Les Miserables Signed Poster 1996 New York

Pricing & History

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Original Poster of the musical play LES MISERABLES from April 1996 in New York City and hand signed by the cast--32 Original Signatures!! This poster is a rare find. Purchased at auction in Los Angeles, CA, in a sealed box sent from Australia. Go figure. This poster has traveled but is in mint condition. It was framed and behind glass, but shipping will be cheaper and safer if you frame it yourself (Glass can break and damage the poster). The musical opened in September 1981 at the Palais des Sports in Paris and was deemed a failure by its short run. In 1982, British producer Cameron Mackintosh began work on an English language version, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. The first production in English, produced by Mackintosh and adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird opened on October 8, 1985, in the Barbican Arts Centre in London before moving first to the Palace Theatre and later to the Queen's Theatre, w it is still playing. Reviews from the critics were very mixed with classic scholars condemning it for turning a piece of classical French literature into a musical and others thinking it was too heavy. But word of mouth took over, the public started to hear about it and the box office got bombarded with orders. The Broadway production opened on March 12, 1987 and was nominated for twelve Tony Awards, winning eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, and ran until 2003. It is still the third longest-running Broadway show in history.[2] A fully re-orchestrated Broadway revival opened on November 9, 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre. Les Mis placed first in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals" in June 2005, receiving more than 40% of the votes cast.[3] In 1982, about six months after he had opened Cats in London, producer Cameron Mackintosh was given a recording of the original French show by director Peter Ferago. He had been greatly impressed by the album and asked Mackintosh if he would be interested in producing an English version of the show. Mackintosh was doubtful at first, but eventually decided to produce it. Journalist and poet James Fenton was initially chosen to write English lyrics, but was eventually replaced by Herbert Kretzmer, who expanded and reworked the original French ones. His work is not a direct "translation" of the French, a term that Kretzmer refuses to use. A third of the English lyrics were a rough translation, another third were adapted from the French lyrics and the final third consisted of brand new material, such as the Prologue. Additional music was written to go with the brand new material. Trevor Nunn and John Caird were hired to direct and co-direct the show respectively, and the Royal Shakespeare Company were chosen to put on the show, with some of their members, such as Roger Allam and Alun Armstrong, being cast members. The show opened in London in October 1985, marking the opening of the international career of a show that would become a worldwide success and was voted one of the most popular musicals of all time. Les Misérables was a part of the major European influence on Broadway in the 80's along with Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Miss Saigon. Well-known songs from the musical include "Look Down," "I Dreamed a Dream," "Master of the House," "Do You Hear the People Sing?", "On My Own," "A Little Fall of Rain," "Bring Him Home," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," "Stars," "A Heart Full of Love," "At the End of the Day," "Castle On A Cloud," "Red and Black," and "One Day More". The illustration on which the musical's emblem is based The emblem The musical's emblem is a picture of the waif Cosette, usually shown cropped to a head-and-shoulders portrait with the French national flag superimposed. The picture is based on the illustration by Émile Bayard that appeared in the original edition of the novel in 1862. read more

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