LES MISÉRABLES Returns To China With Sold-Out Shanghai Run

Les Misérables has seen major success in China with the launch of its staged concert production at Shanghai Grand Theatre, reports China Daily. The musical began performances on November 4 and will run through December 28 as part of the “See You in Shanghai!” initiative from SMG Live.

All 64 presentations in the engagement have sold out, with 102,000 tickets purchased soon after they went on sale at the end of last year. The Grand Theatre released a small number of additional temporary-seat tickets on October 25, which prompted in-person lines at the venue.

The production is jointly presented by Shanghai Media Group, Mailive, and Shanghai Grand Theatre. Roughly half of all ticket buyers are traveling from other parts of China, according to the theater. Les Misérables previously appeared at the venue in 2002, marking the first time a Western musical played the Grand Theatre.

The popularity of the current engagement reflects broader growth in China’s musical-theater audience, with increased interest from younger demographics.

Les Misérables,is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, additional material by James Fenton and adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird. Orchestrations are by Stephen Metcalfe, Christopher Jahnke and Stephen Brooker, with original orchestrations by John Cameron. The production is directed by James Powell and Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy, designed by Matt Kinley, with costumes by Andreane Neofitou, Christine Rowland and Paul Wills, lighting by Paule Constable and Warren Letton, sound by Mick Potter, projections realised by Finn Ross and music supervision by Stephen Brooker and Alfonso Casado Trigo. and Alain Boublil and adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo, has been performed worldwide and translated into 23 languages. It was recognized in 2005 as the longest-running musical in London’s West End.

Having opened to acclaim in the UK and Europe in September 2024, the production has continued to tour to countries and regions around the world, playing to packed houses across 30 cities and breaking box office records, most recently in Australia and Japan. The tour is currently playing its sold-out season in Shanghai, the longest single engagement of the tour, where performances sold out in hours each time tickets were released, then will head onto Manila and Singapore where the response has already been phenomenal, before returning to Europe.

LES MISÉRABLES: THE ARENA CONCERT SPECTACULAR was developed from the hugely successful Les Misérables The Staged Concert, which played for over 200 record-breaking performances in the West End and the legendary 25th Anniversary performance at The O2. It features an extraordinary new design specifically created for larger venues and an electrifying production enhanced with new set and lighting designs, bringing Cameron Mackintosh’s critically acclaimed production to life on a never-before-seen scale, led by an internationally lauded company and orchestra.

Photo Credit: Danny Kaan