Breaking News: LES MISERABLES to Return to Broadway's Imperial Theatre; Opening Night Set for March 23, 2014!

Cameron Mackintosh announced today that his acclaimed new production of Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Tony Award-winning musical masterpiece Les Miserables will return to the Imperial Theatre, the show's home on Broadway for nearly 13 years and 5244 performances. Previews for the new production of Les Miserables will begin Saturday, March 1 with an official opening night Sunday, March 23. The original New York production of Les Miserables premiered first at the Broadway Theatre on March 12, 1987, later moving to the Imperial on October 17, 1990, where it played until May 18, 2003, for a total Broadway run of 6680 performances. The casting process for the new production has begun and will be completed later this summer.

Said Cameron Mackintosh, "I feel really blessed that not only has my new production of Les Miserables been embraced by audiences and critics alike, even more fervently than the original, but Phil Smith and Bob Wankel of The Shubert Organization have kindly arranged for me to bring Cosette back to her spiritual home on Broadway, the Imperial Theatre. This magnificent theatre has the perfect blend of scale and intimacy for a story like Les Miserables, and I can't wait to put together a brilliant company to bring this great musical to new generations of Broadway audiences."

"LES MISERABLES at the Imperial Theatre is a match made in theatrical heaven. The Shubert Organization is thrilled to welcome home to Broadway one of the great musicals of all time," said Philip J. Smith, Chairman of The Shubert Organization.

This newly re-imagined Les Miserables is still breaking box-office records and receiving rave reviews across North America, grossing more than $145 million. International productions of the new Les Miserables have been met with equal success and acclaim in the U.K, France, Spain, Japan and Korea and is soon to open in Canada, Spain and Australia. The new version inspired filmmakers to make the immensely successful Oscar/Golden Globe/BAFTA wining movie.

Chris Jones in The Chicago Tribune called the new LES MIS, "uncommonly raw, unusually emotional and strikingly intense. LES MIS stands alone in its dramatic and emotional achievements. The storytelling is formidable; the theatricalization spectacular. This new production refreshes and rethinks without sacrificing any singularity of intensity or artistic occasion. It is not to be missed." Anita Gates inThe New York Times calls this new production of Les Miserables "a splendidly reworked, unquestionably spectacular production from start to finish." Benedict Nightingale in The London Times hails the new LES MIS "a five star hit, astonishingly powerful and as good as the original." Peter Filichia in The Star-Ledger calls it "a dynamically re-imagined hit. This Les Miserables has improved with age" and Roma Torre on NY1 News proclaims "this new production actually exceeds the original. The storytelling is clearer, the perspective grittier and the motivations more honest. Musical theatre fans can rejoice: LES MIS is born again." Terry Byrne in The Boston Globe said, "The new production of Les Miserables qualifies as a truly extraordinary theatrical experience. It is nothing less than stunning. This production is so breathtaking, you simply won't want it to end."

Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, Les Miserables is an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. The magnificent score includes the classic 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.

Cameron Mackintosh's production of Les Miserables 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, original adaption by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and additional material by James Fenton. The original Les Miserables orchestrations are by John Cameron with new orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke and additional orchestrations by Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker.

The new 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 Rowlands, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Mick Potter and projections by Fifty-Nine Productions.

The original production is now in its 28th sell-out year in London, Les Miserables originally premiered at the Barbican Theatre in a co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985. It transferred to the Palace Theatre in December of that year and then moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre in April 2004 where it is still playing to standing room only. In October 2006 Les Miserables took over the title of World's Longest Running Musical followed by two other Cameron Mackintosh productions, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.

There have been four U.S. national touring companies of Les Miserables that have played more than 200 cities. Broadway audiences welcomed Les Miserables back to New York on November 9, 2006 where the show played the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on January 6, 2008. Les Miserables is the 4th longest-running Broadway production of all time.

Seen by nearly 65 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 22 languages, Les Miserables is undisputedly one of the world's most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 47 cast recordings of Les Miserables, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and live recording of the New 25th Anniversary Production and now the motion picture soundtrack which has sold close to 1.5 million copies and has topped the Billboard and iTunes charts. The DVD's of the 10th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall and the 25th Anniversary at The O2 have sold millions of copies worldwide.

There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Miserables School's Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools.

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, the legendary musical Les Miserables made theatrical history with an international first - three different productions in London at the same time. The Original Production at the Queen's Theatre, the acclaimed New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican (where the show originally premiered) and a celebratory concert at The O2 Arena. The O2 Concert was presented in over 500 cinemas throughout the United States on November 17, 2010 and is now available on Blu-ray DVD through Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

The 2012 Universal film version of Les Miserables co-produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Working Title Films, and directed by Tom Hooper, grossed $150 million domestically and $438 millionworldwide. The film received the Golden Globe Award as Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) and received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won three Academy Awards. The film's soundtrack debuted at #1 on Billboard's Album chart and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

The sumptuous definitive new book, Les Miserables - From Stage to Screen from Applause Books tells the story so far of the World's Longest Running Musical in words, pictures and rare facsimile memorabilia and is written by Benedict Nightingale and Martyn Palmer, with a foreword by Cameron Mackintosh.

Group Sales for parties of 12 or more are now on available at www.telecharge.com/groups or via phones at 212-239-6262 or 1-800-432-7780. Single ticket sales will begin in September.