Les Misérables: From Page to Stage to Screen

by Benedict Nightingale, Martyn Palmer, Matt Wolf

Now in its amazing fourth decade, the globally successful musical Les Misérables has entertained and moved audiences totalling more than 70 million in 51 countries, as well as becoming a dazzling film that thrilled its many fans and brought the story to countess millions more.
Beautifully illustrated with images from behind the scenes of both the theatre and film productions, this book tells the story of the incredible phenomenon that grew from a modest Paris production into a multi-award-winning show thanks to the collaboration of its writers Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and the theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh.
In 2012 the musical hit the big screen as a sensational movie featuring a stellar cast including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne, and directed by the Oscar-winning Tom Hooper. Internationally acclaimed, it won three Academy Awards, four BAFTAs and three Golden Globes. Since then the 25th Anniversary stage production has achieved even greater worldwide success and ensured that Tomorrow Will Always Come...
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Benedict Nightingale is a writer and broadcaster and the author of several books about the theatre. He has served as a leading theatre critic for several publications including the New Statesman, the New York Times and the London Times, for which he was chief theatre critic from 1990 to 2010.
Martyn Palmer is a freelance film journalist who writes regularly for The Sunday Times Magazine, the Mail on Sunday and Empire magazine.
Matt Wolf is London Theatre Critic for the International New York Times and attended the opening night of Les Misérables at the Barbican Theatre in October 1985.

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Thia Reads A Lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

This book was excellent. A bit of heavy name-dropping at times (I don't know much about theatre so that's on me). Includes a list of all the productions of the show over the years (up to 2018) and of all the prizes the film has gathered. Plenty of pictures from the cast in other parts of the world (not just West End and Broadway), as well as tickets and diverse promotional materials. Includes a bit about Susan Boyle too! The chapters on the movie were very interesting, a big focus was on the auditions for Jackman, Crowe and Hathaway. A few typos here and there.
I would recommend to any fan of the show and/or the movie, although it will make you want to hear those different versions of the songs.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Franziska · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit boring, but the chapter about the movie was pure comedy.