In college, I was a huge fan of ‘Les Miserables.’ I seem to remember that people who were into French literature preferred Hugo’s poetry.
The only shows I saw as a kid were that holy trinity: ‘Les Miz,’ ‘Cats,’ ‘Phantom.’
There’s great cars, and then there’s Aston Martins. Same thing for the 1959 Les Paul – it’s an authentic piece of art that can never truly be replicated, and its mysteries are special.
I damaged my health during ‘Les Mis,’ which I didn’t want to mention in case it seemed like I was courting sympathy.
My idol is Emile Zola. He was a man of the left, so people expected of him a kind of ‘Les Miserables,’ in which the underdogs are always noble people. But he went out, and found a lot of ambitious, drunk, slothful and mean people out there. Zola simply could not – and was not interested in – telling a lie.
Couture has a power that ready-to-wear can never have; the attention of les petites mains as they sew; all that love and belief goes into the cloth. That’s what you feel when you wear it.
It’s fun, but the fun is where it always was. I mean, it’s still fun to strap on my Les Paul in the basement and turn up the Marshall amp. I’m still 15. I still enjoy that as much as I ever did.
There’s sort of an open offer to work with a guy in Los Angeles who does big band and orchestra arrangements who was at least an acquaintance to Les Baxter before he passed away.
The last thing the theatre owners wanted was for people who spent $200 to see ‘Les Miserables’ to come out again and see the real miserable children of America, right there on the sidewalk.
It’s sad when you see most of your friends in the business gone, like Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howard, Eric Morecambe, Roy Castle, Les Dawson. They were very dear to me. You no longer have the chance to bump into them at a celebrity do.
Lots of people are astounded that I was in the first cast of ‘Les Miserables.’ Possibly because I look so incredibly youthful.
I didn’t know I could sing until I auditioned for ‘Les Miserables.’ My friend was auditioning, and I wanted to audition too.
My father would take me to auditions and put me in the room right in the corner because he was watching me; he couldn’t get a babysitter. He’d be at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the LES until four in the morning, trying to tell his story and using his craft, but because he had a kid that didn’t let him stop.
There’s something about uninterrupted singing that just doesn’t work for me, because at some point, I need my characters to talk. Without meaning to offend anyone, a musical like ‘Les Miserables’ would be the last thing I’d ever be interested in.
The first year I was on ‘Les Mis’ there was strictly no filming backstage, then slowly social media proved invaluable to building an audience.
Usually, if I want to just listen to something or sing along to something, I’ll put on some Gavin DeGraw or some Billy Joel. Occasionally, if I am feeling vocally in really great shape, I will sing Jean Valjean’s soliloquy from ‘Les Miz’ or something.
My first reaction when I watched Les Miserables was, ‘Wow, my hair looks good!’ They put half a wig in, and I was always kinda worried it was gonna make my head look twice as big!
I’ve dreamt of being in a movie musical for a long time. For some reason I never even thought ‘Les Mis’ would be possible.
I’m doing ‘Les Miserables,’ the movie. I’ve done a lot of musicals and a lot of movies, and I know there are not a lot of people in Hollywood who have been down those two paths so I’ve been like, ‘Come on, let’s do a movie/musical.’
It’s sad when you see most of your friends in the business gone, like Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howard, Eric Morecambe, Roy Castle, Les Dawson. They were very dear to me. You no longer have the chance to bump into them at a celebrity do.
I tried a Les Paul when I was a lot younger. I tried the Les Paul, and because of the weight of the thing, it nearly dislocated my hip.
My first reaction when I watched Les Miserables was, ‘Wow, my hair looks good!’ They put half a wig in, and I was always kinda worried it was gonna make my head look twice as big!
Naturally, as a little boy, I did lots of naughty things. With Les, the son of the farm manager, I was always climbing on high roofs, then tumbling off, or building dangerous networks of tunnels in the hay bales.
When I was little, I saw the play ‘Les Miserables’ on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
I wore out the VHS of the ‘Les Mis’ 10th anniversary. Lea Salonga played a big part in my childhood; I was very influenced by her Eponine.
My guitar is a mutation between a classic Fender Stratocaster guitar, which I played for years, and a Gibson solid-body like an SG or a Les Paul. It contains all sounds of the basic classic rock n’ roll guitars. It does what I want it to do.
