'Stage by Stage' is the story of how the musical Les Miserables came to be, showcasing some of the performers and the songs, and spending a lot of time with the composers Boublil and Schonberg, a rather prickly Herbert Krenzmer, producer Cameron Mackintosh, director Trevor Nunn, and the 'musicalising' John Caird.
If you haven't seen the show, this gives away a few things, namely that centrepiece wow factor which the musical has. It does present some of the songs in a rather dull setting (Linzi Hateley sings 'On My Own', for example) and gives a plug to the symphonic recording which brought artists from all around the globe and different productions together.
Worth watching if only to see with hindsight that a/ a film was planned of the musical in 1988 and it is still to happen; b/ how Cameron Mackintosh really struck gold with a rather obscure French CD; and c/ how the critics can be so wrong - Les Miz has now been running in London for 25 years and still runs around the world.
If you haven't seen the show, this gives away a few things, namely that centrepiece wow factor which the musical has. It does present some of the songs in a rather dull setting (Linzi Hateley sings 'On My Own', for example) and gives a plug to the symphonic recording which brought artists from all around the globe and different productions together.
Worth watching if only to see with hindsight that a/ a film was planned of the musical in 1988 and it is still to happen; b/ how Cameron Mackintosh really struck gold with a rather obscure French CD; and c/ how the critics can be so wrong - Les Miz has now been running in London for 25 years and still runs around the world.