Les Misérables, Barbican

An invigorating new production to mark the 25th anniversary

by Sheila JohnstonFriday, 24 September 2010

Enlightenment: John Owen-Jones (standing, right), transfigured, as Victor Hugo's Jean ValjeanMichel LePoer Trench

It's the Mousetrap of musicals, the wholly unstoppable show and, to mark its 25th anniversary this year (the 30th, if you date it back to the initial French concept album and Paris production), it will be staged in London at three different venues. You can even see them all in a single, mighty weekend bender, if the mood takes you: the original Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre, a celebratory all-star concert at the O2 Arena on 3 October and an invigorating new production which plays at the Barbican after a national tour until 2 October.

Valjean is, let's face it, a bit of a bore and it's never clear what everyone is so furiously fighting for, other than, vaguely, injustice

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