Les Miz to tour in 2009/2010, produced by NETworks
Posted by LizzieCurry 2008-01-09 13:51:11.0

It pays to be on the BBO NYC mailing list. Here's what I received an hour ago.



January 9, 2008



Dear ,



Last Sunday, LES MISÉRABLES, the longest running musical in the world, completed a sensational 14-month return engagement on Broadway and plans are now underway to tour a new production in North America starting Fall 2009!



Advance bookings are now being accepted for the 2009-10 season.



Produced by NETworks in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh, a newly conceived touring production of Boublil and Schönberg’s award-winning musical will deliver the same thrilling theatrical experience audiences have treasured for a generation.



“I'm delighted that 22 years after LES MIZ originally opened in London there is still a huge audience to see this marvelous show,” said producer Cameron Mackintosh. “Over the years I have seen many hugely successful but visually different productions, so it has been exciting to develop this new design which draws inspiration not only from John Napier's marvelous original but also the brilliant drawings and paintings of Victor Hugo himself. Like the hugely successful new production of MISS SAIGON, the next LES MIZ will still be a spectacular mix of dazzling images and epic staging, driving one of the greatest musical stories ever told. I'm also delighted that this new production is being presented by Ken Gentry's NETworks who I am currently working with on the critically acclaimed and successful new production of MY FAIR LADY.”



Photos and video:

www.bbonyc.com/shows/lesmis



Pricing for LES MISÉRABLES:

Full 8-performance week: $300,000 plus 10%, 70/30 split after local expenses

2 performances (Tues & Wed): $80,000 plus 10%, 70/30 split after local expenses

4 or 5 performances (Fri – Sun): $230,000 plus 10%, 70/30 split after local expenses

Union actors; no local musicians required



Seen by more than 55 million people in 39 countries and 21 languages, LES MISÉRABLES opened in London in 1985, on Broadway in 1987 and began touring later that year; it has since played in more than 150 cities throughout North America. A select group of regional theatres has produced its own LES MISÉRABLES and a first-rate collection of middle and high schools has produced LES MISÉRABLES SCHOOL EDITION with student performers. With the creation of this exciting new touring production, audiences in even more cities will now be able to experience LES MISÉRABLES, the show that remains The World’s Most Popular Musical.



Please contact me or my colleagues, David Freeland or Temah Higgins, with your interest for the 2009-10 season. If you're attending APAP, please stop by our booth in Rhinelander Hall, Booth 217.



Best regards,



Steven Schnepp

President

Broadway Booking Office NYC

So they're not just taking the show from Bway and putting it back on tour. Tha's good.

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fun -- it'll be interesting to finally see a new production!

Hopefully it'll be a little more "reimagined" than the revival was.

I wonder where this will be heading, I've never seen Les Miz.

I too do wonder what it is they will do with the revival.

Consdiering the fact that this is a show that has and will be around for years. It has images that are iconic and hard to change.

That being said it should be interesting to see what they are going to do.

I am sure that they are going to keep the turn table and the barricade but not sure what else.

I'll wait to see what "re imagining" they come up with. There was suppose to be some re imagining for the revival. Having Rent girl play the role is not it.

And changing ONE song and making ONE major costume change?

"Having Rent girl play the role is not it." haha that's funny.

"ONE major costume change" LizzieCurry - who's costume was changed?

Anyway, I think that it will be more or less the same it has always been. I am very relieved to hear that a tour is coming though. I look forward to hearing more about it.

Cosette's. But only for Ali Ewoldt. The dress during "In My Life" was white and lacy instead of black and lacy.

I don't know, having Cosette's dress be white and black instead of black and white changed the whole experience for me.

Yea, that white dress really changed the show. It simply became a whole new experience.

It was that damn dress that lost them the Best Revivial Tony.

Boo dress.

Yes, if they bring back the black doilie dress, all will be well with the tour, clearly.

Although I hope they stop short of pink cube barricades or something, I would really like to see an actual re-imagining of the staging.

I too am curious how different this tour will be from the Broadway "revival." I have a feeling it won't be that much different, but we'll see. Regardless, I'm glad it's an Equity tour. The last thing Les Miz needs right now is people paying Broadway prices to see a 22-year old Valjean who just got his BFA from Backwoods College.

A 22 year old from Backwoods College would be better than many Equity performers I have seen.

Considering there is an option for 2 night runs,and the load-in and strike were very demanding, I wouldn't be surprised if it is more like an Encores' concert-like performance.

It could be similar to the Scandanavian tour that went out a few years ago, which sounded like a concert with costumes, more or less.

Well, Jeff Kready is 25, from the backwoods of Kansas, and was also non-Eq when he auditioned for the Broadway revival... but I'm glad he got it, because he was a lot better as Valjean than most of the well-known actors I've seen in the role.

