Victor Hugo News

Surflight Theatre, under the leadership of Executive Director Ken Myers, announced principal casting today fort Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schonberg's Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece LES MISERABLES, makes it long awaited Long Beach Island debut at Surflight Theatre, from July 31 through August 24. Opening night is August 1 at 8pm.

In 2005, the New York Times ran an article on romance novels, noting that romance novels were read by 51 million people a year, accounted for 49 percent of all paperback sales, and sold nearly one and a half billion dollars' worth of books annually. That's a lot of romance - and at the time, as the Times noted, the market was aimed almost exclusively at heterosexual women with heterosexual romance. The article's real focus was on the emerging market for same-sex romance novels.

The Hilliard Arts Council (HAC) jumped at the chance to be the first community theater group in Central Ohio to present the fully staged, professional version of "Les Miserables", opening at Hilliard Darby High School on Friday, July 12th for an astoundingly short 3 performance run. While several area high schools have attempted smaller scale versions, particularly following the movie release which opened the story of "Les Miserable" to an even larger audience, to attempt to pull this show off takes guts. It's an incredibly ambitious production in its set, orchestral music, and vocal demands, and even the likes of Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman have taken criticism for their performances being less than its expected Broadway icon caliber. Given that, it turns out that Jackman and Crowe could have taken a few notes from the folks over in good ol' Hilliard, Ohio, as the pipes on this cast are surprisingly wonderful.

Due to popular demand, South Bend Civic Theatre has extended Les Miserables for two extra performances, Friday August 2 at 8:00 PM and Saturday August 3 at 8:00 PM. Advance ticket sales for this blockbuster musical have resulted in sold-out shows throughout Les Miserables' opening weekend.

Beginning its 18th season, Aurora Theatre opens the Brand Signature Series with the epic Broadway classic Les Miserables, running July 25 - September 8, 2013.

Happy Birthday Claude-Michel Schonberg! Schonberg is best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alain Boublil. Thier stage musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, which opened at the Palais de Sports in Paris in 1980, opened to acclaim in London in 1985 and on Broadway in 1987. In 1989, their success continued with the musical Miss Saigon, which starred Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce. Schonberg's next project with Boublil was The Pirate Queen, a musical about the 16th century Irish pirate, chieftain and adventuress Grace O'Malley, which opened on Broadway on April 5 2007.

Dixon Place has announced the 22nd Annual HOT! Festival of Queer Culture, running today, July 2 - August 3, 2013.

Les Mis. A French title, and a show so popular it has its own nickname. When the show premiered in London in 1985, some people wondered how on earth Victor Hugo's masterpiece of a novel could be turned into a musical. Those people have long since been silenced. Les Miserables has become one of the world's most beloved musicals, and Maine State Music Theatre's current production proves exactly why.

Les Miserables, Cameron Mackintosh's new 25th anniversary production of the world's longest running musical, runs at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis for one week only, July 30-August 4, 2013.

Audiences will get their chance to see this explosive production live on stage at Maine State Music Theatre from today, June 26 through July 13 at the Pickard Theater on the campus of Bowdoin College, Brunswick.. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 207-725-8769 or by visiting the MSMT website at www.msmt.org.

Theatre Aspen's 30th summer season begins today. The summer repertory season includes the Tony Award-winning epic LES MISERABLES, opening today, June 25th, the one-man comedy Fully Committed, opening July 6th and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which opens July 12th. All shows run through late August.

Songwriters/performing artists Ashford & Simpson, GRAMMY-winning violinist Joshua Bell, GRAMMY-winning artist Melissa Etheridge, GRAMMY-winning creators of 'LES MISERABLES' - Alain Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer and Claude-Michel Schonberg - and R&B singer/songwriter Trey Songz are recipients of the New York Chapter Recording Academy Honors 2013. The event, which will attract recording artists, key entertainment executives and community leaders, will be hosted tonight, June 25, 2013, at 6 p.m. at 583 Park Avenue. This gala will support the Chapter's ongoing advocacy, education and professional development programs.

Dixon Place has announced the 22nd Annual HOT! Festival of Queer Culture, running July 2 - August 3, 2013.

Audiences will get their chance to see this explosive production live on stage at Maine State Music Theatre from June 26 through July 13 at the Pickard Theater on the campus of Bowdoin College, Brunswick.. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 207-725-8769 or by visiting the MSMT website at www.msmt.org.

This gala will support the Chapter's ongoing advocacy, education and professional development programs.

Anyone familiar with the Atlanta theatre scene knows that there is as much talent here as in nearly anywhere else in the country, and this summer, Atlanta's 30+ professional theatre companies are putting that talent to use. While there are countless other great productions going on around the city this summer, BWW Atlanta has narrowed it down to six that will surely leave Hotlanta talking well into the winter months.