Nick Jonas to Join West End Les Miserables; o2 25th Anniversary Concert

Before claiming the hearts of teenage girls everywhere with his brothers, this Jonas brother claimed parts of a different kind on the Broadway stage. The pop music star had roles in Beauty and the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun, and Les Miserables ten years ago when he was just seven years old.

Now the star will join the West End production of Les Miserables as Marius for 3 weeks, beginning on June 21 according to the UK Daily Mail. The paper reports "Cameron Mackintosh told me yesterday: 'I went up to him at the closing night party in New York and told him he was terrific and hoped that one day he would return to play Marius. We've been in touch a lot and, of course, since then he has become this world-famous star. 'He and his father and I agreed that it would be great if he came and played Marius here in London.'"

Additionally, "In October, Nick will be part of a huge, star- studded Company Being assembled to perform a 25th anniversary concert at the o2 Centre in Greenwich, South-East London.

Details of casting - and ticket information about the o2 production - will be announced on Wednesday morning."

Jonas recently told Teen Vogue "Broadway has a big part in my realizing that I wanted to make music a career. I'd love to go back - if the timing was right." He is interested in doing a song and dance musical.

The Jonas Brothers - comprised of Kevin, Joe and Nick - got their start on The Disney Channel's Camp Rock and have since released four albums: It's About Time, Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, and Lines, Vines and Trying Times. In 2008, the group was nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 51st Grammy Awards and won the award for Breakthrough Artist at the American Music Awards. As of May 2009, before the release of Lines, Vines and Trying Times, they have sold over eight million albums worldwide. In addition to Nick's impressive Broadway credits, Joe has appeared on Broadway in La Boheme.

Cameron Mackintosh's new production of Boublil and Schönberg's Les Misérables has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer from the original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The 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 and sound by Mick Potter.

Les Misérables is currently on an international tour, visiting Norwich, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Salford, Southampton, London and Paris and has already sold out in most cities with extra performances being added.

Les Misérables originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on October 8, 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre On December 4, 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre on April 3, 2004 where it continues to play to packed houses. When Les Misérables celebrated its 21st London birthday on October 8, 2006, it became the World's Longest-Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by Cats in London's West End.

The Broadway production of Les Misérables originally opened at the Broadway Theatre On March 12, 1987 and transferred to the Imperial Theatre On October 17, 1990 running for 6,680 performances. The US National Tour began in November 1987 and visited over 150 cities before closing in St. Louis, MO in 2006. Broadway audiences welcomed Les Miz back to New York on November 9, 2006 where the show played the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on January 6, 2008. To date, Les Misérables remains the 3rd longest-running Broadway production of all time.

Seen by over 56 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, Les Misérables is undisputedly one of the world's most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe. There have been 34 cast recordings of Les Misérables, including the multi-platinum London cast recording and the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,000 productions of the Les Misérables School's Edition scheduled or being performed by over 100,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.