The 'Susan Boyle Effect' Boosts UK 'LES MIZ' Box Office

The UK Telegraph is reporting that Susan Boyle is causing sell out performances of Les Miserables in London's West End after her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream for Britain's Got Talent. 

The sales of tickets for the long-running musical have increased by 46 per cent since Boyle performed the song in the first round of the talent show. Mark Bower, head of lifestyle products for lastminute.com who discovered the rise told the Telegraph: " There has been a clear knock-on effect from Susan Boyle singing 'I dreamed a dream'. "After her performance ticket sales shot up almost overnight and have maintained a consistent level of popularity." To read the full article click here.

All the recent Susan Boyle publicity also won the Original London Cast recording of "Les Miserables" the #1 top spot on the Billboard Cast Albums chart a number of weeks ago. The Original Broadway Cast album of the musical jumped to #4!

Legendary musical theatre lyricist Alain Boublil spoke about Susan Boyle's original stunning performance of his song, "I Dream A Dream" to The New York Post's Michael Riedel. Boublil, along with composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, wrote the song for the long-running hit "Les Miserables." 

"Piaf was a small woman who looked like nothing. And then she opened her mouth, and this beautiful sound came out", he remarked to Michael Riedel, adding, "You expect nothing," he said and then she opens her mouth and you get three or four of the most exciting moments I have ever seen on television. Act I: She arrives and everyone is laughing at her. Act II: She bowls them over. Act III: Everyone is out of their seats. "You cannot plan any of that. My wife was crying when she saw it. Even the most cynical people I know have been moved."

Her emotional performance even touched 'Les Miz' impresario Cameron Mackintosh. The musical theatre legend remarked in a statement that, "Just like the judges and audience I was gob-smacked by the emotional powerhouse performance of Susan Boyle's show stopping rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream.' Vocally it is one of the best versions of the song I've ever heard. Touching, thrilling and uplifting".

"I Dreamed a Dream" was one of the first songs Boublil wrote for "Les Miz" in 1979 reports Riedel, for the entire interview in The New York Post, click here.

Fresh off her restful stay in London's Priory mental-health clinic, "Britain's Got Talent" runner-up Susan Boyle returned to the concert stage on June 12 to thousands of screaming fans on . After a day of doubts when not even tour officials knew whether she would perform, the Scottish singing sensation stepped out before an audience of more than 10,000 and sang the song that made her a global star two months ago I Dreamed A Dream from the musical Les Miserables. She then followed that up with a strong and solid version of Memory from Cats. She took a night off after her return performances, but is set to stay with the tour through its scheduled run.

The 48-year-old spent almost two weeks in a London private hospital after collapsing following her coming second runner up in the UK TV competition Britain's Got Talent. Her doctors said she was suffering exhaustion but also severe stress from having become a global star virtually overnight after her audition performance.

Following her encore performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" during the "BGT" finale on May 30th, the Scottish singer entered the Priory clinic, raising many questions about whether she would miss the tour entirely. But Boyle checked out Friday, returned to her home in West Lothian, and arrived in London on Monday to begin tour rehearsals.

The fans who waited outside the 13,000-capacity National Indoor Arena in Birmingham had been given no information as to whether the woman most of them had come to see would take the stage. They were delighted that she felt well enough to perform reports the TimesOnline. Boyle remarked before heading to rehearsals, "I'm feeling much better now thank you and I'm really looking forward to performing. "

Boyle has also begun recording an album and is planning a trip to the United States for a series of appearances. To read the full article in The Times Online click here.

On October 8, 1985 Les Misérables opened at the Barbican Theatre, London and musical theatre history was made. It then moved to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985. On March 12, 1987, the American version opened at the Broadway Theatre.

Since then, Les Misérables by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer has travelled the globe and won many major awards throughout the world, including eight Tony awards, including Best Musical. Les Misérables has touched the heart of its international audience as few shows in history have ever done.

This power derives both from the enormous strength of the theatrical adaptation (produced by Cameron Mackintosh, directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird) and from the timeless reality of the titanic novel upon which the show is based, Victor Hugo's classic, Les Misérables.