Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's Pre-LES MISERABLES Musical, LA REVOLUTION FRANCAISE, to Play Chicago

Before Les Miserables became the world-wide phenomenon that is it is, the musical's creators, young unknowns named Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, had their dreams of fame set on what in 1973 was billed as the first French rock opera, LA REVOLUTION FRANCAISE.

In this morning's Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones reports that a workshop production of that earlier work will be staged on September 28th as a collaboration between Northwestern University's American Musical Theatre Project and the FWD Theatre Project.

LA REVOLUTION FRANCAISE premiered at Paris' Palais des Sports, the same venue that would see the world premiere of Les Miserables seven years later. Here are scenes from the 1973 production:

While Les Miserables centers on the June Rebellion of 1832, LA REVOLUTION FRANCAISE, the Tribune reports, "had a backdrop of the entire French Revolution and was an original, fictional piece, telling the ill-timed love story of a pair of characters from the opposite sides of the tracks: Isobel, a member of the aristocracy, and Gauthier, the son of a shopkeeper."

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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,Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker.

The new production is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, with set and image design byMatt Kinleyinspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, costumes by Andreane Neofitou and Christine Rowland, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Mick Potter and projections realized by Fifty-Nine Productions. Musical staging is by Michael Ashcroft and Geoffrey Garratt. Musical supervision is by Stephen Brooker and musical direction by James Lowe.