une invention hideuse de je ne sais qui

I hoped it wouldn’t happen, though I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. But it looks like the original production of Les Misérables in London, as staged in 1985 by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, will finally be retired and replaced by Laurence Connor and James Powell’s 2009 production this year. 

It won’t be easy to see it go. Nunn and Caird’s masterful staging, John Napier’s outstanding set design, Andreane Neofitou’s iconic costumes and David Hersey’s atmospheric lighting combined in 1985 to create a true masterpiece of musical theatre. The production was created in tandem with the familiar English version of the musical; the show and the staging were mutually made for each other. For twenty-five years, throughout most of the world, that production WAS Les Mis, and as far as I’m concerned it’s never been surpassed.

If we can’t keep the Nunn/Caird staging on the London stage, we can at least remember it and pay tribute to its greatness. I’ve created a tag that revolves around just this: “I love the original Nunn/Caird production.” Below I’ve linked all the posts in this tag: a collection of nostalgic photos and lengthy musings on the costumes, the blocking, and other aspects of the production I love. Throughout the year I’ll be adding new posts to the list and adding the links here. Hopefully, some future stage directors, set and costume designers, etc. will see these posts and look back to the original staging to inspire their Les Mis production instead of blindly copying the Connor/Powell production. But even if they don’t, these photos and ramblings of mine will still pay tribute to a classic and keep its memory alive.

The Palace and Broadway Theatres

The original advertising posters

Two classic Cosette-logo playbills

Past casts I wish I could have seen

Jean Valjean’s costumes

Javert’s costumes

Fantine’s costumes (+ Mme. Thénardier’s and Young Éponine’s)

Marius’s costume

Éponine’s costumes

Enjolras’s red vest

Enjolras’s black vest

Grantaire’s costume

The female leads’ hair

The white light of death

“Lovely Ladies”

“The Runaway Cart”

“Come to Me”/“Confrontation”

Cosette’s stage business during “The Robbery”

Éponine and Montparnasse’s cut exchange in “Attack on Rue Plumet”

Enjolras’s entrance in “One Day More”

Valjean, Cosette and the doll in “One Day More”

Éponine giving Valjean the letter

A defense for Éponine not taking the bullet for Marius

“A Little Fall of Rain”

Enjolras comforting Marius after “A Little Fall of Rain”

Gavroche’s death

The Problem of Javert (the lack of the ethereal white light at his death and his absence in the finale)

“Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”

“Every Day”

Fantine’s hair in the end (a case for keeping it short)

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— “Laziness Does Not Exist” by E Price on Medium