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>> Since opening in 1985, "Les
Miserables" has become something

of an institution
here in the West End.

Not only is it the world's
longest running musical it's

been seen by more than 60
million people in 42 countries

and in 21 different languages.

>> If somebody had told
you that way back when,

would you have believed it?

>> I'd have laughed.

Absolutely no way.

>> You say you knew
you were working

on something good though.

>> Yes. I absolutely -- I
loved it but there was no way

that anyone can imagine
something running this long.

It's crazy isn't it?

It's probably going to long --
it will probably outlive me.

>> I think it's one of the
great stories of the triumph

for the human spirit
and it's got --

because it's got
so many characters,

it's got so many ways in.

You know, you've got
the story of Valjean,

which advances the discovery
of virtue and the discovery

of faith, the discovery
of love for a child

and what it's like
to be a parent.

What it's like to let a
child go out into the world.

Then you've got the kind of more
teenage love triangle story.

The story of unrequited
love with Eponine, kids who,

you know, enjoyed Gavroche
and little Cosette's stories.

And any obsessive
policemen can enjoy Javert.

>> Jean Valjean's crime was
stealing a loaf of bread.

>> Help me please.

>> It was the beginning of
a lifelong confrontation.

>> "Les Mis" miraculously is
the longest running musical

in the world and it's -- I mean,
I'm as surprised as anybody.

You know, I mean, I, you know,

I always thought it was
a very terrific musical

but I never had any
thought that a show

of such serious note
would actually run as long

but it seems to touch
every generation everywhere

in the world.

I mean Victor Hugo's
story, you know,

is about contemporary
people, even though it's set

in another period setting.

And every country in the
world seems to react to it.

And of course Alain Boublil
and Claude-Michel's music,

Claude-Michel Schonberg's music.

I just -- is -- the songs
are absolutely fantastic

and they're timeless
and it speaks

to an audience of any age.

>> Let's not forget though

that Victor Hugo was already
an international celebrity

by the time he got to age 30.

He was known as the
prince of poets

and was shall we say massive
within the Romantic Movement.

More importantly, of course,
he was what you would;

I suppose assume today, just
a huge celebrity end of.

Who would have thought though

that so many years later his
name would still be synonymous

really with the world
of musical theater.

Not just really in his
home country or even indeed

in Britain but worldwide.

>> Take him up.

>> A dual of wills with the
fanatic police inspector Javert.

>> Continue.

>> The hope of escape was
his only reason for living.

>> Halt or I'll shoot.

>> It is the decision
of the military tribunal

that five years be
added to your sentence.

>> You must have been asked
many times but can you

in any way put your
finger on what it is

that has made it the
longest running show ever?

>> Well I personally
think it's the story.

>> Victor Hugo's
masterpiece "Les Miserables."

>> You mustn't cry.

You must be very brave.

>> With all the power
and spectacle

of those turbulent years leading
to the French Revolution,

it is a story of incredible
courage and relentless pursuit.

>> Join us.

>> An exciting panorama
that captures the spirit

of a rebellious generation.

>> It's the most
interesting universal story

and it touches everybody.

I remember watching some
of the scenes that I wasn't

in way back before it went on,
you know, during rehearsals

and I was sobbing my heart
out and then I had --

I thought, oh my God, it's my
scene coming up next and I had

to pull myself together.

I mean this show -- well, it
makes men cry, put it that way.

>> It's a beautiful story.

I mean whether you're
into musicals or not,

it's one of the greatest
stories ever told.

>> The crowning point really
for Victor Hugo's masterpiece

"Les Miserables" really
started way back in June 1832.

He was sat in a park, relaxing,

heard a rather strange
noise at first.

Found out that it was
gunfire, which then led him

in to the June revolution, which
of course then formed the basis

of possibly his best
and most famous idea.

>> You join us today.

Together we will lay our hand on
the sword held of God and shout,

down with the war bonds,
down with the Monarchy.

>> It was the first
lesson I learned is

that it doesn't matter
how good the songs are.

If the book isn't really
strong and the songs don't grow

out of the book, you
don't have a good musical.

>> Victor's first full length
novel was one that we know

by a better title now, but when
it first came out, it was known

as "Notre-Dame de Paris",
which then in turn became,

of course more famous
as "The Hunchback

of Notre Dame" being remade
so many times, most famously

of course by Hollywood in the
late '30s with Charles Laughton.

But that really did open
many doors for Victor

and he became even
more celebrated

if that were possible.

Now just to put this in sort
of a bracket if you like,

Paris and France in particular
were already in the grip

of something rather
dramatic themselves.

There had been a massive
outbreak of cholera

where over 19,000
Parisians died.

Now some people thought
that this was really set

up by the government as
one of those mad theories,

you know because they were
trying to poison off for want

of a better word some of the
lesser desirable residents

of Parisian Society,
the underdogs.

And this of course then
fascinated Hugo himself giving

him even more spark to an
already dramatic story.

Now not many people will
know that Victor Hugo wrote

"Les Miserables" in
his long years of exile

in the Channel Islands and
to get inspiration for this,

he would write naked
at his desk every day.

Shocking some people who would
actually turn up to take tea

with him and things like that.

I think what is interesting
to note

as well he really didn't rush
this particular masterpiece.

He went through many,
many different rewrites

and for a while it sat around.

By himself, you know,
he changed plot.

Decided to pick it up,
go back to it again.

He was known as a perfectionist
and I think of course

like anybody who'd enjoy
huge success it would be

like today releasing
a Bond movie.

You know, everybody's
going to criticize.

