I recently went with my mother in law to see Les Miserables the musical. She goes with a group of lady friends every year and this year they earned free tickets and she was gracious and kind enough to invite me to go!
It was AMAZING!! The performance was spectacular and the music was inspiring!!! I highly recommend it if you ever have a chance to go!
I got the Abridged version of the book. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo from the library before going and got through about half way. I am glad I read it some before going, although the many chapters I read were covered with in 4 scenes of the play. I am now trying to finish the story so I understand more of the back ground.
I had decided to read it because so many things in life are referenced from Les Miserables from other people, I wanted to know the story myself.
It was a great cultural experience.
Here is the story if you are as unfamiliar with it as I was.
The musical is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th century France, it follows the intertwining stories of a cast of characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. The characters include a paroled convict named Jean Valjean who, failing attempts to find work as an honest man with his yellow ticket of leave, breaks his parole and conceals his identity; the police inspector Javert who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean; Fantine, the single mother who is forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter Cosette; Cosette, who, after her mother's death, becomes Jean Valjean's adopted daughter (and who eventually falls in love with a revolutionary student named Marius Pontmercy); the Thénardiers, the unscrupulous innkeepers who initially foster Cosette, and who thrive on cheating and stealing; Éponine, their young daughter who is hopelessly in love with Marius; Gavroche, a young beggar boy; and a student leader Enjolras who plans the revolt to free the oppressed lower classes of France. The main characters are joined by an ensemble that includes prostitutes, student revolutionaries, factory workers, and others.(From Wikipedia Les Miserables the Musical)
