Les Miserables World's Longest Running Musicals Poster

The English-language version, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and additional material by James Fenton, was substantially expanded and reworked from a literal translation by Siobhan Bracke of the original Paris version, in particular adding a prologue to tell Jean Valjean's background story. Kretzmer's lyrics are not a direct translation of the French, a term that Kretzmer refused to use. A third of the English lyrics were a rough translation, another third were adapted from the French lyrics and the final third consisted of new material. The majority is performed in recitative style; the vocalists use natural speech, not musical metrics at the Queens Theatre London

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