Everybody's going to say whether
they like it or not and he was

under immense pressure
to make sure what he came

up with next was of course
an international smash

and of course when it first came

out that wasn't necessarily
the case.

Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"
really was the most anticipated

publication in years.

And New York society
was a gag waiting

to know how it would be done.

And to give you just an
insight really as to how

that even back then
they were very clever.

They decided to mount
this massive PR campaign.

And so they would drop in little
teasers rather like what they do

with say like the "Harry
Potter" movie in today's decade.

So they just drop a
little bit in and they came

up with the first sort of take,
the second take and by the time

of course that the final volume
was released it was a momentum.

Everybody wanted a copy.

Everybody needed to be seen
with a copy of their book.

It was the coffee
table equivalent

of gold dust if you like.

And once again, of course, he
was looking at a mega smash hit.

>> Cameron Mackintosh was
sent a demo tape based

on Victor Hugo's novel
"Les Miserables."

The two French composers
Claude-Michel Schonberg

and Alain Boublil worked closely
with him developing the score.

>> We never go ahead with
anything unless all three

of us absolutely agree
on every step of the way.

>> I think that whole
da, da, da --

>> I can't do without
the first part.

>> Because you can't do
da, da, da, da, da, de, de.

>> It's like a safety
break that if two --

if two like something
and the other doesn't,

it means that actually we
haven't got the right solution

and we then carry on until
we find a third solution.

>> When Victor Hugo
passed away in May 1885,

he was considered
a national hero.

Over 2 million people
mourned at his funeral,

but this is the interesting
thing.

The theme of course throughout
"Les Miserables" is all

about social injustice
and he'd requested

that he wanted a
pauper's funeral.

Suddenly though for him,
that wish was not carried out

and he became, if possible, an
even bigger cultural literally

and of course celebrity icon.

>> When I first heard it
was called "Les Miserables",

I thought hum, I
thought, I don't know

if that name's going to work.

And so we called it "The Glums."

And now,

you know, "Les Miserables"
is the name

that everybody knows
worldwide and even

if you don't speak
French you know the name.

>> Since the publication of "Les
Miserables" there's been no less

than 48 operatic versions, but
the version really that we know

and love today actually
started out way back in 1980

as just a simple concept album.

>> Can you not actually get
that with a different --

slightly different rhythm
because that's got --

that's got the menace
that we're talking about.

>> I think a producer
shouldn't write for writers.

I don't think directors
should do that.

>> The writers and lyricists

of the wonderful concept
album were allegedly inspired

by another British phenomenon
that of Lionel Bart's "Oliver",

the record breaking musical.

Apparently they were sat
down watching it in a theater

and particularly taking
interest in the artful dodger

and as they were watching
Oliver unfold on stage,

they decided how
they could almost see

"Les Miserables" taking shape

in their own musical
opera themselves simply

by just watching "Oliver."

Now who would have thought
that a simple project

like Lionel Bart's "Oliver"

which also had its
own problems just like

"Les Miserables" would explode
from just an afternoon matinee.

>> We are there to compliment
the writer's imagination

and to bring -- bring that
writing to its best fruition.

What I'm very good at is
saying this bit's dull.

This song does not sort
of come to a proper climax

and I'm just fascinated about
how -- how the writing develops

and how that you take
a basically good story

and you make sure that the graph

of the motion throughout the
evening is hit exactly right.

>> Three months after the
concert album had topped the

charts in France,
someone decided

to take the rather risky venture
of taking it to the stage.

Once again the critics
were less than nice

about this particular
new musical but word

of mouth took off once again
making the three-month run

a sellout.

Of course by this point, other
people were taking notice,

not just in France,
but around the world.

>> That's the thing
that I always aim

for for my productions.

Once the audience settles down,
the first thing you've got

to do is in the first
five minutes is

to tell them the
language of the evening

that you're going to use.

>> Way back in 1980, the
first original concept album

of "Les Mis" was released.

It topped the charts without
really much promotion.

And three months
later they decided

to stage the very first
musical version based

on the concept album.

This just broke box
office records

with over a million plus people
wanting to see the production.

Then, of course, this was
brought to the attention

of who we know now to
be the super producer,

none other than our very
own Cameron Mackintosh

but it would take him quite some
time before he could turn it

into the British phenomenon
that we know and love

and take it around the world.

But when he first heard
the concept album,

he thought there could
be something in it.

Of course he had no idea just

that something would make
him very, very rich indeed.

>> Okay. One, two, three, whoa.

>> I knew from the beginning I
wanted to do the singing live

and I was so passionate
about it I wasn't willing

to make the film unless I could
do the singing live and this is

because I always find
singing to play back,

to lip sync to prerecorded
however it is done

to be an artifice.

At its worse, it
makes you embarrassed.

The best just forgive
it and in the light

of a comedic film it's
easier to forgive.

I wanted there to be no
barrier between the audience

and the experience
and those emotions.

In terms of how it was made it
was a truly British production.

Internationalism was, you
know, really in the cards

because I wanted some
of the best people

in the world to do this.

That doesn't mean the British
are the best singers but,

you know,

>> I think what's personally
interesting to take note

of is the fact that when the
show launched in October 1985,

nobody really could have
foreseen just how big it was

going to be.

And you know the critics
as I say loathed it.

Rather cruel in fact.

Not really just about the
length of the musical,

you know the fact that
we're getting a free ticket

and the fact that they
had to sit and endure it

but they didn't really
understand even when it started

to take off and become a
huge box office phenomena.

They couldn't understand
why the public liked it.

>> The posh papers said
that we had trivialized one

of the greatest works
of western literature.

The tabloids agreed
between themselves

that we had perpetrated a
gloomy, dull, endless evening,

which wasn't what
musicals were about at all.

