Major Cast Changes for Les Miserables in the West End
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London Theatre Direct
(Updated on May 17, 2024)
Celinde Schoenmaker, Vicky Entwistle, Jamie Ward and Christopher Jacobsen join West End cast.
There will be major cast changes in the legendary musical “LES MISÉRABLES” at the Queen’s Theatre. From Monday 14 January – Saturday 15 June 2013 Celinde Schoenmaker will play ‘Fantine’, and from Monday 28 January – Saturday 15 June 2013 Vicky Entwistle will play ‘Madame Thénardier’, Jamie Ward will play ‘Marius’ and Christopher Jacobsen will play ‘Enjolras’. Gerónimo Rauch will continue to star as ‘Jean Valjean’, Tam Mutu as ‘Javert’, Danielle Hope as ‘Eponine’, Samantha Dorsey as ‘Cosette’ and Cameron Blakely as ‘Monsieur Thenardier’.
Celinde Schoenmaker will be making her West End debut in the role of ‘Fantine’, having recently graduated from Fontys Conservatoire Tilburg in The Netherlands. Vicky Entwistle is best known for playing the role of ‘Janice Battersby’ in ITV's long-running soap opera “Coronation Street”, a role she played for 13 years. Vicky’s recent stage credits include ‘Mrs Baldry’ in the 2012 tour of “Funny Peculiar” and ‘Woman 3’ in the UK tour of “The Vagina Monologues”, as well as starring as the ‘Wicked Queen’ in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” at the Blackpool Grand Theatre. Jamie Ward’s recent theatre credits include a workshop of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ starring Cate Blanchett with the Sydney Theatre Company, ‘Young Zhivago’ in the World Premiere of “Doctor Zhivago” at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney and ‘Hanschen’ in the Australian Premiere of “Spring Awakening” with the Sydney Theatre Company. Christopher Jacobsen is no stranger to “Les Misérables” having covered the role of ‘Jean Valjean’ in the New 25th Anniversary Production of “Les Misérables” on tour, and more recently playing alternate ‘Jean Valjean’ at the Queen’s Theatre. Other theatre credits include ‘Tony Canolino’ in “Master Class” at Theatre Royal Bath.
As well as celebrating its 25th Birthday in October 2010, the legendary musical “LES MISÉRABLES” made theatrical history with an international first - three different productions playing in London simultaneously. The Original Production at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, the acclaimed New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican (where the show originally premiered in 1985) and the celebratory concert at The O2.
The magnificent score of “LES MISÉRABLES” includes the 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.
“LES MISÉRABLES” originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on 3 April 2004. When “LES MISÉRABLES” celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World’s Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by “Cats” in London’s West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating its historic 10,000th performance.
Seen by nearly 60 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, “LES MISÉRABLES” is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of “LES MISÉRABLES”, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the recently released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary Production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School’s Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools.
The film version of “LES MISÉRABLES” will be released in December 2012, starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks. It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh with Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan of Working Title and Universal Studios and is directed by Tom Hooper.
Cameron Mackintosh’s production of “LES MISÉRABLES” is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The original London 1985 production of “LES MISÉRABLES” was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.