Will Swenson's Return to Broadway's LES MISERABLES Delayed

Will Swenson will now return to Cameron Mackintosh's new production of Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil's LES MISERABLES a few days later than originally anticipated, BroadwayWorld has confirmed.

Swenson, who took a hiatus from the production to star in Alliance Theatre's stage adaptation of BULL DURHAM, will rejoin the cast as 'Javert' on Oct. 9, rather than Oct. 5, as previously announced. Earl Carpenter is now set to play his final performance on Oct. 7.

Carpenter recently performed as Javert in the acclaimed sold-out Toronto production of LES MIZ at the Princess of Wales Theatre opposite Tony Award nominee Ramin Karimloo as Valjean. Carpenter began his West End career in Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre in 1996, as Courfeyrac. In 2008 he played the part of Javert at the Queens Theatre and then in the 25th Anniversary U.K tour. He was then the Bishop of Digne at London's O2 Arena concert in 2010.

In 2003 Carpenter joined the London cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's theatre as 'walking cover' to the Phantom. He took over the iconic role in February 2005 giving over 1000 performances. He had the honor of opening the 25th Anniversary Concert of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, as the Auctioneer and reprised the role of the Phantom in Cameron Mackintosh's new 25th Anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera 2012/13 UK tour.

Other West End, UK and European tours have included Peron in Evita, Commander Khashoggi in Queen's We Will Rock You, the world premiere of the Gypsy Kings musical Zorro, Joe Gillis in the original tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, Beast and Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion Theatre and UK tour, Archibald Craven in the Scottish premiere of The Secret Garden, Count Danilo in Carl Rosa Opera Company's The Merry Widow, Alan Ayckbourn's Between the Lines, King Richard in the UK touring production of Robin, Prince of Sherwood and Simeon in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and original company of Cameron Mackintosh's The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and subsequent Prince of Wales run as Darryl van Horne.

Earl has also worked with many organizations including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Chichester Festival Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company helping to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011. He is Conceptual Founder of the online media giant Reelkandi.tv, Creative Director for Ginger Boy Productions and in 2009 he devised the concert, Three Phantoms, which has since extensively toured the UK and Scandinavia.

For more information, visit www.earlcarpenter.com or follow him on, twitter.com/EarlCarpenter.

The cast of the new LES MIZ features Ramin Karimloo, 2014 Tony Award nominee as Best Actor in A Musical, as Jean Valjean; Will Swenson as Javert; Caissie Levy as Fantine; Nikki M. James as Eponine; Andy Mientus as Marius;Samantha Hill as Cosette; Cliff Saunders as Thenardier; Keala Settle as Madame Thenardier and Kyle Scatliffe as the revolutionary Enjolras.

This newly-reimagined production of LES MIZ opened on Broadway March 23 to critical acclaim. The Associated Press raved, "A glorious LES MIZ! This terrific new production is beautifully sung and acted." NY 1 said, "LES MIZ is born again. This is as close to perfection as we'll ever get in the theater." And The Huffington Post proclaimed, "This is a LES MIZ for the 21st century! It stirs the audience and rocks the rafters."

International productions of the new Les Miserables have met with equal success and acclaim in the U.K., France, Spain, Japan and Korea and Australia. This new version of Les Miserables, which premiered in the U.K. in 2009, inspired filmmakers to make the immensely successful Oscar/Golden Globe/BAFTA-winning movie.

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 by Matt 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.

The original production of Les Miserables can now only be seen in London where it's currently in its 29th record-breaking year. Les Miserables originally premiered at the Barbican Theatre in a co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company in October 1985. It transferred to the Palace Theatre in December of that year and then moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre in April 2004 where it is still playing to standing room only. In October 2006 Les Miserables took over the title of World's Longest Running Musical followed by two other Cameron Mackintosh productions, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and Cats.

The original New York production of Les Miserables premiered first at the Broadway Theatre on March 12, 1987, later moving to the Imperial on October 17, 1990, where it played until May 18, 2003, for a total Broadway run of 6680 performances.

There have been four U.S. national touring companies of Les Miserables that have played more than 200 cities. Broadway audiences welcomed Les Miserables back to New York on November 9,

2006 where the show played the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on January 6, 2008. Les Miserables is the 4th longest-running Broadway production of all time.

Photo by Michael Le Poer Trench