Musicals should be light and
frothy and frivolous evenings

and sent everybody away
happy and humming the tunes.

>> It took two years for
Cameron Mackintosh and his team

to make the English language
version of what we know

as "Les Miserables" today.

But in October 1985,
it opened at the less

than glamorous location off
West End in the Barbican.

>> Although his father
is Scottish,

Mackintosh himself was brought
up in the Home Counties.

His mother is Maltese
and his parents met

in ANSA during the war.

>> When he was young, he was
always standing on chairs,

with a stick in his hand

as if he had a great
orchestra in front.

And I thought he was going to be
sort of a bandmaster, bandleader

or something like that.

Then he started with
a puppet show.

>> I know a lot of
people do puppet shows

but they don't normally drive
the family entirely batty

all year.

>> The first thing
he used to tell us,

"If you're late,
you won't come in."

So we used to say,
"Well, we don't come

in you'll have no audience."

He'd said, "Never mind.

Every show you must be on time."

>> I just finished
playing a performance,

imaginary performance
of sadder days

and the stage door keeper came
to my dressing room and said,

"Excuse me sir, I'm sorry to
bother you, but there's a lady

at the stage door with a
little boy and she says

that he absolutely
insists upon seeing you.

So in you came, Cameron,
and was it your aunt

that was with you, I think?

>> It was my aunt, my
mother and my kilt.

>> Yes.

I remember your kilt very well.

>> And Julian instead of sort
of patting me on the head

and giving me some candy floss
actually took me terribly

seriously and showed me
backstage of how the --

he mimed with mini the
magic piano from the pit

and how the flying
saucer worked.

It was attached to wires.

And I just remember sitting
on the stage or standing

on the stage looking
around and thinking yes,

I'd like to do this
when I grow up.

My nickname at school
was Darryl F. Mackintosh.

After Darryl F. Zanuck
who was having lots

of successful films then.

And again, I used to
start the first day

of the autumn term preparing
for the Christmas review.

If people booked in advance
they could get the tickets

for a shilling.

And if they got
nearer the date,

they had to pay two shillings.

I was like a Hoover.

I sucked up any information
about the theater.

I got magazines from America.

From every newspaper
article I could

about anything about
the theater.

I was a walking encyclopedia at
school and drove everybody mad

who was much more interested
the football results.

>> When he left school
Cameron Mackintosh decided

to try the stage
management course

at the Central School
of Speech and Drama.

But he left after only a year to
get proper backstage experience

at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

In the mornings he also cleaned
the theatre to earn extra money.

>> I took great pride
cleaning that theatre.

The dresser at the
bar was my domain

and I'd very carefully
polish all the brass

and wash the glass.

>> So it must be rather
nice for you to be back

at Drury Lane in "Miss Saigon."

>> It's -- oh it's
like coming home.

I've always had -- that's
the one dream I've had is

to have a show on at Drury Lane.

>> He did have a variety of
jobs backstage including a spell

up in the flies hauling
scenery up and down.

>> As I undid the ropes,
they caught around my hand

and I was flown the
weight of this huge piece

of scenery took me
right up to the grid

and it stopped literally
six inches from the grid.

I would have -- only because it
was a very tall piece of scenery

that had landed on the stage
and they had to cut me down.

>> You know people
think it's pretty easy

to be an .

Believe me it ain't.

It ain't easy at all.

>> Choreographers and
directors always argue.

The book writer tends to argue
with the composer and lyricist

and it's very important to have
a strong producer at the top

because in a sense
he is the one who has

to balance all the elements
and control all the elements.

>> I knew the moment I started
to talk to Cameron in detail

that there was a man
after my own heart.

He had just the same enthusiasm.

Just the same care that
he must be glamorous

and beautifully done.

That you don't save
pennies on the costume

or save pennies on the
scenery or something.

You do it properly.

You don't try and scrape
into a smaller orchestra.

>> I'm not a great
musician though I can tell

when the music's right or wrong.

I can overlap into his area
by sort of prodding him here

and there and thinking don't we
need something like that or is

that mood right or
whatever in his scoring.

>> Cameron is really much more
than old-fashioned producer

in the sense that he does
have strong creative views

and sometimes
the team he works

with don't share them but
he has a very strong opinion

practically about everything.

In fact one of his qualities is
that you could be two minutes

into a song and he'll come up
and say, "I don't like that.

It doesn't work."

And then you go, "Cameron
just wait a minute.

Let's just get through to the
end and we'll work it out."

>> Well I can't help myself.

I mean, I'm one of these people

that just says what I feel
even if it isn't right.

I just have to get it out of my
system but I've got a sort of --

I sort of like sort of truffle
hound sort of smelling spots

in the show which aren't --
that I don't think are right

and I just keep on and on and
on until they just to shut me

up they'll go away or
at least think about it.

>> He had one complete
set of orchestrations made

and then he decided that
he didn't like them.

It wasn't right for the show.

He got rid of that orchestrator
and hired another orchestrator

who then did two more dummy
runs of orchestrations.

>> I had to scrap an
entire concept album,

which cost over 300,000-pounds,
which went down the Suwannee

but it was worth it in the end.

>> Have you ever seen a zebra
or giraffe in the jungle?

I mean they --

But I have last year
and I can tell you --

>> To a certain extent
now we live

in a world that's
divided into two.

Stephen Sondheim gets all the
critical acclaim and the shows

that Cameron Mackintosh

and Andrew Lloyd Webber do are
derived as tourist schlock.

Producers reign as kings of the
theatre coincide for the amount

of time that the public's taste.

