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Ramin Karmiloo, Samantha Barks, Alfie Boe, Nick Jonas, Norm Lewis, Matt Lucas, Lea Salonga, Jenny Galloway, and Camilla Kerslake have completed the principal casting for the Les Miserables 25th anniversary concert at the O2. Nick Jonas has extended his role as Marius at the Queen's Theatre until July 24.
Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to announce that Ramin Karimloo (currently wowing audiences as ‘The Phantom' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Love Never Dies" at the Adelphi Theatre) will play ‘Enjolras' and Samantha Barks (currently playing ‘Eponine' at the Queen's Theatre) will play ‘Eponine' in the Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Concert at The O2 on October 3.
Ramin made his West End debut in in the original production of "Les Misérables" at the Queen's Theatre playing ‘Feuilly' and understudying the roles of ‘Marius' and ‘Enjolras'. After a year playing ‘Raoul' in "The Phantom of the Opera" at Her Majesty's Theatre, Ramin returned to "Les Misérables", this time taking on the role of ‘Enjolras' which he also played at a special performance by invitation of Her Majesty The Queen at Windsor Castle. He then played ‘Chris' in the UK tour of "Miss Saigon", followed by a return to "The Phantom of the Opera", this time taking the part of ‘The Phantom' for the show's 21st Anniversary. He was recognised by fans of the show, earning him a Theatregoers' Choice Award Nomination for Best Actor. He has since created the part of ‘The Phantom' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Love Never Dies" at the Adelphi Theatre receiving rave reviews for his performance.
Samantha recently made her West End debut when she joined the Original Production of "Les Misérables" at the Queen's Theatre as ‘Eponine'. She was discovered on BBC1's "I'd Do Anything", coming third in the competition to win the part of ‘Nancy' in Cameron Mackintosh's production of "Oliver!". Following the competition, she went on to play ‘Sally Bowles' in the UK tour of "Cabaret". Cameron Mackintosh offered Samantha the part of ‘Eponine' in the Anniversary Concert at the O2 directly after seeing her first public performance at the Queen's.Ramin and Samantha will join the previously announced company of over 300 actors and musicians, including Alfie Boe as ‘Jean Valjean', Nick Jonas as ‘Marius', Norm Lewis as ‘Javert', Matt Lucas as ‘Thénardier', Lea Salonga as ‘Fantine', Jenny Galloway as ‘Madame Thénardier', Camilla Kerslake as ‘Cosette' and the casts of the Original Production at the Queen's Theatre, the New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican, London and members of the Original 1985 London cast.
In other casting news, the Original Production at the Queen's Theatre will welcome Norm Lewis as ‘Javert' from 5 July and X Factor's Lucie Jones as ‘Cosette' from 12 July. Lucie joins Nick Jonas as ‘Marius'. Nick has managed to extend his run in the show for an extra two weeks until 24 July, due to a recent change in the Jonas Brothers world tour schedule that will now start at a later date. Alistair Brammer returns to the role of ‘Marius' from 26 July.
Broadway star Norm Lewis comes direct to London having received rave reviews for "Sondheim on Sondheim" at Studio 54 in New York. Norm played ‘Javert' in the Broadway production of "Les Misérables" and his other Broadway credits include ‘John' in "Miss Saigon" and ‘King Triton' in Disney's "The Little Mermaid". Lucie Jones appeared on ITV1's X Factor week after week as one of the final twelve contestants. During her time with the X factor she featured as a soloist on the X Factor charity single "You Are Not Alone", which reached number one in the UK charts. She will soon be seen in "The Sarah Jane Adventures" for the BBC.
As well as celebrating it's 25th Birthday in October this year, the legendary musical "LES MISÉRABLES" will make theatrical history with an international first - three different productions in London at the same time. The Original Production, (still playing to packed houses at the Queen's Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue), the acclaimed New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican (where the show originally premiered) and the celebratory concert at The O2. The acclaimed New 25th Anniversary production, currently breaking box office records throughout the UK and opening in countries all over the world, will play for 22 performances only from 14 September - 2 October.
The magnificent score of "LES MISÉRABLES" includes the 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.
"LES MISÉRABLES" originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre on 3 April 2004. When "LES MISÉRABLES" celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World's Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by "Cats" in London's West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating its historic 10,000th performances.
Seen by nearly 60 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, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of "LES MISÉRABLES", including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the soon to be released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary Production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School's Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools. Cameron Mackintosh is currently developing a film of "LES MISÉRABLES" with Working Title and Universal.
Cameron Mackintosh's production of "LES MISÉRABLES" 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 and additional material by James Fenton. The original London 1985 production of "LES MISÉRABLES" was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.
The New 25th Anniversary Production and The O2 Concert are directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley. Original costumes by Andreane Neofitou, additional costumes by Christine Rowland, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Paule Constable and sound by Mick Potter. The O2 concert will be conducted by David Charles Abell.
• Tickets for The O2 Concert are available from www.lesmis.com/O2
• Some good tickets for the New 25th Anniversary Production at the Barbican, London are still available from www.barbican.org.uk
• Tickets for the Original Production at the Queen's Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue are available from www.lesmis.com
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