French original ‘Les Miserables’ musical concert to come to Korea

The original French concert version of the musical “Les Miserables” will go onstage in South Korea on April 30 and run for about a month.

The concert is inspired by the musical “Les Miserables,” adapted from Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name. Since its French premiere in 1980, the musical has been performed in 44 countries before 70 million audience members.

The concert version was staged in Seoul and Busan in 2019, and tickets were sold out for all performances.

Twenty-four French stage actors will come to Korea, with each one undergoing a two-week quarantine. They will be joined onstage by a choir and by the 30-member Artel Philharmonic Orchestra. The Seoul shows will kick off April 30 at Kyung Hee University’s Grand Peace Palace, followed by more shows at Busan KBS Hall from May 15.

The principal cast includes Laurent Ban as Jean Valjean. Ban, a renowned French stage actor, is well known in Korea for starring in hit musicals “Amadeus,” “Notre Dame de Paris” and more.

Roland Karl plays Javert, Noemie Garcia plays Fantine, Anne-Marine Suire plays Cosette, Emilien Marion plays Marius and Audrey Rousseau plays Eponine.

Tickets for the Seoul run will open Wednesday. Tickets for Busan will open March 24.

Meanwhile, the English-language version of the musical is to resume its performances in London’s West End in a limited form from May.

The London version of the musical, created by the iconic Cameron Mackintosh, features British stage actor Jon Robyns as Jean Valjean. From September, the show will resume as a full musical production.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)