Also happens to be the
producer's tastes and when

that changes then no matter
how successful you are,

you go out the window.

This has happened
to David Merrick.

This has happened
to Harold Fielding,

which one day will happen
to Cameron Mackintosh too.

>> One thing when I started
off I was given a book

about Cochran called
Shaman Looks On.

It's an autobiography.

And one thing stuck
early on in my life.

It was his advice to
aspiring young producers.

He said never put a show
on for the audiences.

Always put it on for yourself
and do it as best that you can

and then maybe an audience
will come and see it.

And I think that's
pretty good advice.

>> It's not just a West End
phenomenon that continues

to be a box office
hit around the globe;

a staggering 56 million people
have now seen "Les Mis".

That's almost the equivalent
of every man, woman,

and child living
in this country.

>> Michael Ball sings with Lea
Salonga, but this is not a scene

from the hit show's "Phantom
of the Opera" or "Miss Saigon."

It's another hit both have shown
in separately "Les Miserables."

But everyone here's being
very jolly because it's

"Les Mis'" 10th birthday.

And hundreds of the cast
from its productions

around the world are giving
a gala concert on Sunday

but without props or costumes

and new cast members it
can get confusing which way

to go off stage but everything
should be smoothed out by Sunday

when thousands of adoring fans
descend on the Albert Hall.

>> The seal of making this
successful was the fact

that it won best musical at the
Lawrence Olivier Awards in 1985.

For them that suddenly
really had a bit of a clout

and suddenly people
decided to take notice.

They shot out of the Barbican
and into the West End,

where it has basically
remained for the last 25 years.

And when you think about it,
you know, it just goes to show

that even though, you know,
people would say oh no,

you know, the theme
is not really good

and it's not a warm
sort of topic.

Of course it's not.

Victor Hugo wanted to get
social injustice out there

and that's what he did.

But the songs are so memorable
and have been recorded

from everyone from the likes
of Dame Shirley Bassey right

through to some of our
most celebrated opera stars

including, of course
Luciano Pavarotti,

but I think what really
cemented it in the end was

that the public pushed
this through.

And as someone who attends
many sorts of opening nights

in the theaters, "Les
Mis" fans are nothing

like I've ever met before.

They're very loyal.

Some people, in fact, actually
book the same seats every

matinee and turn up week
after week after week.

They know the show backwards.

They know everything
about you know

when the lights should
come on, the scene changes,

if somebody's feeling
ill in the cast.

They become like friends and
one of the connecting factors

that I think Victor Hugo
would really love is the fact

that of course the cast then
connects with their fans,

their audience and then
actually brings some sort

of social connection.

I'd like to think it's something
he really would admire.

>> Well it started at the
Royal Shakespeare Company

and the first performance was
five hours long and so they had

to condense this amazing
story into three hours

and in fact they cut out
a lot of fantastic things.

There should be another
show, "Les Mis" the out cuts

or whatever you call
it

So Royal Shakespeare Company,
we did it there for eight weeks

and we had no idea it was going
to transfer to the West End.

>> It's back to its
roots; the Barbican Theatre

where it started two and a half
decades ago to some bad reviews

and was just about to
go to the West End.

>> Of course we were all a
bit depressed having seen

such a fantastic
reception the night before

and so I thought I'll get rid
of all the bad news at once

and ring through the box office
and it took me several goes

and that was where
the story came from.

When they said how did you
get through, we've taken --

we've had 5000 calls it's
a record at the Barbican.

>> I knew it was going
to be a big hit years ago

but I didn't know it was
going to last 21 years.

It's fantastic.

>> It's overwhelming.

Absolutely overwhelming and I
don't necessary know that any

of us truly understand
the significance of it

and ultimately and
hopefully the impact.

>> It's actually
quite fantastic though

because the piece is really
about age and youth and to think

that I did it 21 years ago
when I was the youngest adult

and now people are
playing my role

that weren't even
born back then.

>> But it is really
interesting because of Nick --

>> Yeah.

>> -- to see so many
young people

who probably have never
a musical ever, you know,

coming in tonight being
completely enthralled.

I mean, you could hear a
pin drop through the story.

You know? And they just
reacted to the show and the fact

that he was incredibly good
in it as was Camilla you know

in their baptism fire tonight
but I was really very happy.

>> It is nice being
back on stage.

I was Gavroche when I was
in it last back in 2003

and about seven years later
I came back to play Marius.

It's been a dream of
mine for a long time

and to see it coming
true is an amazing thing.

>> Nick's done a couple of shows
on Broadway, I think he was

in "Beauty and the Beast" but
the first time I met Nick was

when he was the last Gavroche
which is the little kid

in "Les Miserables" on Broadway

when I closed the show the
first time after 18 years

and he did the last nine months
of the run and I was reminded

by his father at the
after show party.

I'd gone up to him and I'd
obviously had a few drinks

because I didn't remember
saying, you know, to Nick,

you know, you are really
terrific and I hope

when you're older you'll come
back to see us for Marius.

Well even though I didn't
remember it, he did and I'm

out of the blue, I mean I'd
heard that he was interested

in going to the theatre

so through another way I
actually approached him

and then I spoke to his
father and he said no,

this is something
they would really

like to try and make happen.

And then it's a great
credit to the family

that they have moved heaven
and earth to allow him to come

and be here and he's
having a great time.

>> You know, I actually
wasn't as nervous

as I thought I would be.

I don't think I was
nervous at all.

I think that I was really
comfortable and just happy to be

on that stage and really
trying to become the character.

>> Well what's interesting is

that he's actually got
a very mature voice

for somebody who's still 17.

