Piedmont Players and Salisbury Symphony Join Forces for LES MISERABLES, Oct 2014

For three nights in October, Piedmont Players and the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra are collaborating on a presentation of Les Miserables!*

The longest running musical of all time, LES MISERABLES has been popularized through numerous adaptations for the stage, television, and film, including a musical and a film adaptation of that musical. The 2012 film version, starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway, introduced this timeless classic to millions of new fans, while receiving nominations for 8 Academy Award Nomination, 4 Golden Globes (winning Best Motion Picture), and a Grammy.

Open auditions will be held on Aug 29-30 with performance dates taking place Oct 17-19 at Keppel Auditiorium on the campus of Catawba College. With more than 100 actors, musicians and choir members on stage simultaneously, the PPT/SSO concert promises to be a stage sensation. With a Tony Award winning score featuring the songs "I Dreamed A Dream", "Bring Him Home", "One Day More" and "On My Own" - LES MISERABLES is the show of shows.

THE STORY: Based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, LES MISERABLES tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption - a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for his starving sister's child. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop inspires him by a tremendous act of mercy, but a police inspector named Javert relentlessly tracks him down. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade, which culminates in the June Rebellion of France.

LES MISERABLES has been seen by more than 65 million people in 42 countries and in 22 languages around the globe. It is the longest running musical in the world. The production has played over 48,000 professional performances giving a total audience figure of more than 60 million people worldwide. It is the winner of more than 100 major theatre awards including an Olivier, Tony and a Grammy. There have been over 47 cast recordings of LES MISERABLES including albums, singles and the symphonic. Both the original Broadway cast album and the symphonic recordings won Grammy awards.

THE AWARDS

· WINNER of 8 Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score

· WINNER of 5 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Music

· WINNER of 2 Laurence Olivier Awards including Audience Award for Most Popular Show

*Please note that a previous version of this article styled PPT and Salisbury Symphony's production as "LES MISERABLES in concert". This is incorrect. The production is simply a staging of LES MISERABLES.