Les Misérables - The Arena Spectacular (World Tour)

[theatrenerd]

Initial dates announced;

concert.lesmis.com/tour-dates/

(Apologies, couldn’t find the existing thread)

[alece10]

No London date and the Manchester date is completely wrong unless you are a time traveller. You would think they would check these things before sending it out.

[ruthieh]

I can sort of understand no London date given the show is on in the west end, but nothing in Birmingham, or anywhere south of Sheffield seems a bit shortsighted.

[theatre2023]

Oct 9, 2023 9:52:42 GMT ruthieh said:

I can sort of understand no London date given the show is on in the west end, but nothing in Birmingham, or anywhere south of Sheffield seems a bit shortsighted.

Lack of a london date doesn't make sense.

If memory serves correctly - when the last arena show played at the O2 - were there not 3 Les Mis shows playing simultaneously in London for a day or two ... arena show, original show, along with the 'new style' touring show?

[ruthieh]

Agreed. All I can think is the O2/Wembley/Birmingham or somewhere is being lined up…

[ceebee]

I think I'll wait for them to announce further dates for London/the South.

[theatrenerd]

Oct 9, 2023 10:05:20 GMT theatre2023 said:

Oct 9, 2023 9:52:42 GMT ruthieh said:

I can sort of understand no London date given the show is on in the west end, but nothing in Birmingham, or anywhere south of Sheffield seems a bit shortsighted.

Lack of a london date doesn't make sense.

If memory serves correctly - when the last arena show played at the O2 - were there not 3 Les Mis shows playing simultaneously in London for a day or two ... arena show, original show, along with the 'new style' touring show?

I think they said on the last announcement that London would coincide with the 40th anniversary which will be October 2025, so it must be one of the last dates as more are still to be announced. Hopefully they’ll fit in Birmingham (and other UK venues) too!

[justafan]

It does say ‘more worldwide destinations to be announced’

[Someone in a tree]

Maybe I'm a grump but an arena production sounds awful. When I see a performance I want to see faces not video screens.

[Being Alive]

They're getting 'Valjeans from the past' to do each country so they will be wheeling Boe out for this again 🙄

[LaLuPone]

I assume that will include JOJ for certain venues then, I will never tire of his Valjean to be honest.

[TallPaul]

This will be the second time that Les Miserables has visited Sheffield Arena. The first was in 1999. Of the 35 performances, I saw two.

The building’s longest running show to date was Les Miserables at 35 performances over a four-week period in May/June 1999. It was the first time the production had ever been staged in an Arena, with the building undergoing a major transformation over five days to create an intimate 3000 seater, theatre-style setting, starting with the removal of the building’s 8.3 tonne electronic scoreboard for the first time since the Arena opened in 1991. Over 4000 square metres of drapes and 3000 square metres of carpet were used to create an intimate auditorium using a small section of the Arena’s horseshoe seating.

[Being Alive]

Oct 9, 2023 11:38:19 GMT LaLuPone said:

I assume that will include JOJ for certain venues then, I will never tire of his Valjean to be honest.

I mean as much as I'd love this, JOJ doesn't have the selling power for some of these venues compared to Boe (although you'd assume that selling power has run out or is close to by now!)

[LaLuPone]

Oct 9, 2023 13:40:54 GMT Being Alive said:

Oct 9, 2023 11:38:19 GMT LaLuPone said:

I assume that will include JOJ for certain venues then, I will never tire of his Valjean to be honest.

I mean as much as I'd love this, JOJ doesn't have the selling power for some of these venues compared to Boe (although you'd assume that selling power has run out or is close to by now!)

Oh absolutely but if it’s more than one past Valjean I’d assume John would be involved, unless they want to drag 80 year old Colm Wilkinson out on tour!
They’re probably gonna need John on standby for when Alfie inevitably misses half his scheduled performances again…

[matilda1]

I don’t really know why, but I’m feeling a bit meh about this.
Just thinking Michael Ball, Carrie Hope Fletcher😞

[BurlyBeaR]

If I never see CHF in a nightie again it will be too soon.

[141920grm]

Hate how the truly good ones are always the ‘reliable backup’ to flightier ‘star’ castings, when they should be elevated and celebrated as principals in productions like these, which will give them the much-deserved public recognition to match the ‘legendary’ status they already have among MT fans!

And JOJ’s involvement with the show is one of the longest-standing, in addition to his almost universally acclaimed interpretation of JVJ- really it’s a no brainer who should lead the cast in a production that celebrates the show’s enduring popularity, on home turf.

[alece10]

Put Bradders and his bun and Rob Houchen in and I'll travel to Manchester.

[141920grm]

Or at least have JOJ be JVJ in the eventual proshot/DVD, we don’t need 3 recordings of Alfie in concert staging thank you very much! With Earl Carpenter Javert please and thank you!

[angie]

Oct 9, 2023 14:39:04 GMT alece10 said:

Put Bradders and his bun and Rob Houchin in and I'll travel to Manchester.

Me too. I will travel for Rob Houchen voice and Bradley's bun😁

[mkb]

If putting a show on in an arena with tens of thousands of seats led to economies of scale that meant that people could get to see the show for a tenner, that would be one thing. But you just know that pure greed will mean tickets going for at least five times that and probably more.

Unless you can get a seat right up close, you'd have to be pretty barmy to fork out for an arena show at the prices they charge with all the attendant acoustic problems and appalling views.

[Deleted]

I can't imagine the appeal of seeing an arena version of the show (never been a fan of the recorded concerts either). Even in terms of global reach, the traditional staging's bound to tour at SOME point near you. Seems much more intimate and theatrical than seeing dots on screens.

[alece10]

I went to the O2 25th Anniversary concert and it really was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen before but it did have a cast and orchestra of thousands which I doubt we will get this time.

[solangelafitte]

Oct 9, 2023 12:55:17 GMT TallPaul said:

This will be the second time that Les Miserables has visited Sheffield Arena. The first was in 1999. Of the 35 performances, I saw two.

The building’s longest running show to date was Les Miserables at 35 performances over a four-week period in May/June 1999. It was the first time the production had ever been staged in an Arena, with the building undergoing a major transformation over five days to create an intimate 3000 seater, theatre-style setting, starting with the removal of the building’s 8.3 tonne electronic scoreboard for the first time since the Arena opened in 1991. Over 4000 square metres of drapes and 3000 square metres of carpet were used to create an intimate auditorium using a small section of the Arena’s horseshoe seating.

My first time ever seeing the show was just a few weeks before that at the Point Depot in Dublin with Colm Wilkinson. While I've preferred overall casts more over the years, the spectacle of that has been very hard to top. It felt huge to me at the time. Probably wasn't that big looking back on it now but was such an event.

[SuttonPeron]

Ramin and Hadley Fraser could certainly do Trieste and Milan, knowing how appreciated they are over there.