And he's not quite 18 yet and

yet the voice sounds much
older than you'd expect.

And he's also got, I mean, a
tremendous focus all the way

through rehearsals and
when I first met him.

I mean he really, really
knows what to go after

and he just does it with
no problem, great ease

and the whole cast adore him.

>> The crowd was great tonight.

So incredible to be back
on the "Les Mis" stage.

Obviously a bit of a different
role this time but still

that same energy and
the same excitement.

>> Tickets for the concert sold
out in two and a half hours.

They'll have 17 different
versions

of the main character Valjean to
choose from and the comic relief

of Alan Armstrong
and Jenny Galloway.

>> How many thousands of people?

>> About 5.

>> About 5000 people.

And --

>> Are you nervous?

>> No.

>> No. No.

Not at all.

>> I think once you see
all the people and know

that everybody's
rooting for you and know

that there is not a hostile
soul in the stalls or in --

anywhere it's just
going to be fun.

>> You know, here and there
I'm picking up the accent.

I sing with one now in the
show, which is kind of funny,

but it's very interesting
to be here and pick

up the lingo along the way
and make some new friends

as well, which has been great.

I'm really enjoying my stay.

>> They can come and see
the show here

in the morning at 10:00.

They can go

to the matinee at the Queen's
and then the following day turn

up with the other thousands
and tens of thousands of people

at the O2 for that
extraordinary concert

that now has a cast of over 500.

>> Recently they've started
doing celebrity casting

in "Les Mis" in London and
we've been lucky enough

to see possibly some
of our better greats

that what I call the greats
that are going to come forward

in the next ten years.

The Lancashire tenor Alfie Boe
has undertaken, not just one

but three stints in "Les Mis"

and claims it's his
very favorite role.

>> I've done the "Les Mis" role.

I'm going to go back into
"Les Miserables" next --

this year in June to
do a six-month run.

But I'm wanting to really
break the genres a little bit,

you know, people
call it crossover.

People call it all
sorts of things,

but I want to just break
the genre and cross

over to a new audience
not the repertoire so much

or sing different repertoire
but make sure it's legitimate

for my voice, you know,
that I'm legitimate enough

to sing it, you know.

And still sing it in the same
quality and the same standard

that I would an operatic
aria in a way.

>> The comedian, Matt Luke as is
possibly better known for shows

like "Little Britain"
and "Come Fly with Me"

and he's actually begged the
producers Cameron Mackintosh's

company for a part
in the musical,

which of course did nothing
to dent the box office.

It shot it through the roof
and it was like a new injection

if you like of vitality
and once again, of course,

make it one of the biggest
take musicals of all time.

Cameron himself said
that well he's had many,

many hits he never thought that
he would be known as the man

who brought "Les Mis" to the
British and Broadway public

but how lucky we are
that he took that chance.

>> I mean I was very lucky
because they took me to Broadway

as well and every musical
performer wants to go

to Broadway so my
dream came true

when I was 21, which
was amazing.

And also my daughter Eliza also
played Cosette at some point

and I went back into the show

and I played the same
role Eponine with her.

So it's emotional for me.

It's like it's my whole life.

I mean, I think -- I have
to be honest, you know,

it's the best role I've
ever played and it did --

you know it gave
me an incredible --

well people still
know me today from it

and the album is still selling
that I made 21 years ago.

So, you know, I -- for
me it's in the heart.

It's really personal for me.

>> Now amongst many
of the awards that

"Les Miserables" has picked up,

this to me would be
the biggest compliment.

In 2004, her Majesty,
the Queen, asked the cast

and everyone connected
to the show

to stage a very special
version at Windsor Castle

for then President --
President Jacques Chirac.

Now can you imagine how nerve
racking that must be first

of all, but apparently the Queen
thought this was a great idea.

It was an official visit.

Lots of people were going to
be invited and apparently,

sadly there's no record.

There's no recording of
this particular night.

I think that this really
should have been recorded

and taped because, you know,

just to see our Queen
enjoying this musical

and she's already been we
can tell you, unofficially,

many times to see this.

It's one of her personal
favorites.

>> You don't expect to
win a Tony when you're

that age you've seen
it on the TV

and suddenly you're
told you're going to be

up for one and then you win it.

It's just bizarre.

I mean, I just thought
this is ridiculous.

I'm here with all these
stars that I've heard about.

You know, it's just amazing.

I used to sort of go oh no,
awards don't mean anything

but now, I look at it
and I'm quite proud.

>> Every year it picks
up more and more awards.

There was a special
10th anniversary show

at the Royal Albert Hall
and a recent BBC radio poll,

it was picked out as the
best musical of all time

and it's hard to imagine that,
you know, when he wrote it,

whether he would have thought

that his celebrity
would have carried on.

I think Victor Hugo would have
thought he wouldn't be known

in his time but his name is
now plastered across the world.

It's been seen in
over 30 countries.

It ran for over ten
years on Broadway.

You know, when you think about
it in those terms, you know,

it is something of a phenomenon.

>> And I'm just about to start
on the film where, where --

we're now working on -- somebody
is working on the screenplay

and I'm doing it with Working
Title, which is, you know,

the great British company that's
one of our best film company

and I'm really looking
forward to finally getting

"Les Miserables" out
on the big screen.

>> "Les Miserables", of course
is now a new smash hit mega

movie looking at all
sorts of gold dust,

from Baftas to Globes to Oscars.

But it's not the first time.

There are already ten
silent versions made

of this particular story.

There's been a radio version.

There's been a television
version

with Anthony Perkins no less,

which was kind of
warmly received.

