Tony Awards: Every Best Play Winner Since 1947
Since 1947, the Tony Awards have recognized an array of remarkable shows with the coveted title of Best Play. From timeless classics like Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman to modern-day masters such as Alan Bennett's The History Boys and Michael Morpurgo's War Horse. Through their captivating narratives and spellbinding performances, the plays remind us why the Tonys have a knack for recognizing the timeless magic that leaves audiences longing for an encore.
The most recent winner was Purpose, which won at the 2025 Tonys.
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Scroll through the gallery to take a look back at all the Best Play winners.
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Buzz Feed
38 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Here's What The "Glee" Cast Is Up To, 10 Years Later
Hey, my name is Abby, and I have a confession: I'm a massive Gleek. I've watched Glee more times than I can count, and nothing fills me with more joy than listening to my "Glee songs that beat the original" playlist. It's the best Glee playlist you'll ever find. Highly recommend downloading. So when I recently discovered that it's been TEN YEARS since the final episode of Glee (which came out on March 20, 2015), I went into a full-blown spiral. Like, no wonder the world has been so dark in the last decade — it's because we're living in a Glee-less world. Anyway, I know everyone isn't as caught up on all things Glee (like, not all of us stalk the entire cast religiously on a weekly basis)...so I thought I'd update everyone on what the cast looks like now, as well as what they've been up to. Because there are TONSSSS of updates you need to know about. Just a note here before we begin: this list does not include Cory Monteith, Mark Salling, and Naya Rivera, as they have passed away. Lea Michele played Rachel Berry on Glee. She was 28 when Glee ended, and now she's 38. As we all probably know, Lea starred in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl in you might not know that she's about to return to Broadway this coming year! She's starring in the first revival of Chess alongside Aaron Tveit (a freaking legend, by the way, who I may or may not be in love with). Lea also has two kids with her husband Zandy Reich. Matthew Morrison played Will Schuester on Glee. He was 36 when the show ended, and he's now 46. Matthew has two kids with his wife, Renee Puente. In 2020, he notoriously starred as the Grinch in Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live!, and he was (briefly) a judge on So You Think You Can Dance in 2022. He starred in Hallmark romance A Paris Christmas Waltz in 2023. Matthew is about to begin performing at Café Carlyle in New York City. Dianna Agron played Quinn Fabray on Glee. She was 29 when the show ended, and she's now 39. Dianna has been in a few films since Glee ended, primarily independent films. You might have seen her in Shiva Baby (2020), As They Made Us (2022), Clock (2023) as well as Season 1 of The Chosen One in 2023. My editor also gave me specific instructions to mention her starring in "gay nun movie" Novitiate in 2017, which is nothing short of legendary. She sings at the Café Carlyle in New York City, too. Darren Criss played Blaine Anderson on Glee. He was 28 when Glee ended, and he's now 38. Darren is the latest Glee Tony Award winner! He won his very first Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending in 2025 (which had me screaming and crying). But before that, he got a Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG Award for his role in the 2018 series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Plus, he's a dad now — he's got two kids with his wife, Mia Swier. Jonathan Groff played Jessie St. James on Glee. He was 30 when the show ended, and he's now 40. Speaking of Tony winners…in 2024, Jonathan won his first Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for the revival of Merrily We Roll Along — yes, the same award Darren just won! He was also nominated (against Darren) this year for playing Bobby Darin in Just In Time, a show he's still starring in. He was also in Hamilton, Mindhunter, Frozen 2…and many, many more. Jane Lynch played Sue Sylvester on Glee. She was 54 when Glee ended, and she's now 64. Jane has been in several shows since Glee, including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (which won her an Emmy in 2019), Velma, and Only Murders in the Building. She also hosted two game shows: Hollywood Game Night and Weakest Link; she's still hosting the latter. And bonus: Jane was in the same Broadway production of Funny Girl as Lea Michele, but she exited the show in 2022, before Lea started. Chris Colfer played Kurt Hummel on Glee. He was 25 when the show ended, and he's now 35. Chris Colfer isn't really acting anymore — he's a children's book author now! Not too long after Glee, he wrote a six-book series called The Land of Stories, and he's now in the middle of writing another series. The first book is called Roswell Johnson Saves the World! and it came out in 2024. Amber Riley played Mercedes Jones on Glee. She was 29 when Glee ended, and she's 39 now. Amber is a singer (duh), and goes by her stage name RILEY; her EP came out in 2020. Shortly after Glee, she played the first Effie in the London West End show Dreamgirls The Musical. She won The Masked Singer in 2022, and she also starred in the 2022 horror film Single Black Female, which got a sequel in 2024. The third Single Black Female movie comes out later in 2025. Kevin McHale played Artie Abrams on Glee. He was 26 when the show ended, and he's now 36. Kevin has had a range of projects since Glee: he hosted the show Virtually Famous from 2014–2016; competed in The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019 and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race in 2022; and released an EP called Boy in 2019. But more recently, he's known for hosting (my favourite) podcast, And That's What You REALLY Missed, a Glee recap podcast with Jenna Ushkowitz, who played Tina. And speaking of Jenna… Jenna Ushkowitz played Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee. She was 29 