I really enjoy working with luthiers, and have a couple of really old Les Pauls and one of my original Strats that I still carry on the road.
I have loved ‘Les Miz’ for so long. It was the first Broadway show I’d ever done.
I just wanted to see every single musical I could. The very first one I saw was ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ the only one I could get tickets for, and then ‘Les Miserables’ and then ‘Chicago.’
I’ve had two owners – Jim Dolan and Les Alexander in Houston. Both were terrific. They wanted to win badly and gave you the resources to win.
I couldn’t not play a Les Paul guitar. Les always used to point to my Strat and say, ‘Why do you have that piece of crap around your neck?’ I’d say, ‘Yours are too heavy. I had to drill holes in it.’
I met Les Paul when I was about 5. I was taken to see him perform and the place was sold out, just packed and full of really great musicians.
I went to a performing arts school. I went to an audition for a musical, ‘Les Miserables,’ in the West End, and I got in, and my parents were like, ‘Oh, you can sing?’ So I kind of started singing properly when I was, like, seven.
My guitar is a mutation between a classic Fender Stratocaster guitar, which I played for years, and a Gibson solid-body like an SG or a Les Paul. It contains all sounds of the basic classic rock n’ roll guitars. It does what I want it to do.
When I was younger and I did West End shows like ‘Les Mis,’ ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Chitty,’ I was blissfully ignorant – it was amazing to be a part of, but I didn’t realise the scale of it all and how important a role it would play in my life when I grew up. It was just a fun thing I’d do every couple of days.
When I was doing ‘Les Mis,’ someone sent me a collection of pencil rubbers.
My favorite is still the one that I started off with, which is a Les Paul Standard. I’ve played that at every gig I’ve ever had. And that’s my starting point in the studio.
I pride myself on not being run of the mill. I don’t want to be your umpteenth Fantine in ‘Les Miz.’
In the modern operas that ‘Miss Saigon’ and ‘Les Miz’ are, nobody breaks out into song from conventional book dialogue. Everything is sung from beginning to end, including the recitative.
Sure, ‘Les Miserables’ can be melodramatic. And seeing the musical instead of reading the novel will save you some time and spare you the long part where Hugo goes on and on about the Parisian sewer system. But I would hate for the novel to lose that.
Les Miserables is one of my favorite stories.
When I was little, I saw the play ‘Les Miserables’ on Broadway, I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
‘Les Miserables’, the book, ‘Les Miserables’, the musical – it’s about giving; it’s about goodness. It’s about compassion and love.
For the ‘Load’ album, I was experimenting so much with tone that I had to keep journals on what equipment I was using. For ‘Hero of the Day,’ I know I used a 1958 Les Paul Standard with a Matchless Chieftain, some Boogie amps and a Vox amp – again, they’re all blended.
I was always that kid. When I got ice cream, I put it in my eye. When I got my license, I got pulled over so many times for playing ‘Les Mis’ too loud.
I’ve heard everyone do ‘Bring Him Home’ from ‘Les Miserables.’ When Colm Wilkinson did it, I truly never thought I would hear anyone as good, never mind better.
I love’ Les Mis,’ and I owe it a lot, because I wouldn’t have been born without it.
Milan Kundera was my literature professor. He’s a Francophile, so he made us read French novels like ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses,’ which I made a version of many years later as ‘Valmont.’
Les Paul was my godfather.
My first guitar, a Fender Jazz Master, I traded it in for a Les Paul Deluxe.
You could do a ‘Les Mis’-type musical about Hamilton, but it would have to be 12 hours long, because the amount of words on the bars when you’re writing a typical song – that’s maybe got 10 words per line.
My first guitar, a Fender Jazz Master, I traded it in for a Les Paul Deluxe.
I wore out the VHS of the ‘Les Mis’ 10th anniversary. Lea Salonga played a big part in my childhood; I was very influenced by her Eponine.
You could do a ‘Les Mis’-type musical about Hamilton, but it would have to be 12 hours long, because the amount of words on the bars when you’re writing a typical song – that’s maybe got 10 words per line.
I can’t comprehend that I’m in the film of ‘Les Miserables.’ It’s one of those dreams I thought would be unattainable for someone like me, who came from nowhere.
