Les Misérables Reviews

Les Misérables Review | What The Critics Think

“‘I would seriously question whether any other show on the planet bar ‘Les Misérables’ could get away with junking its original production and carrying on as if nothing had changed. But ‘Les Mis’ could be transposed to space, or underwater, or to the height of the Hittite empire and it would basically be the same show as long as the singing was on point.”

★★★★

— Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out

“What’s the sign that you’ve seen a great musical? You wake up the next morning with the score racing through your head? Check. You consider jacking it all in to pursue a career in musical theatre? Check. You immediately plan a return trip? Double check. The West End’s longest-running musical, Les Misérables, has reopened at the refurbished and renamed Sondheim theatre (formerly the Queen’s), and what a thrill – no, a privilege – it is to “hear the people sing” once more."

★★★★★

— Miriam Gillinson, The Guardian

“The show remains a thrilling triumph. Here's to the next 35 years, as it looks set to become The Mousetrap of musical theatre; but unlike that murder mystery, there's hardly any mystery to why it's such an enduring success."

★★★★★

— Mark Shenton, London Theatre

“Swift, slick, sexy, sounding better than ever and constantly spectacular, the posters that flood Shaftesbury Avenue are, to be fair, pretty much on the money: this is a Les Mis for the 21st century.”

★★★★

— Tim Bano, The Stage

“The through-sung score, with its tum-te-tum rhythms and recurring motifs, moves from rousing anthems to passionate, spotlit declarations of love and loss. As in Hamlet, almost everybody dies, and the few that survive have their dreams smashed. It’s not my preferred cup of tea but it’s supremely well done here."

★★★★★

— Nick Curtis, Evening Standard