Les Miserables Around the World

1980: Paris, France. The original French-language production of Les Miserables premiered at Palais Du Sports in 1980 and was directed by Robert Hossein. It ran for just a couple of months but was a success: not only did it sell out, it also led to a huge number of sales for the French concept album. And most importantly, it laid the foundations for Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Miserables in the West End, which has grown into a global phenomenon.

The West End production, translated back into French, visited the Théâtre Mogador in 1991, starring Jérôme Pradon in his musical theatre debut as Marius. In an unfortunate twist, this was the only international production of the original London Les Mis that didn’t recoup its investment! It had great initial reviews and reception, but closed after 6 months.

In 2010, Cameron Mackintosh’s new staging played at the Théâtre du Châtelet in English as part of the 25th Anniversary Tour. This fared better than the 1991 production, but the show wasn’t capturing the public here as much as it had elsewhere, until… 2024 – a revised production of Les Mis, with updated lyrics from Alain Boublil and a new set design, opened at Théâtre du Châtelet. Directed by Ladislas Chollat, this version breathed new life into the show and won 5-star reviews from critics. Magnifique!

1985: London, United Kingdom. Les Miserables is best-known as one of the most iconic West End musicals of all time, and has been open for over 40 years. It premiered at the Barbican Theatre in 1985 with the original cast including Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean, Roger Allam as Javert, Michael Ball as Marius and Patti LuPone as Fantine. It transferred to the West End’s Palace Theatre soon after and is now at the Sondheim Theatre. Check our Les Miserables London timeline for the full history!

Other notable dates for Les Mis in the UK include the Scottish premiere at Edinburgh Playhouse in 1993 and the Northern Ireland concert production at Odyssey Arena, Belfast in 2001. In Wales, the 25th Anniversary Tour opened at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.. The first Welsh language production was also staged at the Millennium Centre by Urdd Youth Theatre Company in 2015.

1987: Szeged, Hungary. Les Mis had its Hungarian premiere at the Rock Theatre from 14 – 21 August. 

1987: Reykjavik, Iceland. Performed in Icelandic, the show ran at the National Theatre from 26 December 1987 – 5 June 1988.

1988: Oslo, Norway. First full-scale mainland Europe production at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo. It’s reported that 10% of Norway’s population has seen the show in the first 6 months!

1988: Vienna, Austria. Les Miserables was first performed in Austria at the Raimund Theatre in Vienna. It ran from 15 September 1988 – 31 March 1990 and cast members included Reinhard Brussman, Norbert Lamla, Sona MacDonald, Jane Comerford, and Felix Martin.

This was also the show’s German-language premiere. Listen to “Master of the House” from the Vienna cast recording below:

1989: Gdynia, Poland. The show’s Polish premiere was at Teatr Muzyczny on 30 June 1989 and has been revived several times since.

1990: Stockholm, Sweden. Cirkus Theatre welcomed the first Swedish production of Les Mis from 12 October 1990 – 14 December 1991.

1991: Amsterdam, Netherlands. The first Dutch production of Les Miserables premiered at Carre Theatre from 28 February – 20 October 1991. It then transferred to Cirkustheater in Scheveningen until 8 March 1992.

1991: Odense, Denmark. Les Miserables’ Danish premiere took place at Odense Theater, Odense, on 20 April 1991. It ran until 22 June 1991, and the cast included Louise Fribo in her Danish stage debut as Cosette. The show then played at Copenhagen’s Østre Gasværk Teater from 27 December 1992 – 31 December 1993.

1992: Prague, Czech Republic. Les Miserables (or “Bídníci” in Czech) premiered in 1992. It ran at Prague’s Vinorhady Theatre from 25 June – 13 September. Producer Adam Novák sold the idea of a new and exciting market in Central Europe to West End producer Cameron Mackintosh, and props were even brought in from Sweden! The show was a copy of the London production, with a Czech translation by Zdeněk Borovec.

1992: Madrid, Spain. The Spanish-language premiere took place at Teatro Nuevo Apolo in Madrid from 16 September 1992 – 29 May 1994. 

1993: Dublin, Ireland. Despite originating nearby in the UK, Les Mis’ Irish premiere was almost a decade later. It ran at Point Theatre from 30 June to late September.

1996: Duisburg, Germany. Performed in English, the show ran at Theater am Marientor in Duisburg from 26 January 1996 – 28 November 1999. It first played in the country’s capital, Berlin, in 2003. 

1998: Valletta, Malta. An English-language production was staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. 

1998: Antwerp, Belgium. Les Mis premiered in Belgium on 24 May 1998 at Antwerp’s Music Hall, and closed on 25 April 1999. It was performed in both of the country’s official languages, French and Flemish (Dutch). The creative team included director Ken Caswell – who was part of the original London cast – and Paul Berkenman, who reworked Seth Gaaikema’s original Dutch translation.

1999: Helsinki, Finland. Les Miserables’ Finland premiere was in 1999 at City Theatre, Helsinki. It opened on 25 February and closed on 29 May. It has also been performed at Åbo Svenska Teater, Turku, in Finnish and Swedish. 

2001: Tallinn, Estonia. Les Miserables premiered in Estonia in 2001, playing at City Hall Theatre in Tallinn from 1 – 25 November 2001. The longest production of Les Mis in Estonia was at Vanemuine Theatre in Tartu. Directed by Samuel Harjanne and renamed Hüljatud, it opened on 25 November 2017 and closed on 19 December 2025 – an impressive eight years!

2007: Belgrade, Serbia. Opened at Madlenianum Opera and Theatre on 18 October 2007, and continues to be played in rep.

2020: Zurich, Switzerland. Les Mis’ Swiss premiere was at Theater 11 in Zurich as part of a UK, Ireland and European tour. The final night was also the tour’s 500th performance.

2024: Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. The musical was at Rokhal for just three days, 25 October – 27 October 2024, as part of the Arena World Tour.

2024: Trieste, Italy. A major moment as the long-awaited Italy premiere of Les Miserables, performed in English, was at Rossetti Theater from 7 – 11 November. The Arena Spectacular World Tour performed in Trieste followed by ten days in Milan from 14 – 24 November.

1986: Washington DC, USA. Les Miserables had an 8-week pre-Broadway run at the Kennedy Centre Opera House from 27 December 1986 – 14 February 1987. Although the opening night ran perfectly, two sold-out performances had to be cancelled after the stage revolve broke down during the second performance! 

It opened on Broadway on 12 March 1987, at the Broadway Theatre. The original Broadway cast included Colm Wilkinson as Valjean, reprising the role he originated in London. It moved to the Imperial Theatre on 17 October 1990, to make room for Cameron Mackintosh’s new musical Miss Saigon at the Broadway Theatre, and closed on 18 May 2003 after 6680 performances. At the time, it was the second-longest-running Broadway show.

A revival of Les Mis on Broadway opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on 9 November 2006. Originally intended to be a limited run, the production used set, costumes, performers, and other resources from the third US touring production. It eventually closed on 6 January 2008 after 17 previews and 463 performances.

Les Miserables has toured extensively through the US:

• 12 December 1987 – First US tour opens at Boston’s Shubert Theatre
• 1 June 1988 – Second US National tour (“the Fantine company”) opens at the Shubert Theater in Los Angeles
• 28 November 1988 – The third US National tour (“the Marius company”) opens at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Florida. This tour was one of the longest-running touring musical productions, closing on 23 July 2006 in St Louis, Missouri, after 7061 performances across seventeen years

1989: Toronto, Canada. The Canadian premiere of Les Miserables opened on 15 March at Royal Alexandra Theatre. After closing on 26 May 1992, it toured across the country, with stops including Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg; Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton and Hamilton. It even visited Honolulu in Hawaii! North American and World Tours of Les Mis have played in Canada several times since.

The French-language premiere of Les Miserables as we know it today opened in Montreal, Quebec in 1991.

1998: Hamilton, Bermuda. The show had a short, two-week run at City Hall.

2000: Buenos Aires, Argentina. 15 years after it premiered in London and 20 years after the original French production, Les Miserables finally made it to South America! From 22 March – 15 October, it played at Teatro Opera in the country’s capital city. 

2001: Sao Paulo, Brazil. After Argentina, a second South American premiere soon followed, with Teatro Abril welcoming Les Mis in April 2001. It returned to Sao Paolo 16 years later, in 2017.

Below, the 2017 cast perform “One Day More” in Portuguese.

2002: Mexico City, Mexico.Les Miserables’ Central America premiere took place at Centro Cultural Telmex. It was open from 14 November 2002 – 30 August 2004. 

2019: Caracas, Venezuela. Producer Claudia Salazar brought Les Mis to Venezuela for the very first time in 2019, and it was so successful it returned in 2023! Salazar collaborated with Argentinean director Mariano Detry to stage the production at Teresa Carreño Theater, but it wasn’t without obstacles – Salazar talks about bringing the show to Caracas in this promotional video:

1987: Tokyo, Japan. The first Japanese production of Les Mis opened at Tokyo’s Imperial Theatre on 17 June, It ran until 30 November and has since toured extensively through Japan, visiting cities like Nagoya, Osaka and Sendai.

The show is next due in Japan in 2027-2028, when a special 40th Japanese Anniversary production will open. 

1987: Tel Aviv, Israel. The first Israeli production opened at Cameri Theatre on 9 August. It closed on 31 March 1989. 

1993: Manila, Philippines. Les Miserables opened at Meralco Theatre and played from 7 – 31 October. It has returned to the Philippines several times since, most recently for the Arena Spectacular World Tour from January – March 2026.

1994: Kallang, Singapore. The Third US Tour (Marius Company) made a special trip to Kallang, where they performed from 3 February – 17 April. 

1996: Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Les Mis’ Hong Kong premiere was part of the first Asian/African Tour. It played at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. 

1996: Seoul, South Korea. The Les Miserables Korea premiere was at Seoul Arts Center. The first all Korean-language production was in 2012 at the Poeun Art Hall in Yongin. 

2002: Shanghai, China. The US Tour (Marius Company) opened Shanghai’s Grand Theatre with a three-week engagement, becoming the first Western musical production to visit China. It was a sensation and paved the way for more musicals to visit including The Phantom of the Opera, Matilda and Wicked. 23 years later, Les Mis returned to Shanghai for a 55 day residency as part of the 40th Anniversary World Tour. 

2016: Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Les Miserables played at the newly-opened Dubai Opera as part of the Australian/International Tour. Performed in English, the cast included John Owen-Jones as Valjean, Carrie Hope Fletcher as Eponine and Jodie Prenger as Madame Thenardier. 

2025: Taipei, Taiwan. Performed in English and part of the World Tour, Les Miserables finally visited Taiwan four decades after its West End premiere. It ran at National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei before moving on to National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts. In total there were 57 performances in Taiwan.

1987: Sydney, Australia. The Australian premiere of Les Miserables was at Theatre Royal, Sydney from 27 November 1987 – 17 August 1991 with the original cast including Normie Rowe as Valjean and Philip Quast as Javert. It went on to tour the country, with stops in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. In 1997, a 10th Anniversary Australian tour visited Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. More recently, the Arena Spectacular Tour stopped off in Australia in April and May 2025. 

Watch a clip of Les Miserables in Sydney from 1989 below.

1991: Auckland, New Zealand. The Australian Les Miserables production toured to New Zealand in the early ‘90s, playing at ACTEA Theatre, Auckland. The show has also been performed in Wellington, most recently at St James Theatre in 2022.

1996: Cape Town, South Africa. This was the first time Les Mis was performed in any African country, at the Nico Theatre.

1999: Mahebourg, Mauritius. The Mauritian premiere played at Municipal Theatre from 12 – 28 June. 

2023: Sheikh Zayed, Egypt. The first full-scale Egyptian-Arabic production premiered at Theatro Arkan, translated by Dr. Sarah Ananyt.