Killian Donnelly to lead LES MISERABLES at Edinburgh's Festival Theatre

Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to announce that Killian Donnelly will play 'Jean Valjean' in the forthcoming UK and Ireland tour of the Boublil and Schönberg musical "LES MISÉRABLES".

Further dates for the tour are also announced today. Opening at Curve Leicester for an already sold out season from Saturday 3 - Saturday 24 November 2018 (press night 14 November 2018 ), before playing the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin (5 December 2018 - 12 January 2019), Festival Theatre Edinburgh (22 January - 16 February 2019) and Manchester Palace Theatre (19 February - 30 March 2019) the show will also play Birmingham Hippodrome (2 April - 11 May 2019), Milton Keynes Theatre (14 May - 8 June 2019)and Newcastle Theatre Royal (15 August - 5 October 2019). On sale dates and details below with further dates to be announced.

Killian Donnelly is currently playing the role of 'Jean Valjean' in the West End production of "Les Misérables", where his final performance will be Saturday 9 June 2018. 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 Palace Theatre 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 Miserables 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".

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. Modern audiences have embraced this production as Les Mis for the 21st century as it plays to packed houses all over the world in many languages. 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 MISÉRABLES" includes 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.

Cameron Mackintosh's production of "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 original adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird. The original "LES MISÉRABLES" orchestrations are by John Cameron with new orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke and additional orchestrations by Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker. The production is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, designed by Matt Kinley inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo with costumes by Andreane Neofitou and additional costumes by Christine Rowland, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Mick Potter, musical staging by Michael Ashcroft and Geoffrey Garratt, projections by Fifty-Nine Productions and music supervision by Stephen Brooker and Graham Hurman.

Tickets for Les Miserables at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh are now onsale.

Photo credit: Matt Crockett