Peter Lockyer, Olivier Winner David Thaxton & More to Step Into West End's Les Miserables

A new crew of convicts, inspectors, revolutionaries and more are getting ready to storm the barricades. The record-breaking West End production of Les Miserables will welcome Peter Lockyer as Jean Valjean, Olivier Award winner David Thaxton as Javert, Tony nominee Tom Edden as Thenardier, Celinde Schoenmaker as Fantine, Michael Colbourne as Enjolras and Emilie Fleming as Cosette. The new cast members will take their first bow on June 16 at the Queen’s Theatre.

Lockyer recently played the role of Jean Valjean in the 25th Anniversary North American tour of Les Miz, having previously taken on the role of Marius on Broadway. He has also appeared on the Great White Way in Miss Saigon. Thaxton received a 2011 Olivier Award for his performance in Passion at the Donmar Warehouse, and has appeared in the West End previously in Les Miz as Enjolras and in Love Never Dies as Raoul. Edden earned a Tony nod for One Man, Two Guvnors on Broadway. Schoenmaker returns to Les Miz after making her West End debut as Fantine last year. Colbourne, who recently appeared in Follies at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, makes his West End debut as Enjolras. Fleming was a Dorothy finalist in BBC One’s Over the Rainbow.

Rob Houchen, Carrie Hope Fletcher and Wendy Ferguson will continue their performances as Marius, Eponine and Madame Thenardier, respectively.

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, Les Miserables originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on October 8, 1985.The story begins in 1815 as Jean Valjean, a man condemned to 19 years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread, finds only hatred and suspicion when he is released on parole and breaks free, yearning for a new life. Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's score contains the signature numbers “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own,” and "One Day More."