It's one of those
stories that time

and time again people re-look
at and think they can retell

but nobody really could
have even predicted

or had the slightest hint that
the stage and Broadway version,

the West End
Broadway version would be

so phenomenal.

And of course, you know when
people said first of all

when it opened in London,

how can you possibly think
you're going to have a smash hit

with a title which is basically
all about being miserable,

"Les Miserables",
how wrong they were.

>> The film will actually use
the music, the wonderful music

from the show but tell the
story in cinematic terms.

I mean what we have here is a
wonderful theatrical version

but you know, the cinema we
will reinvent it yet again

to tell it for the cinema.

>> What was fantastic
on this was the chance

to reunite the original creative
team that created the musical.

So, you know, I wanted to
create a new song for the film

that talked to -- that
was inspired by the novel

which talks about the
extraordinary epiphany

of what Jean Valjean has when
he feels this incredible love

for this child that's
come into his life

and so I asked Claude-Michel
Schonberg and Alain Boublil

if they could come up with a
new song and I had Alain Boublil

and Herby Kretzmer the lyricist,
you know, writing a new piece

for me and that was incredibly
exciting to get to work

with the original
composer on the music.

>> I'm Poppie what a
pleasure to meet you.

>> What's your name?

>> Poppie.

>> Hi Poppie.

How are you?

>> I mean the film
was truly beautiful.

I cried all the way through it.

I loved it very much.

Now what was your first
experience of "Les Mis"?

>> I saw it here in London but
I didn't see it until Cameron

and Tom were already making
the movie and they talked to me

about it and so I was on
my way to Italy actually

for a friend's wedding.

And so I stopped in to see it

and we had a couple
of meetings about it.

>> What was the biggest
challenge going into the parts?

>> Well I think the
challenges actually unfolded

as we went along, you know.

It wasn't quite clear how
challenging it was going to be

in the beginning because
it's very easy to say oh

and by the way you're
going to sing every take.

But then the actual reality of
doing that and the discipline

that has to come into your life

to keep yourself available every
day and your voice available

and Tom as the director
is greedy.

You know, he'll shoot and he'll
shoot and he'll shoot and,

you know, and every take
we did was the full length

of the song as well.

So yeah, I mean, you
know, ultimately though,

this was an incredibly
enjoyable experience.

>> I grew up with the -- my
mom performing in the show

in the first national tour.

She understudied Fantine.

It's actually one
of my first memories

of seeing the show is seeing
my mother play the part

that I play in the film.

>> I saw it when I was beginning
to think about making the film

and then I saw it
four or five times

and what was extraordinary is
that after the second time,

the melodies were just in
my head and that was it.

I mean, for the last year and
a half it's been going around

and around and around.

I mean they were
extraordinarily addictive.

>> Isabelle Alan.

>> A year ago she was
performing on stage at school.

>> She's just so gorgeous.

It was her first movie.

She has no idea how
brilliant she is.

She's just so natural.

>> It may be a lot for a
ten-year-old to take in,

but Isabelle looks set to
walk many more red carpets

in the future.

>> We did everything
in one take.

Tom, Tom left a few of
the songs the solos kind

of in one long continuous take.

Did very few cuts in it.

What he did was he
filmed most everything

from a multi-camera approach,

which meant that you could
do a whole take knowing

that the entire performance
was captured

because it would have been
very hard, I think especially

with the singing being live
to go from one take to another

like an hour can change
your voice, you know?

It's the time of
day, the barometer.

There's so many factors.

So Tom needed to be
able to capture all

of the performances live
in order to edit in a way

that wouldn't become
distracting.

>> I didn't want
to make the film

if I didn't have my Jean
Valjean and Hugh came in

and made me realize that
I could make this film.

I mean because I'm short
just this one person.

I mean who else could
sing at that level act

in such an extraordinary way.

He's a bona fided film star in
the old sense can carry a film.

Has a requisite strength to
play a famously strong man

but also has the grace and kind
of the spiritual gentleness

that the character needs.

It's Hugh Jackman.

>> Tom who at first day of
rehearsal said I need you --

actually before then he said
I need you unrecognizable.

He said if people recognize you,
I want them to think you're sick

in real life so I did my best.

>> He went on a really
hard-core journey to try

to physically capture
what it'd be

like to be a convict
of 20 years standing.

He lost 30-pounds of weight
and we shaved his head.

I mean we talk a lot about
shaving or cutting Annie's hair

but Hugh Jackman's hair
was shaved very brutally.

And then in the opening
scene, I mean this is

where he's kind of
quite eccentric.

He went on a 36-hour water fast,

which means no water
for 36 hours.

And then was willing to
stand up to his chest

in seawater putting a
massive on a rope

so that your skin kind of
went back against his cheeks.

You know, a lot of us
don't recognize him

in the opening scene.

I mean he's so kind of
broken looking by this thing.

I mean and then when
his character kind

of flourishes he then put on
weight and he changed again.

And I mean like his
commitment to this was total.

>> Yeah. My trainer on this
movie incredible guy David

Kingsbury has at one point
in his life was a bodybuilder

and he knew of this
water restriction thing

which is what bodybuilders do
before a show and you can lose

up to 10-pounds of body weight.

And right off the surface,
do not do this at home.

Trust me and so it
really sinks in your --

I was already quite skinny
but it makes it quite drastic.

Your eyes get sunken.

I look like hell basically
and trust me the headache

after about 20 hours is
something I don't want

to repeat.

>> I was up in Stratford
doing

and I received a phone call
from my agent telling me

that I would be playing the
hero Thenardier

singing master of the house.

>> Just like all the singing,
all the tears were done live.

They were
-- they weren't mine.

