Les Miserables - original cast video?

Cafe Society
1

I would like to have a video of the original cast performing Les Mis. I know there have been many great productions and fine casts since then, but I’d really like the original cast, if possible.

I don’t know if it’s available, though. I’ve seen clips of the performance at the Tony’s but I don’t know if a full recording was ever made available.

I’m not interested in the various movies, I’m looking for a recording of the stage production.

Is it possible? If there’s no such recording, is there one of one of the later casts that’s good?

Thanks for any pointers you can give me.

2

It’s been shown so many times that I kind of assume you’ll know about it. The 10th Anniversary Concert isn’t exactly what you are looking for but it’s fantastic. They picked the best cast they could from the first 10 years of the production. It is not fully acted. The cast stands in front of the orchestra but they are in costume and act the roles. There was a similar 25th anniversary show but I don’t think the cast was even close to being as good (except Alfie Boe as Valjean).

3

What, you didn’t appreciate Nick Jonas as Marius? :smiley:

4

As you might have guessed, it all comes down to money. (Well, IP rights and money, which are sort of the same thing).

You could become a credentialed scholar and view the archives though.

5

Do you live in NYC? If so, you can view a recorded performance of the original Les Mis cast at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts TOFT collection. Their recordings are only available to watch in the library on small monitors, they do not circulate.

Link to record in NYPL database

It says that this recording was “Videotaped by The New York Public Library’s Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the Broadway Theatre, New York, N.Y., June 17, 1987”

They are open only to “qualified researchers” but all you have to do is say you are writing a paper on a certain topic and you will be allowed access.

6

Throw rotten eggs at me if you must but I don’t think he did a bad job but he pales in comparison with Michael Ball.

7

I think all original cast performances should be filmed, even if they don’t release a video release of it for a decade or more. I’d pay $20 now to see the original Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera groups perform the show.

Yeah, Nick Jonas is fine. Kind of sub-par compared to a broadway level performer, but decent.

Michael Ball is in the upper 1% of all male singers. That’s hard to beat.

8

I agree about Alfie Boe, but I think that’s because Colm Wilkinson’s pipes were a little shot by the time they did the 10th. Just my take on it, because he didn’t seem to be at the same level as the rest of the cast. As for the rest of the cast for the 25th -yeah, not even close.

I actually prefer the concert format of the 10th Anniversary production to the fully-staged show.

9

Michael Ball was even great as Edna in HAIRSPRAY. He didn’t play it for camp at all but very straight.