Les Miserables at Kennedy Center Opera House

More than 40 years ago, history was being made when Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boubil, and Jean-Marc Natel created the very first stage script for Les Misérables (initially in the French language). Stemming from Victor Hugo’s late novel of the same name, the plot of Les Mis was transformed and turned into a live stage adaptation performed as a show only sung from start to finish, which was an enormous achievement in that time period.

Following a limited season performed in French in Paris, there was evidently overwhelming support to produce a more accessible adaptation, and when Cameron Macikintosh discovered the score, he instantly fell in love and decided to create an English adaptation while working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Herbert Kretzmer, who composed the new songs. The English version of Les Misérables initially premiered with a two-month period at the Barbican Centre, but as a result of its astounding success and larger audience with the English version, the show unsurprisingly transferred to West End’s Palace Theatre in 1985, a significantly more premier theater, and ran for 19 years. The West End play then transferred once more to another location, the Queen’s Theatre (which after some time was remade and renamed to The Sondheim Theatre in roughly half a decade ago), and maintains its shows up until present day. If you include all its productions since its inception in 1980, Les Misérables is statistically the longest-running musical so far in this generation.

With almost 40 years in West End on its own and not even enumerating its productions in international locations, including and definitely not limited to its sold-out shows on Broadway, it is incontrovertible that this global hit perseveres and is epic in the perspective of the musical’s fanbase. The plot and the fully sung-through score, which revolves around justice, sacrifice, and selfless love, tugs on a viewer's heartstrings because of the evident passion beneath the surface of each character and act staged. Les Mis has become so successful that the show has been adapted to motion pictures several times and has been met with glowing reviews even on a separate medium.

This coming July’s run of Les Mis brings it to District Of Columbia, where the show will be running on Friday 11th July 2025, in Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington. For fully lyricized show like Les Misérables, fans all attest to how Kennedy Center Opera House is the finest venue due to its audio design and acoustic range, in addition to a spacious stage to host the play. For seat reservations or questions, seats can be bought by using the links that can be clicked above this page.