and that had a profound effect, and indeed
0:46:40 > 0:46:43hugely increased the appetite of audiences
0:46:43 > 0:46:47that possibly hadn't seen it to come and see it live on stage.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Two days to go till show day, and at an East London studio,
0:46:54 > 0:46:58the cast is assembling for one of the final rehearsals,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00known in theatre speak as the sitzprobe.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04A sitzprobe has always been a very emotional moment,
0:47:04 > 0:47:06because it's the first time
0:47:06 > 0:47:12when the singers are listening to the orchestration, after spending an average of two months with a piano.
0:47:12 > 0:47:18'But of course, I'm here today just to listen to what's wrong and not to what's gorgeous and beautiful.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20'On Sunday, I will enjoy it.'
0:47:20 > 0:47:24Today, we are still checking what's right and what's wrong.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our marvellous orchestra and our marvellous cast.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30Today's historic for yet another reason.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34This is the very first time this new orchestration has ever been sung.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37So I want you all to have a fantastic time.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45# Look down and see the beggars at your feet
0:47:45 > 0:47:50# Look down and show some mercy if you can
0:47:50 > 0:47:55# Look down and see the sweepings of the street
0:47:55 > 0:48:01# Look down, look down upon your fellow man
0:48:01 > 0:48:03# 'Ow do you do? My name's Gavroche
0:48:03 > 0:48:06# These are my people, here's my patch
0:48:06 > 0:48:09# Not much to look at, nothing posh
0:48:09 > 0:48:11# Nothing that you'd call up to scratch... #
0:48:15 > 0:48:19# What to do, what to say?
0:48:19 > 0:48:23# Shall you carry our treasure away?
0:48:23 > 0:48:26# What a gem, what a pearl
0:48:26 > 0:48:30# Beyond rubies is our little girl
0:48:30 > 0:48:34# How can we speak of debt?
0:48:34 > 0:48:38# Let's not haggle for darling Colette... #
0:48:38 > 0:48:39Cosette.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41# Cosette - this one
0:48:41 > 0:48:44# Dear Fantine, gone to rest
0:48:45 > 0:48:49# Have we done for her child what is best?
0:48:49 > 0:48:53# Shared our bread, shared each bone
0:48:53 > 0:48:56# Treated her like she's one of our own
0:48:56 > 0:48:58# Like our own, Monsieur... #
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Go on, get it all out now!
0:49:07 > 0:49:10# Your feelings do you credit, sir
0:49:10 > 0:49:12# And I will ease the parting blow
0:49:12 > 0:49:15# Let us not talk of bargains or bones or greed
0:49:15 > 0:49:17# Now, may I say... #
0:49:17 > 0:49:19- Oh,- BLEEP- it!
0:49:19 > 0:49:23We've just run Act I, and it is sounding incredible.
0:49:23 > 0:49:28It's the beefed-up, wonderful orchestration, and the voices,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31there's so many voices... It's amazing. I'm thrilled.
0:49:31 > 0:49:37All well and good, but when it comes to Act II, it looks like Matt still has one or two creases to iron out.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42- What? What's that? - Start when you like.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46I'll start when I like? Oh, right, cos I was watching...
0:49:46 > 0:49:48You were waiting for me, and I was waiting for you!
0:49:48 > 0:49:49I was seeing this...
0:49:49 > 0:49:51We would have been there all night!
0:49:51 > 0:49:54'I'm very excited and very nervous, as you would imagine.'
0:49:54 > 0:49:56And right now, I'm wrecked.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00I'm wrecked. That emotion has really taken it out of me, yeah.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Show day at London's O2 arena.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14Today, the largest-ever production of Les Miserables will be mounted twice
0:50:14 > 0:50:16in front of audiences of 18,000,
0:50:16 > 0:50:21and beamed live to more than 1,000 cinemas across the world.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25I'm very excited, actually, because I'm a great Les Mis fan.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29I just absolutely love the story and the production, I love the songs.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Nothing to beat it. I can't see it coming off!
0:50:33 > 0:50:36The story is absolutely fantastic.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39It has you with tears in your eyes all the way through it!
0:50:39 > 0:50:42We're so, so excited.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45I can't believe the cast. The cast is absolutely fantastic.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47Well done, Sir Cameron!
0:50:47 > 0:50:49Oh, my goodness!
0:50:58 > 0:51:01- Flowers, Matt.- Really? - Yeah.- That's very nice.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03- There's a card.- Thank you very much.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06- You probably want to open it. - Yeah, let's have a look.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Aw! It's from Imelda Marcos! How lovely!
0:51:18 > 0:51:20- Hey, Mr T!- How are you doing?
0:51:20 > 0:51:22- How are you doing? - How are you feeling?
0:51:22 > 0:51:25I'm all right. Good to see you.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29I just made the mistake of looking at the screen.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31- Have you looked at the screen? - Not yet, no.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33- Hang on a minute. Don't turn.- OK.
0:51:33 > 0:51:38- Look at all those people. - Oh, my goodness.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41I know, I just had one of those moments!
0:51:41 > 0:51:42- Oh, my word.- I know.
0:51:46 > 0:51:47Thank you.
0:51:50 > 0:51:5230 seconds, guys.
0:51:54 > 0:51:55Have fun, everybody.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21# At the end of the day there's another day dawning
0:52:21 > 0:52:24# And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise
0:52:24 > 0:52:26# Like the waves crash on the sand
0:52:26 > 0:52:28# Like a storm that'll break any second
0:52:28 > 0:52:32# There's a hunger in the land
0:52:32 > 0:52:35# There's going to be hell to pay
0:52:35 > 0:52:36# At the end of the day! #
0:52:36 > 0:52:43# He slept a summer by my side
0:52:43 > 0:52:47# He filled my days with endless wonder
0:52:49 > 0:52:53# He took my childhood in his stride
0:52:55 > 0:52:59# But he was gone when autumn came... #
0:53:02 > 0:53:04# Who am I?
