The internationally celebrated Boublil and Schönbergmusical Les Misérables will be coming to Newcastle Theatre Royal next week (Thu 15 Aug – Sat 5 Oct 2019) as part of its first UK tour in almost a decade.
Les Misérables marks a triumphant return to Newcastle Theatre Royal for Cameron Mackintosh following the hugely popular runs of Mary Poppins in 2016, Barnum in 2015 and Oliver! in 2012 and the epic eight week run will be one of the longest for a musicalin the venue’s history.
The lead character of ‘Jean Valjean’ will be played by Killian Donnelly who is currently thrilling audiences in the role in the West End production. Prior to his run in Les Misérables, he played the role of ‘Charlie Price’ in Kinky Boots on Broadway, a role he originated at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End in 2015, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award. His other theatre credits include: ‘Jackie Day’ in Donegal, a new play by Frank McGuinness, at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin and ‘Huey’ in the original London cast of Memphis at the Shaftesbury Theatre for which he was also nominated for an Olivier Award. He created the role of ‘Deco’ in The Commitments at the Palace Theatre and has also played ‘Tony’ in Billy Elliot at the Victoria PalaceTheatre as well as ‘Raoul’ in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
He first joined the company of Les Misérables in 2008, going onto play the role of ‘Enjolras’ from 2009 to 2011. In 2010, he played the role of ‘Courfeyrac’ in the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at The O2 Arena and also played the role of ‘Combeferre’ in the multi-award-winning film of the show, released in 2012.
Cameron Mackintosh said, “When I announced the first UK tour of Les Misérables for ten years, I was really delighted that Killian said to me that he would like to continue playing Jean Valjean. No stranger to the original production, having played both Enjolras and Valjean with enormous success, his passionate take on the role will be even greater in the thrilling staging of my new production which has proved to be a worldwide success all over again. He is the first Irishman to play the role since Colm Wilkinson in the original and I’m delighted that from advance bookings, this new tour looks set to be sold out before we open.”
Joining Killian Donnelly will be Nic Greenshields as ‘Javert’, Katie Hall as ‘Fantine’, Martin Ball as ‘Thénardier’, Sophie-Louise Dann as ‘Madame Thénardier’, Harry Apps as ‘Marius’, Tegan Bannister as ‘Eponine’, Will Richardson as ‘Enjolras’ – who is returning to Newcastle Theatre Royal having appeared in the spectacular 2016/17 panto Cinderella – and Bronwen Hanson as ‘Cosette’.
Completing the cast will be Joseph Anthony, Helen Aylott, Jamie Birkett, Keoni Blockx, Michael Burgen, Nicholas Carter, Mary-Jean Caldwell, Danny Colligan, Nicholas Corre, Megan Gardiner, Zac Hamilton, Jessie Hart, Teleri Hughes, Brian James Leys, Ruby Lyon, Leo Miles, Shane O’Riordan, Lee Ormsby, Jordan Simon Pollard, Corrine Priest, Aaron Pryce-Lewis, Janne Snellen, Ruben Van keer and Emma Warren.
Since Cameron Mackintosh first conceived this new production of Les Misérables to celebrate the shows 25th anniversary in 2009, it has taken the world by storm. It also inspired the hugely successful movie version starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne.
This brilliant new staging has scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, and has been seen in North America, South America, Korea, Japan, Canada, Australia, Spain, France, Manila, Singapore, Dubai and Broadway.
Based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, Boublil and Schönberg’s magnificent score of Les Misérablesincludes 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. Seen by over 120 million people worldwide in 45 countries and in 22 languages, Les Misérables is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals.
Tickets for Les Misérables go on to Friends of the Theatre Royal on Tuesday 5 June 2018 at 11am and to the general public on Thursday 21 June 2018 at 11am. Find out more about how to become a Friend of the Theatre Royal by visiting www.theatreroyal.co.uk/support/become-a-friend