If you have booked Les Miserables tickets for later this year, you’ll be pleased to hear that your theatre weekend away in London will have some added spice. It has recently been announced that there will be three key cast changes this summer, which are set to bring a new dimension to this famous and long-running production. From 23^rd June,  Alfie Boe will be playing Valjean, Hadley Fraser will take over as Javert and Little Britain star Matt Lucas will take up the role of innkeeper Thénardier.

The history of Les Miserables can be traced back hundreds of years, arguably to the upheavals in society caused by the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Thirteen years after the start of the revolution, Victor Hugo was born and his formative years were spent in France under the rise and eventual fall under the Napoleonic regime.

Being brought up at such a time of cataclysmic upheaval, uncertainty and change certainly had a stark effect on the young Hugo; though it was not until he was 43, in 1845, that he finally began to write the story of Les Miserables.

Writing the story was not an easy process for Hugo and it took him 16 years of hard work, rewriting and editing what would become one of the greatest novels of the 19^th century. At the time of publication in 1862, critical reception of the initial novel was mixed, although it enjoyed a huge degree of popular acclaim with the public, not only in France but also across Europe; it has since been recognised as one of the most important novels ever written.

It did not take long for someone to realise that it would be possible to adapt Les Miserables for theatre. A year after the novel’s publication across Europe, Charles Victor Hugo, the author’s son, and Paul Meurice created the first theatrical adaptation. This was met with modest success; the show would not gain worldwide recognition for over 100 years after Victor Hugo’s death, in May 1885.

That process began in 1980, when the Palais des Sports, Paris opened with the first modern day interpretation of the production; Claude-Michel Schonberg composed the music, Robert Hossein directed the production and Alain Boublil wrote the libretto. The show ran for 107 performances at the venue and succeeded in catching the eye of critics.

The success of the Paris shows convinced director Sir Cameron Mackintosh that the production would translate well onto the West End stage. In 1985, at the Barbican and in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the first UK production of the stage show began. ‘Les Mis’ as it has been endearingly nicknamed, is no simple production however, and even getting it onto the stage in any coherent format was a triumph for the director, crew and cast.

The show runs for an epic three-and-a-half hours, the cast and crew required for every performance number around 101 and there are just fewer than 400 costumes required for every single performance, including 31 wigs for the cast alone.

Despite these logistical problems, Les Miserables proved to be a great success with audiences and the show moved from the Barbican, to the Palace Theatre in December 1985, winning the Best New Musical at the London Theatre Critics Awards the same year.

It seemed inevitable that due to its success in London that the show would eventually make the move across the Atlantic and onto Broadway. In March 1987, Les Miserables debuted at the Broadway Theatre in New York City, and went on to win a staggering eight Tony Awards. The show would run consecutively on Broadway for 6,680 performances, closing on 18^th May 2003.

It would only be a temporary hiatus in the US, but in London the show moved to the Queen’s Theatre in Shaftesbury and continued to attract healthy audiences, becoming the world’s longest running musical, surpassing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cats’ on 8^th October 2006. A month later, on the 9^th November 2006, the show re-opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst theatre, where it would continue to play for two more years.

It seems the world’s thirst for Les Miserables still remains unquenched; the West End production at the Queen’s Theatre continues at a pace to this very day and on 12^th December 2009 an international tour began, taking Les Miserables to cities and venues throughout the world.

In 2010, Les Miserables celebrated its 25^th anniversary in style, with a special performance at London’s O2 Arena, a one-off performance that saw young American heart-throb Nick Jonas and Little Britain’s Matt Lucas perform alongside members of the original 1985 cast.

Indeed, it may well have been Lucas’ memorable performance as the evil innkeeper Thénardier in that one-off performance that convinced Mackintosh that he would be ideal for the part. It was certainly a role that Lucas was keen to explore further, stating at the signing of the contract: “I had so much fun playing the role at the O2 for the 25^th anniversary that I wanted to come in and do it in London”. He went on to say: “This is a dream come true for me”.

The confirmation of Lucas for the role of Thénardier will certainly attract a new audience of fans to the show, but for traditionalists, the announcement on the same day that acclaimed tenor and Tony award winner Alfie Boe will play the pivotal role of Valjean, will be of equal significance. Boe’s outstanding vocal range and intensity are sure to give the role of Valjean (the show’s central character) the depth and emotional gravitas needed to carry the entire production.

So, the good news for those heading down to London from Chester some time after June 23^rd, is that this immense production shows no signs of slowing. Indeed, with director Sir Cameron Mackintosh planning a film version of the musical (which has now been performed over 43,000 times, to 55 million people in 291 cities across the globe) it seems as though Les Miserables, this uniquely French story, continues to spellbind the audiences here in Little Britain.