I mean I was definitely in
a fragile place that day

because my hair was
going to be gone.

But no I really did try to
kind of stay with Fantine

and Victor Hugo has this
wonderful passage in the book

where he talks about
Fantine really didn't want

to cut her hair and how
she receives a letter

from Thenardier saying that
Cosette doesn't have a skirt

for winter, she's
going to be cold.

And she sat there crumbling
the letter in her hand

for an entire day and then
just like around sunset goes

down to the wigmaker and says
take it -- how much for it?

He said 10 francs and
she says cut it off then.

And she sat there and trying

to be stoic thinking I'm
clothing my hair with --

I'm clothing my child
with my hair.

And I just kind of tried to
bring some of that grace into it

and not just have
it all be about me.

>> For me like any
physical transformation

that you undergo is obviously
going to be difficult

but I couldn't take it too
seriously because it was my idea

to lose my hair and
it was my idea to go

to the extreme physical
place that I did for this

and I did it for my job.

And a lot of people don't
have a choice about it.

A lot of people get sick
and they lose weight.

They get sick and they
have to lose their hair.

>> Tom Hooper who's not a
musical theatre director before

he went to see the show and
really fell in love with it

and he said how do I
recreate that feeling

that you get in the theatre?

And so he wanted to sing live

and what he does
actually he's enhanced the

theatrical experience.

For example, Anne Hathaway,
her song "I Dreamed a Dream",

which of course everybody feels
they know, is a single shot

without cutting for three
minutes of her in close up.

It's one of the great
performances ever given

and I think and you never cut
away from it so it's like being

in the theatre with
the best seat.

You couldn't even get that seat
in the theatre it's like sitting

in her lap and listening
to it, you know.

>> There wasn't anything about
this job that wasn't daunting.

I mean we were all just kind
of this mixture of anxiety

and gratitude and excitement and
nerves and -- but you know --

and then of course you show up
on set and you're just like --

because we've all been working
in our own lives on the music.

And you show up and
you hear Hugh Jackman,

and of course we
kind of all knew

that Hugh could sing
but not like this.

And then Eddie Redmayne with the
most gorgeous voice just coming

out of nowhere so I mean,
so it was exciting to work

with everybody to hear what
they were doing but I think,

you know, hearing how
talented everyone else was kind

of pushed us all on
-- me on at least.

>> So many auditions.

Six in total.

Three on tape, three in person.

Two flights to London.

>> You know 60 million people
have seen it around the world.

London has taken it to their
hearts in the very beginning.

I wanted to protect what
it is people love about it

and somehow take that and
intensify it on the big screen

and I think it's how it makes
people feel and how people --

you go back to re-experience
these strong emotions.

I wanted to make the emotions
they feel even more intense

on the big screen.

>> I don't think I think about
it in terms of hard or easy.

It's just my job.

So you know, it's not like it
all kind of a feeling comes

to you in one great moment and
you're like, oh, I'm quite good

at this or oh, I'm
terrible at this.

You're so far removed from
it and at that point I'd done

so much preparation
that I was so into it,

it wasn't really
about performing.

It was more about just
honoring what I had learned

in the research that I
had done and just trying

to open myself wide enough
to let all that come out.

>> Really amazing
to be up there.

It's so cool.

>> Well John Valjean,
for actors it's a bit

like a Hamlet or something.

It is a kind of role
you dream of playing

and also secretly
terrified of playing

because it requires
everything of you

and with John Valjean
emotionally, physically

and vocally everyday it requires
it usually all at the same time.

So it was an incredible
opportunity and I'm just

so lucky to have been
working with Tom Hooper

and all these great
actors, you know?

>> You know, I used to go to
the Empire Leicester Square

and the Odeon Leicester
Square as a kid and dream

of one day having a film
maybe in those cinemas.

I remember the ritual as I
left I'd always turn back

and watch the end credits roll
and make a kind of commitment

to myself to try to get a
film on one of those screens.

To have both screens at
the premier last night

with 3000 people was a kind
of great, I don't know,

homecoming for me as a Londoner
to have that opportunity.

>> You know he would have
everyone over when we were

in London and it was great.

He has a very, very great estate
over there and it was a lot

of fun and it was nice after
long weeks for everyone

to come together and do that
and he's just a great guy.

>> At the beginning, it's
a very embarrassing thing

to actually sing to people.

It's very exposing thing to
be like on the set

and so when you get -- you're
allowed to get so relaxed

around each other and learn to
-- and you didn't feel awkward.

>> There have been subsequently
some wild singing parties.

We were down in a pub in New
York the other day and Russell

and Russell's mate with a guitar

and we were all singing
-- singing songs.

It's -- I've never quite gotten
over the fear factor of it

but it is quite entertaining.

>> You know what?

I feel so proud to
be part of this.

It was so odd last night, we
had the premier and was ended

up driving back to -- there
was a party afterwards and sort

of drove through Leicester
Square and up past

where "Les Mis" is on.

And there in the Palace Theatre
where it used to play I have

so many memories as
a kid of walking up

and down there wanting to
maybe be an actor but never was

in my wildest dreams I'd get
to be a part of it so yeah.

I feel very privileged.

>> You dreamed a dream.

It came true.

>> Oh, that's so Jesus.

>> Yeah.

>> You may not have been the
first person to say that.

>> See Russell loves
a sing-along

and if you ever get
invited to his place

for a party Lucrezia right

after you do David Letterman
then make sure you take a song

because he gets everyone
singing.

But it was a great
way to let off steam.

I mean, we were all -- you
were not allowed to sing any

of your songs from your
repertoire in the musical.

That was the only rule.

