THIS IS LONDON JUNE EDITION 2025 - Flipbook - Page 30
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SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY CAST FOR
LES MIS
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of
Boublil and Schönberg’s musical
sensation, Les Misérables, Cameron
Mackintosh has put together, for 8 weeks
only, a special company of artists who
have been part of Les Mis history and
are drawn from the West End,
international, movie and Arena
Spectacular Miz Rocks World Tour casts
of the show.
Side by side with the anniversary
company, there is a new cast who, from
7 July, will launch the show into its 5th
record-breaking decade.
Cameron Mackintosh said: ‘It’s hard
to believe that Les Misérables is already
40 years old and still in the prime of life
on Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s West
End, packing out the Sondheim Theatre.
What a year it has already been for Les
Mis, with the spectacular Arena Tour
selling out around the world featuring
many of the stars of the stage
production. Now in London, where it all
began in 1985, with the British premiere
of the reconstructed version of the show
in English in association with the RSC,
originally brilliantly staged by Trevor
Nunn and John Caird, and then after 25
years, evolving into a new acclaimed
production directed by James Powell
and Laurence Connor with new designs
and staging, keeping the spirit of Les
Misérables revolutionary for the 21st
Century.’
In 1985, Edward Behr in Newsweek
predicted that Les Mis would be ‘a
musical that makes history’ – it certainly
has. A very special birthday celebration
indeed for the world’s longest running
musical.
Boublil and Schönberg’s magnificent
iconic score of Les Misérables, with
lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer includes the
classic songs, I Dreamed a Dream, On
My Own, Stars, Bring Him Home, Do
You Hear the People Sing?, One Day
More, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,
Master Of The House and many more.
Several of its songs have become real
life anthems of revolution wherever in
the world people are fighting for their
freedom.
NOUGHTS AND CROSSES AT
REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE
Widely considered to be one of the
21st century’s greatest novels, Malorie
Blackman’s best-selling Noughts &
Crosses, a bittersweet love story with
echoes of Shakespeare’s Romeo &
Juliet, is revived for the London stage in
a brand-new production at Regent’s Park
Open Air Theatre.
Marius (Jac Yarrow) in Les Misérables.
THIS
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LONDON
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Photo: Danny Kaan
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By a secluded beach Callum and
Sephy meet in secret; life-long friends
living on separate sides of a divided
world. When Callum, from a Nought
family, is accepted to Sephy’s
prestigious Cross school, will it bring
them closer, or will the hate and fear that
surrounds them drive them apart?
Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of this
epic story set against the political
backdrop of a deeply divided society, is
directed by Associate Artistic Director
Tinuke Craig in her Regent’s Park Open
Air Theatre debut.
Alex Beard
© Sebastian Nevols
ALEX BEARD AWARDED
KNIGHTHOOD BY HM THE KING
Chief Executive Officer of the Royal
Ballet and Opera since 2013, Sir Alex
Beard has been awarded a Knighthood
in The King’s Birthday Honours for his
Services to the Arts.
Since assuming leadership,
Beard has guided the Royal Ballet and
Opera through a period of remarkable
transformation and resilience. Under his
direction, the Royal Opera House’s
iconic Grade I listed home has been
revitalised, and the organisation has
emerged from the challenges of the
pandemic stronger than ever, cementing
its status as one of the world’s foremost
artistic institutions.
With over 500 performances each
year and an average occupancy rate of
96%, the Royal Opera House is the most
intensively used theatre in Europe.
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