Lessons from Les Misérables: Happy 40th Birthday

It is hard to realize, but this month the hit musical Les Misérables turns 40 years old. It was 40 years ago that this big revolutionary show was first performed at the Barbican Theatre in London.

I think there are several spiritual lessons that can be learned from both the Victor Hugo book and the story behind the making of this theatrical and musical extravaganza, including:

Success Often Requires Faith and Prudent Risks

We now look at Les Misérables as a great stage breakthrough and money-maker. But the success of this project at crucial points appeared to be very shaky.

For example, on opening night, the cast, crew, producers, director, and backers all gathered for a fabulous opening night party. They all expected rave reviews by the critics. After all, this musical included many musical, theatrical, and staging breakthroughs and innovations.

However, as the reviews came in, the London critics were very wishy-washy about the entire venture. They found it too confusing, too complex, too noisy, and too long!

Given these crummy reviews, the producers had to make a big decision. For the show to continue, they had to put down a big deposit to keep the show going at the Barbican. Putting down this ton of money on something the critics did not approve of appeared to be very risky, almost like money down a rat hole!

The producers huddled. What should they do? Well, they decided that despite the critics, they continued to have faith in their show. They felt that it would catch on despite the bad reviews. They bet that the critics would be proven wrong.

It took a great deal of guts to invest all that money in a show that got poor reviews. But they continued to hold performances of the show at the prestigious Barbican Theatre. 

Meanwhile, word-of-mouth spread the good news about the show, and it caught on. In fact, Les Misérables ran for 15,500 performances in London. It also ran for 8,000 performances on Broadway in New York City. The show has been staged in 53 different countries and translated into 22 various languages.

Just think what would not have happened if they had listened to the opening night newspaper critics. Thank goodness they didn’t! I asked myself: Where in my life can I apply this lesson?

"Les Miserables" by Otterbein University Theatre & Dance is licensed under CC BY SA 2.0

Don't Shy Away from Spirituality On Stage, Screen, Television, or the Internet

This is another important lesson that we can learn from Les Misérables. At first what the producers, director, and writers had to go with were some various scenes that a French production team had cobbled together. 

If you didn’t know all the details of Victor Hugo’s long novel, then you never would have been able to follow this original production. It was more like various scenes from the book with no real connective tissue.

The original draft kept away from spirituality. Well, the producers, director, and writers were willing to take on a difficult and almost total rewrite of the script. They decided to start off with the character Jean Valjean, who was a former convict who did time in prison for stealing bread to feed his family.

Jean Valjean steals again from a Roman Catholic bishop. The police carry Jean back to the bishop. But instead of having Jean arrested, the bishop hands Jean a silver candlestick, and tells the former convict that he had forgotten to take this gift which the bishop gave to him (and of course, that is not what happened in reality). 

Jean is so moved by this act of compassion, forgiveness, and grace that he changes the direction of his life, and for the better. Meanwhile, a cruel and unforgiving police officer, Javert, continues his pursuit of Jean.

As some of the writers of the Les Misérables script put it, they literally injected God and spirituality into the heart and soul of this wonderful musical. We may live in a very secular age, but if it is done with warmth and creativity, and not “hard sell”, there is a very large audience out there who will, and want to, listen to spiritual messages. 

Culturally Specific, But Universal Messages

In one sense Victor Hugo and Les Misérables are so steeped in French culture. It is so specifically French. And yet the message is so universal. 

Recently students in various places such as Hong Kong, Venezuela, and Turkey have sung a song from Les Misérables: “Do you hear the people sing?” Maybe this is a hallmark of a great classic that it is paradoxically both culturally specific and yet universal at the same time.

So happy 40th birthday, Les Misérables! May you not have to go through any midlife crisis!

Many blessings,

Rev. Rick