>> It's -- you know it's easy
to see why Eponine loves Marius

when he looks like Eddie
Redmayne, you know.

But then equally it's easy
to see why he loves Cosette

when it's Amanda
Seyfried to be fair.

>> Yeah, no, there was a lot --

the thing about this film
because it's embarrassing

because we're all such
aggressive "Les Mis" fans.

It's the first film I've seen
when people would come in to set

on their days off to kind
of see how everyone's doing.

No one
to miss out so yeah,

we were all very supportive.

>> Well, I think it's,
you know, when you --

I've always admired
Hugh Jackman.

I've always respected
his career and his work.

I think he's just got
fantastic range in what he does.

I just think the world
of him professionally and

so then, you know,
I was thinking,

well you know you meet someone
who's almost like an idol

and you think they're
never going

to amount to that expectation.

Well here's the thing
with Hugh Jackman,

he didn't match it,
he raised it.

I just didn't think
somebody could be so cool

with all the success
he's had to be this --

the most levelheaded person.

He is so calm on set.

He's like hi.

He's lovely and then
it's like action and this

like character busts out of
his soul and it's like wow.

And for me that's inspiring
at the beginning of my career

to meet somebody like that
who's got that perfect balance.

I look at -- you know, he's
inspiring to me definitely.

>> I spent the most time
with Eddie, I think.

Yes.

>> And who did you bond with
the most, would you say?

>> I guess Eddie.

I guess I bonded -- no.

I don't know -- yeah.

I guess Eddie for the most part
I bonded with Eddie and Samantha

but we all kind of had -- I
mean we all had scenes together

and throughout rehearsal
we were able to kind of get

to know each other and bond
through like the terror

of singing live and
also the fact

that we were all major,
major "Les Mis" fans.

And the fact that we all worked,

like our ass off
to get the roles.

So but I guess I spent the most
time with Eddie and Samantha

and it was a nice little group.

>> I think it was
just the difference

in how you convey this emotion.

I think in the theatre you're
projecting to 2000 seats

and everything is heightened

because there's no point
having a little private moment

on stage you need people
to connect with that story

and to sort of feel what
your character's feeling

and on screen the camera's so
close to you that you feel,

you know, it's so intimate you
can be more truthful and that

that realism is amazing.

But then you can't beat
the live buzz of theatre

so what I feel is exciting
about this project certainly

from an acting point of view
is combining those two together

so it's kind of that utter
realism of film but with

that kind of live buzz
you get in theater.

It's combining the two to create
something that feels unique.

>> I had to sing.

Just had to sing.

I was completely, completely
out of my comfort zone

and you know very, very
insecure about my voice.

I definitely wish
I'd had more time

to prepare the soprano technique
but you know, I did my best

and I feel like, you know,
this is the kind of the --

it's a new unique experience
and the opportunity's not going

to come around very often so
I definitely think this is,

you know, the coolest
thing I've ever been in.

>> Well I didn't get a call.

That was the first step.

Basically I was performing
as Nancy in "Oliver" on stage

and Cameron Mackintosh,
the producer, walked on

and announced to a live
audience, yeah, that I was going

to be playing Eponine
-- that was my face.

Right there.

That was my reaction.

And it's on YouTube.

I've watched it since
because I can't remember it.

I just remember hearing Eponine.

I remember my heart nearly
falling out of my chest

and going -- because I've
never wanted anything more.

I never -- this has been
a part for four years.

It's a character I feel so
passionate about and oh gosh

and to get that news
in that way,

that was my reaction
right there.

You did a really good
impression of me.

>> It's like my inner,
you know teenager.

You grew up with Ali G
and all those things --

I was properly star struck
by Sasha and he arrived onset

at a point that he Helena
Bonham-Carter arrived at a point

which we'd being going through
this rigorous quite sort

of intense process forever
and they arrived in sort

of a lightness arrived
and it made me very happy.

It was just -- I
was a bit of a sort

of a lifetime aspiration
was to --

I never thought I'd get the
opportunity to work with him

but it was pretty
wonderful to do so.

>> I think I was excited about
there was a role I knew nothing

about at least I kind
of -- I knew this girl.

I knew this piece, I felt
so passionately about it

so to be -- that was the
one comforting thing,

I think about entering it.

I wanted to work with these
actors that I'd, you know,

admired for years, people
like Hugh Jackman, you know?

And Eddie Redmayne I knew
had been cast as Marius

and when I was auditioning

for Eponine there were posters
everywhere with "My Week

With Marilyn" and I was
like, remember being just

like positive thinking he
could be my Marius and working

with people like that,
that was such a highlight.

>> I was lucky enough to attend
many of these gala nights

of "Les Mis" and they've
always been magical.

You know, any musical

that celebrates a particular
milestone is always sort

of like one of those moments
where you think it's been going

so long can you really
inject something into that?

And it does have
that magical touch.

I think what's also
interesting is the fact

that as somebody who's seen it
as I say quite a few times now,

you go along and each time
there's always something

that you don't quite remember

from the first time
or the second time.

And you do come away it's what
they call one of those musicals;

it's what they call
a memorable musical.

Not just because of the story
but particularly with the songs.

You do go out and days later
you've got this fantastic melody

in your head and you're thinking
to yourself, what is that?

What is that?

Because a with a lot of songs

from musicals you don't always
know the title but you only have

to hear, you know, the sort
of words of "On My Own"

and it strikes a chord to
any generation and I do kind

of think that that's why it's
been covered by so many people.

So many people resonate with the
lyrics and the beautiful melody

of many of the songs from
the score of "Les Mis"

and I think it will
go on for many,

many years in people's minds.