Les Misérables

After its run at the Théâtre du Châtelet, the musical returns in spring 2026 for a tour of France. The performance will take place on April 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM at the Zénith in Lille. Nominated for a Molières award in the musical show category, the adaptation of Victor Hugo’s work, seen by more than 130 million spectators worldwide, will be presented in a new staging by Ladislas Chollat. Forty-six years after its first stage adaptation in 1980, this new French-language production, whose libretto was reworked by Alain Boublil for the occasion, offers a chance to rediscover numerous timeless songs: "J’avais rêvé," "À la volonté du peuple," "Mon histoire," "Le grand jour."

In service of the text, Ladislas Chollat’s direction conveys the complexity of the characters through their symbolic dimensions: Jean Valjean’s redemption, Cosette’s innocence, Javert’s antagonism, the Thénardiers’ greed, and Gavroche’s courage. As a painter of the human soul, Victor Hugo spares no shade. “The heroes of Les Misérables are described in the smallest recesses of their souls, in both their dark and light sides,” the director explains.

The various tableaux succeed one another amid a flow of monumental sets (barricades, the Thénardiers’ inn, the ballroom, the sewers of Paris) that occupy the entire stage. The production brings together 64 artists—actors and musicians—for nearly three hours of performance. Victor Hugo’s epic unfolds with the music of Claude-Michel Schönberg and the libretto by Alain Boublil, and it still resonates today.