Les Miserables Comes Home to Broadway's Imperial Theatre; Dates Announced

Cameron Mackintosh's new production of the Tony Award-winning mega-musical masterpiece Les Miserables will return to the Imperial Theatre, the show’s home on Broadway for nearly 13 years. Preview performances of Les Miserables will begin March 1, 2014, with an official opening night set for March 23. Casting for the new production will be announced later this summer.

"I feel really blessed that not only has my new production of Les Miserables been embraced by audiences and critics alike, even more fervently than the original, but Phil Smith and Bob Wankel of The Shubert Organization have kindly arranged for me to bring Cosette back to her spiritual home on Broadway, the Imperial Theatre," said Mackintosh in a statement. "This magnificent theater has the perfect blend of scale and intimacy for a story like Les Miserables, and I can’t wait to put together a brilliant company to bring this great musical to new generations of Broadway audiences."

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.

The "newly re-imagined" Les Miserables is based on the U.S. national tour, which launched in November 2010. 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.

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 acclaimed film adaptation, starring Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won three Academy Awards.