0:53:04 > 0:53:07# I'm Jean Valjean
0:53:09 > 0:53:12# And so Javert, you see it's true
0:53:12 > 0:53:17# This man bears no more guilt than you
0:53:18 > 0:53:21# Who am I?
0:53:22 > 0:53:26# 24601! #
0:53:32 > 0:53:35# Dare you talk to me of crime
0:53:35 > 0:53:37# And the price you've had to pay
0:53:37 > 0:53:40# Every man is born in sin
0:53:40 > 0:53:43# Every man must choose his way
0:53:43 > 0:53:45# You know nothing of Javert
0:53:45 > 0:53:47# I was born inside a jail
0:53:47 > 0:53:50# I was born with scum like you
0:53:50 > 0:53:53# I am from the gutter too! #
0:53:57 > 0:53:58APPLAUSE
0:54:06 > 0:54:07Thank you. Nice kiss, mate!
0:54:07 > 0:54:10# Aren't any floors for me to sweep
0:54:12 > 0:54:15# Not in my castle on a cloud... #
0:54:20 > 0:54:22APPLAUSE
0:54:27 > 0:54:29Oh, shit!
0:54:33 > 0:54:36# Please do not send me out alone
0:54:37 > 0:54:41# Not in the darkness on my own... #
0:54:41 > 0:54:42Enough of that!
0:54:42 > 0:54:45# Or I'll forget to be nice
0:54:46 > 0:54:51# You heard me ask for something, and I never ask twice
0:55:03 > 0:55:04APPLAUSE
0:55:10 > 0:55:12# My band of soaks
0:55:12 > 0:55:15# My den of dissolutes
0:55:15 > 0:55:17# My dirty jokes
0:55:17 > 0:55:18# My always pissed as newts
0:55:18 > 0:55:20# My sons of whores
0:55:20 > 0:55:23# Spend their lives in my inn
0:55:23 > 0:55:27# Homing pigeons homing in
0:55:27 > 0:55:32# They fly through my doors
0:55:32 > 0:55:36# And their money's as good as yours
0:55:39 > 0:55:41# Welcome, Monsieur... #
0:55:41 > 0:55:45'It's been one of the most challenging, but exciting, jobs I've had.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48'Les Mis has always been a part of my life,
0:55:48 > 0:55:54'but now I'm a part of its life, and I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity.'
0:55:55 > 0:56:01# Seldom do you see honest men like me
0:56:01 > 0:56:08# A gent of good intent who's content to be
0:56:08 > 0:56:10# Master of the house, doling out the charm
0:56:10 > 0:56:13# Ready with a handshake and an open palm
0:56:13 > 0:56:16# Tells a saucy tale, creates a little stir
0:56:16 > 0:56:19# Customers appreciate a bon viveur
0:56:19 > 0:56:22# There to do a friend a favour
0:56:22 > 0:56:24# Doesn't cost me to be nice
0:56:24 > 0:56:26# But nothing gets you nothing
0:56:26 > 0:56:29# Everything has got a little price... #
0:56:29 > 0:56:32He has a masterful sense of timing.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34He's a natural clown.
0:56:34 > 0:56:39You can feel the tears behind the wax, and I think he is
0:56:39 > 0:56:42one of the better Thenardiers we've had over the years.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45# Everybody bless the landlord
0:56:45 > 0:56:47# Everybody bless his spouse
0:56:47 > 0:56:50# Everybody raise a glass
0:56:50 > 0:56:54# Raise it up the master's arse
0:56:54 > 0:56:57# Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house! #
0:57:02 > 0:57:04APPLAUSE
0:57:20 > 0:57:26For 25 years, Les Miserables has been mesmerising audiences around the world.
0:57:26 > 0:57:31Now, with a capacity audience at the O2, and with the show still playing in eight different cities,
0:57:31 > 0:57:39one might wonder how a musical that so nearly never happened has come so far.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41# For the wretched of the earth
0:57:41 > 0:57:44# There is a flame that never dies... #
0:57:44 > 0:57:51Something about that show is larger than life, touching people everywhere in the same way.
0:57:51 > 0:57:58Oddly enough, I predicted 25 years ago that Les Miserables would run for 30 years!
0:57:58 > 0:58:00Let's see if I'm right!
0:58:00 > 0:58:04It broke the mould, and I think it continues to do so.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09It's always got something relevant to say to every audience.
0:58:13 > 0:58:19As long as people continue to love the music and as long as that story has
0:58:19 > 0:58:22a resonance for people, they're going to want to go on seeing it.
0:58:24 > 0:58:29It will be the one show of mine that will be done for evermore as long as anyone goes to the theatre.
0:58:31 > 0:58:34# Will you join in our crusade?
0:58:34 > 0:58:36# Who will be strong and stand with me?
0:58:36 > 0:58:39# Somewhere beyond the barricade
0:58:39 > 0:58:42# Is there a world you long to see?
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# Do you hear the people sing?
0:58:44 > 0:58:47# Say, do you hear the distant drums?
0:58:47 > 0:58:51# It's the future that they bring
0:58:51 > 0:58:53# When tomorrow comes
0:59:02 > 0:59:06# Tomorrow comes! #
0:59:16 > 0:59:18CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:59:31 > 0:59:33Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:33 > 0:59:36E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk