The long-running, much-loved musical Les Misérables will celebrate its 30th birthday on 8 October, marked by a special West End gala performance in aid of Save The Children’s Syria Children’s appeal. This poignant tale of struggle, hope and dreams reflects the human spirit that has been seen in the Syrian crisis recently, so seeing the Children’s Appeal benefit from the 30 year celebration of Les Misérables will be extremely positive.
The current London cast, led by Peter Lockyer and Jeremy Secomb as Jean Valjean and Javert respectively, will be joined for a special finale by members of the original cast and invited guests, including Colm Wilkinson, Roger Allam, Frances Ruffelle, Alfie Boe, John Owen-Jones and Gerónimo Rauch. In order to enable as many people as possible to witness these stars under one roof for the gala, 450 tickets will be made available for public sale, 350 via a lottery on ticketing app TodayTix for £50 and £500 per ticket depending on the package, and 100 via auction on the Les Misérables website.
It is clear, despite the limitations of the capacity of the Queen’s Theatre in the West End, that it would be possible to sell this performance many times over, such has been the demand for it. There are a number of invited guests who have been involved over the 30 year history of the musical, but over 40% of the house is available to fans through a lottery. Ultimately the gala is an opportunity to raise as much money through the distribution of tickets towards the Save the Children Syria Children’s Appeal, with the added bonus of a fabulous production.
Les Misérables is the world’s longest running musical and has been seen by nearly 70 million people in 44 countries. The show, which opened on 8 October 1985 at the Barbican, tells the story of former convict Jean Valjean who struggles to leave his past behind as revolution rises on the streets of Paris.