Alain Boublil Biography

Alain Boublil’s first musical, La Révolution Française, was the first ever staged French rock opera in 1973 in Paris and the start of his collaboration with composer Claude-Michel Schönberg. Their next show, Les Misérables, opened in Paris in 1980 and played there again in 1991 after having in the meantime opened in most of the world’s major cities starting in London in 1985, produced by Cameron Mackintosh. In 2007, Les Misérables celebrated its 22nd anniversary after having been voted Britain’s favourite musical. It opened on Broadway in 1987, winning Alain two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Book and a Grammy for Best Original Broadway Cast Recording as well as numerous awards all over the world. Les Misérables is still playing in major cities and returned to Broadway in 2006.

Miss Saigon opened in London in 1989 and later in New York, playing for more than ten years in each city, and has won numerous international awards. Martin Guerre followed and won the 1997 Olivier Award for Best Musical before commencing its USA tour. In 2007, it was revived in a critically acclaimed sell-out production in the UK with actors/musicians on stage.

On his own, Alain wrote the fairytale musical Abbacadabra (1984) based on Abba songs, which played in London in 1985. He also wrote the play The Diary of Adam and Eve, based on two short stories by Mark Twain, and a prize-winning novel, Les dessous de soi. In 2003, in collaboration with Michel Legrand, Alain wrote the stage adaptation of Jacques Demy’s film Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, including some new songs, which played in Paris in 2003-04.

Alain and Claude-Michel’s musical The Pirate Queen, based on the true story of the 16th-century Irish heroine Grace O’Malley, in the time of Elizabeth I, played in Chicago and on Broadway in 2006 and 2007. Alain and Claude-Michel’s new show, Marguerite, based on The Lady of the Camellias, with music by Michel Legrand and English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, is a highly romantic love story set in Nazi-occupied Paris during the Second World War. It had its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in May 2008.
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