“First, we have this amazing cast, most of whom weren’t even born when the show first opened. “I am very glad we couldn’t make the movie until now, because three very important things have happened.
The most successful producer in the history of musical theatre sighs a little sigh but then turns his smile onto full again. Who could have guessed that Les Misérables would still be running 25 years later in a North American tour (“that’s grossing 110 per cent each week”) as the film prepares to open officially on Christmas.īut that was too long a wait for Parker and he called up Mackintosh one day and said, “Cam, I’m sorry, but I’m not there any more to do it.” At the time, he had started the mega-musical juggernaut rolling in 1981 with Cats, but still ahead were his incredible global triumphs as producer of The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. You see, it was such a huge success on the stage I didn't want the film to come out for five years. “We took meetings, I loved his ideas, we put plans in motion, but then the reason he didn’t do it was my fault. “In the end, I said that the show has proven a success, thank God, so I will only go with it if I find the right director.”įor a while, Mackintosh thought he had found him in Alan Parker, the filmmaker who at that point had such varied successes and Fame and Midnight Express under his belt. Mackintosh suddenly lowers his eyebrows in a disapproving way which is pure Louis XVI. They all kept saying, ‘It could be a brilliant movie, just not like it is on the stage.’ ” “The problem was that nobody back then wanted a through-sung musical. Everybody thought the next step was a film version and I agreed. The show had opened in London, then on Broadway and in Tokyo. “How long have I wanted to see this day happen? Literally for 25 years. The initial public screenings of the film version of Les Misérables have proven to be emotional events, accompanied by wild applause and standing ovations, not the more usual crunching of popcorn and scratching of notes. Sir Cameron Mackintosh is sitting in an elegant hotel high above Manhattan’s Central Park, looking for all the world like a contented cat who has swallowed a very tasty canary.Īnd he has good reason to feel that way today. NEW YORK-He dreamed a dream, but it took a quarter century to come true.
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