Today, \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d \u2014 the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict, being relentlessly pursued by Javert, an unforgiving police officer \u2014 is an icon of musical theater. It has run for over 15,500 performances in London and is a staple of school theater programs in the United States. \u2026 It\u2019s also been translated in 22 languages and staged in 53 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of turning Victor Hugo\u2019s sweeping 1,400-page novel about poverty and social upheaval in 19th-century France into a musical was actually that of two Frenchmen \u2014 the composer Claude-Michel Sch\u00f6nberg and the lyricist Alain Boublil \u2014 who, inspired by British and American shows, created \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d in 1980 and staged it in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So Caird, Nunn, Sch\u00f6nberg and Boublil, along with James Fenton, a poet, were soon reading Hugo\u2019s tome and trying to work out a new structure, eventually deciding to open the musical with a scene in which Jean Valjean steals silver candlesticks from a bishop, only for the prelate to forgive him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, Caird said, the character\u2019s motivations were clear: Valjean believed in the New Testament idea of forgiveness, while Javert, his pursuer, adhered to a sterner Old Testament form of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a bunch of liberal humanists, we had tried to avoid every mention of religion,\u201d Caird said, but \u201csewing God into the show was what animated the characters.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[4010,4018,4341,4342,4782],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-65117","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-freedom","tax_ctp_tags-law","tax_ctp_tags-law-grace","tax_ctp_tags-redemption"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n