John Owen-Jones joins Broadway's Les Misérables tonight

Welsh musical theatre star John Owen-Jones assumes the role of Jean Valjean tonight in the Broadway production of Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Tony Award-winning musical Les Misérables at the Imperial Theatre and will remian with the show for the remainder of its run through to 4 September 2016. Alfie Boe played his final performance in the role on 28 February 2016 and will join the Broadway cast of Finding Neverland as J.M. Barrie on 29 March 2016.

John Owen-Jones, who recently starred as The Phantom in Mackintosh's West End production of 'The Phantom of the Opera,' has previously played the role of Jean Valjean both in the West End and on Broadway (in 2007). As well as being the longest-running Phantom (with almost 2,000 performances to date), Owen-Jones has also released four albums as a recording artist.

Les Misérables opened at the Imperial Theatre on 23 March 2014, following previews from 1 March 2014.

Les Misérables is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and features music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, original adaption by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and additional material by James Fenton.

The principal cast currently includes John Owen-Jones (Jean Valjean), Hayden Tee (Javert), Alison Luff (Fantine), Brennyn Lark (Eponine), Chris McCarrell (Marius), Alex Finke (Cosette), Gavin Lee (Thenardier), Rachel Izen (Madame Thenardier), and Wallace Smith (Enjolras).

Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, Les Misérables is "an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. The score includes the classic songs 'I Dreamed a Dream,' 'On My Own,' 'Stars,' 'Bring Him Home,' 'Do You Hear the People Sing?,' 'One Day More,' 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,' 'Master Of The House,' and many more."

This newly re-imagined production is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell, designed by Matt Kinley inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo with costumes by Andreane Neofitou and additional costumes by Christine Rowlands, lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Mick Potter and projections by Fifty-Nine Productions. The original Les Misérables orchestrations are by John Cameron with new orchestrations by Christopher Jahnke and additional orchestrations by Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker.

Les Misérables originally premiered at the Barbican Theatre in a co-production with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1985. It transferred to the Palace Theatre in December of that year and then moved to its current home at the Queen's Theatre in April 2004 where it is still playing today.

In October 2006 Les Misérables took over the title of World's Longest Running Musical followed by two other Cameron Mackintosh productions, Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'The Phantom of the Opera' and 'Cats.'

The Broadway production of Les Misérables originally opened at the Broadway Theatre on 12 March 1987 and transferred to the Imperial Theatre on 17 October 1990 running for 6,680 performances. The musical returned to Broadway on 9 November 2006 where the show played the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on 6 January 2008.

The Universal film version of Les Misérables co-produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Working Title Films, and directed by Tom Hooper, has grossed $150 million domestically and nearly $400 million worldwide since its 2012 Christmas Day release. The film received the Golden Globe Award as Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) and received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

- by Tom Millward