I am strongly considering going to see Les Miserables in Chicago this week. I’ve never seen the musical, my friend in London has seen it and he enjoyed the musical, although that was years ago.
I liked, but didn’t 't love the 2012 film. I can’t say that I enjoyed the book, but I did appreciate it and I’m glad I read it.
I’m only hesitating because tickets aren’t cheap, even with TodayTix.
Should I go see it? I actually do need answer fast, I will be buying tickets tomorrow if I decide to go.
Watched the musical half a dozen times in London, hated the movie. I think there is something magical about seeing a musical on stage. Having said that, I would never pay the prices that are being charged nowadays.
I’ve never seen it live, but have it on DVD and like it. (I actually ended with the DVD accidentally when I ordered the Liam Neeson/Claire Danes movie and they sent this by mistake.) That one is on Youtube–give it a try.
Out of the four people in my family, three love the musical and the other does not, I think because it is just too depressing for him.
The movie wasn’t very good and the book, from what I know of Victor Hugo, was probably 90 pages of description to 1 page of advancing the plot, so I’d say that neither is a terribly good predictor for the stage performance.
I’ve also read the book (once), seen the recent musical film (once) and seen the stage musical several times. The musical is worth seeing. You also have the advantage of knowing the story so you’ll probably enjoy it more. The first time I saw the musical, it was a little hard to keep up.
I saw it on Broadway, and will be seeing it again later this year. A great Musical in all respects.
See it. It’s amazing and is my favorite musical.
It’s awesome live.
The only theatrical production I’ve seen of it was by a local youth theatre group, with the main parts being played by pro/semi-pro alumni of said group.
Frankly, it was tremendous. The underlying quality of the material is very strong, regardless of the production budget. If you don’t feel revolutionary stirrings during “Can you hear the people sing, singing the songs of angry men” then I just don’t know if we could be friends.
Saw it years ago. Had excellent seats quite close to the stage. Close enough to see the actors sweating. In a couple of the numbers I swear some of the cast members made extended eye contact with me.
It was a very large professional production and cast in a major city theater. And I hated every single torturously overwrought second of it.
Come to think of it, it was about the same time that I decided that I hated all musicals. There is simply no reason, to my mind, to see a live play where the cast intentionally and repeatedly breaks out in song.
I guess I feel strongly about this because just the memory of it still makes me angry.
But, hey, don’t listen to me. Go. Enjoy. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
It’s a great musical, one of my favorites. I didn’t think the movie was bad, but it was a pale copy.
I loved it. Saw it twice on stage. Better than Hamilton in some respects.
It’s not reasonable, the music has to hit you on an emotional level. It either works on you or it doesn’t. For me it works.
There’s a reason this musical is so popular. It’s worth it.
Get the 10th anniversary concert DVD. One of the best ever!
It did. Made me emotionally angry and miserable. 
But it’s one of the most successful and long playing musicals. So I must be wrong. 
Saw it live twice.
Loved it both times.
“Master of the House” got stuck in my head both times, but that’s unavoidable.
My favorite musical of all time. I think I’ve seen four live productions, and loved all of them.
For the record, I’m a musical theater geek.
Sure but, in this case, the OP has seen the movie (with almost entirely the same songs) and knows the story. He’s not walking into anything he doesn’t know.
I think the stage musical is much more enjoyable than the film was so I think he’ll probably like it. If not enough to see it five more times in a lifetime then enough to not regret the purchase.
Let me see if I can give a more nuanced response than has been in the thread so far.
Les Miz is good. On stage it is better than the film because of the power of the actual voices live and in person. When staged well it can be a remarkable piece of theater. That said, if you didn’t like the movie even a little, you probably won’t like the stage show any more. It’s not THAT different. You lose the immediacy and intimacy of a live performance when translating to film and the singers will likely be better than Russell Crowe. But it’s essentially the same show on film or in person.
I will say, as a theater person, I find the live Les Miz good but the movie intolerable.
The Broadway production closed last year.
To the OP, I think if you have the means you should go. It’s the first stop of the new tour, so excitement is still high and you’ll probably see an energized performance.
Don’t go by the movie. It was shot well but suffers from some odd casting choices but mostly because the performers chose acting over singing much of the time. Hugh Jackman often loses the melody completely when he gets all whispery. Musically Javert is the most difficult part. His songs can easily be muddled with a bad performance. Russel Crowe was not a good choice.
The musical was great and I’ve seen it multiple times with different productions on Broadway.