(Which isn't to say that I want a non-Eq tour, just that Jeff is awesome.)

I'm not saying that all non-Equity performers are bad--of course not. There are many brilliant non-Eq performers. I was just making a comment about the fact that my experience with NETworks non-Equity tours has not been good.

I had no idea that Equity tours did split-week stops.

I'm guessing now they'll start playing at theatres that would never have housed the previous tours, and if local musicians aren't required, does that mean there won't be any more stops that run for several weeks?

WE always get NETworks I hop we get this.

Oh jeebebus.

I knew this thread was coming, but it's still no less groan inducing.

That's great, I'll be glad when the tour is over and they decide to put it right back on Broadway in another 3 years. All those changes, I can hardly wait!

What was the point of that post. Simply to nay say us discussing this new info that a new tour is coming out?

Wasn't Ramin Karimloo in that Scandinavian tour? Can we have him, please?

He might have been, although I don't think he was one of the leads if so.

Unfortunately, Chris Langham was there, though.

Chris Langham's latest claim to fame.

I think a concert version is going to let a lot of people down.

Not if they bill it as "Les Misérables in Concert."

Of course, then they'd have to say "Without the people you see when they show that other Les Miz in Concert over and over during PBS pledge drives," and that gets awful wordy.

RentBoy--what makes you think it would be a concert tour?

Wasn't Ramin Karimloo in that Scandinavian tour? Can we have him, please?

Not that I know of, but Matt Cammelle definitely was.

The concert idea came from the fact that apparently it will play two day engagements, which doesn't work at all well with big sets.

"Yea, that white dress really changed the show. It simply became a whole new experience."

When did they have this dress? I never saw it, and they certainly didn't have it on closing night.

As for the tour, I hate that they are using NETworks...their sets always look cheap and like they are about to fall over. And their talent selection is generally awful (hopefully it will be better with Equity).

Does NETworks have a website?

I thought this was going to turn out to be some kind of elaborate April Fools joke.

I'd just be happy if the tour casted at least a few ensemble members over the age of 25. At times, the revival sounded like a good high school edition of the show.

Haven't been around long, huh?

And it's cast, not casted.

I'm sorry, but who the hell prefers a concert to an actual production? I can't imagine people racing to buy concert tickets.

They're gonna have John Doyle reimagine Les Miserables. The barricade will be a series of interlocking translucent cubes of varying sizes, and Javert will symbolically die by slitting his throat with his violin bow and putting on a bloodstained silly hat.

I'm sorry, but who the hell prefers a concert to an actual production? I can't imagine people racing to buy concert tickets.

Oh gosh, I dunno...in some instances...

"I'm sorry, but who the hell prefers a concert to an actual production? I can't imagine people racing to buy concert tickets."

...yeah, and only a handful of millionaires called in when PBS raised the most money during their pledge drive telecast of the Les Miz 10th Anniversary Concert (which itself sold out the Royal Albert Hall) ...and why they've been rebroadcasting the damn thing ad nauseam...

Both of you are talking about celebrity casted concerts. I also think there's a difference between sitting at home watching a concert and calling in for $5, and actually going out to the theatre for maybe $100. So do you honestly think people will get off their butts to go watch performers they probably haven't heard of or who aren't in an already gala celebration concert?

Another email, from today:

LES MISÉRABLES

* The longest-running musical in the world returns to tour North America starting Fall 2009, to be produced by NETworks in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh.
* By special arrangement between Cameron Mackintosh Ltd and MTI:
o A select group of regional theatre licenses occurring in 2008, including Walnut Street, Marriott Lincolnshire, Wolf Trap, Kansas City Starlight and Theatre of the Stars.
o Hollywood Bowl’s LES MIZ IN CONCERT to star Rosie O’Donnell, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Melora Hardin. Performances August 8 – 10, 2008.
* www.bbonyc.com/shows/lesmis

So I saw this part of a Wicked tour thread over at ATC: http://talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1575504

I can't imagine this tour is going to be non-Eq if in the press release they said "union actors." Or is there some other stage actors' union that's not Equity? Or did they change their minds?

Well, it sure looks like this isn't happening now

It's still on their site. I believe the tour is still happening, just postponed.

http://bbonyc.com/shows/lesmis/Default.htm

Marriott Lincolnshire? Ugh. I don't want to see this show in the round.

The Lincolnshire production was about a year ago...

Ha! I didn't look at the year. Well, at least I can say that I'm not upset about missing it.

It's happening. It is going to be based on the staging seen recently at Houston's Theatre Under the Stars, and the mini tour last year at Wolftrap, KC Starlight, and the Fox in Atlanta.