when the show ended, and she's now 39. Now we're all aware Jenna hosts And That's What You REALLY Missed with Kevin McHale. But you might not know that Jenna has TWO Tony Awards (!!!) for producing Once on This Island in 2018 and The Inheritance in 2020. Jenna has also been in a couple shows and movies post-Glee, including Hello Again (2017), 1 Night in San Diego (2020), and Yellow Fever (2017). She appeared in the TV show Unconventional, which premiered in 2022. And can't forget, Jenna now has two kids with her husband David Stanley! Heather Morris played Britney S. Pierce on Glee. She was 28 when Glee ended, and she's 38 now. Heather continued with comedy shortly after Glee on the TV shows Comedy Bang! Bang! and Whose Line Is It Anyway?. She later competed on Dancing With The Stars in 2017 and won The Masked Dancer in 2022. Most recently, she was in Season 2 of the TV show So Help Me Todd in 2024, as well as Santa Fake in 2019 and Cora Bora in 2023. And she's a mom to two kids with her husband Taylor Hubbell. Jayma Mays played Emma Pillsbury on Glee. She was 35 when Glee ended, and she's now 45. Like many of the former Glee stars, Jayma has been acting since the show. Some of her notable projects include American Made (2017), Disenchanted (2022), and voice acting in The Adventures of Puss in Boots and Smurfs: The Lost Village. Plus, we've got another Glee mom here — she has a son with her husband Adam Campbell. Chord Overstreet played Sam Evans on Glee. He was 26 when the show ended, and he's now 36. You probably know Chord's song "Hold On" — it came out in 2017 and went TikTok viral in 2020. Since then, he's been releasing folk/singer-songwriter songs (and they're all bangers, I'll add). He starred opposite Lindsay Lohan in the 2022 romance movie Falling for Christmas, and he's also been in the show Acapulco since the pilot in 2021. Harry Shum Jr. played Mike Chang on Glee. He was 33 when the show ended, and he's 43 now. Harry has been super successful in Hollywood post-Glee, which we absolutely LOVE to see. We all know he was in Crazy Rich Asians in 2018, but he's also starred in All My Life (2020), Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and the Shadowhunters TV show from 2016–2019. Plus, he just wrapped up his third season starring in Grey's Anatomy. And how could I forget: Harry has a daughter with his wife Shelby Rabara. Dot-Marie Jones played Sheldon Bieste on Glee. She was 51 when the show ended, and she's 61 now. Dot-Marie has been acting a ton since playing Bieste! She was in multiple seasons of American Horror Story, and she appeared in The Resident and Modern Family toward the end of the 2010s. She's also been in several movies since Glee, including Rag Doll (2019), Greener Grass (2019), Golden Arm (2020), and Bar Fight! (2022). Alex Newell played Wade "Unique" Adams on Glee. They were 22 when Glee ended, and they're now 32. Alex is our next Tony-winning Glee cast member, having won their first Tony Award in 2023 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Shucked. (Yes, that means Glee cast members have won Tonys for three years in a row!!) They were also in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island in 2018, and the (incredible) TV show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist from 2020–2021. Annnnd lastly, you might've recognized Alex in Another Simple Favor alongside Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. Melissa Benoist played Marley Rose on Glee. She was 26 when Glee ended, and she's 36 now. Melissa is best known for playing the titular character in Supergirl, which ran from 2015–2021. But aside from that, she's been in a TON of other movies and shows — notably, the first and only season of The Girls on the Bus (2024), Patriots Day (2016), and Billy Boy (2017). And she stars in the first season of The Waterfront, premiering on Netflix in late June 2025. Melissa is a mom to one son with her husband Chris Wood. Jacob Artist played Jake Puckerman on Glee. He was 22 when the show ended, and he's now 32. The same year Glee ended, Jacob starred in Quantico. He was in the first two seasons, from 2015–2016, and the following year, he was in the crime-thriller Blood Money. Since then, he was in Now Apocalypse (2019) and Haunting on Fraternity Row (2018), among others. In 2024, he came out with his first single called "BEFORE." Becca Tobin played Kitty Wilde on Glee. She was 29 when the show ended, and she's now 39. Becca has co-hosted the podcast The Lady Gang since 2015, which has been hugely successful — it was turned into a series on E! in 2018 for one season. And she's still acting, too; she starred in the Hallmark movie Love at First Dance in 2018, A Song For Christmas in 2017, and The Wedding Contract in 2023. Who's your favourite Glee cast member? Whose glow-up shocked you the most? Tell me in the comments below! Let's Gleek out together!!! And check out BuzzFeed Canada on Instagram and TikTok for more celeb content!
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
See George Lopez, eat Cajun food, and watch 'Hamilton' this weekend in Des Moines
Off Hours, your free weekly newsletter from the Des Moines Register, showcases all things fun you can do in central Iowa. June 12-15: 'I am not throwing away my shot,' proclaims Alexander Hamilton in this Broadway hit making its return to the Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines. This epic saga told through dramatic acting and song follows the rise of Hamilton as he fights for honor, love, and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. 'Hamilton' is based on Ron Chernow's acclaimed biography and is set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway tunes. See it on June 12 and 14 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., June 13 at 7:30 p.m., and June 15 at 1 p.m. Tickets start at $45 at June 12-15: Catch the Venardos Circus as the performance with no animals takes over the Outlets of Des Moines, 801 Bass Pro Drive, Altoona. The show includes the singing ringmaster Julia Swann, the Reyes Brothers' juggling perch pole, the mind-bending contortion of Nordic Beauty Sno Bunta, slapstick sensation Sam Ferlo, Duo Dadiva's astonishing aerial acrobatics, the ridiculous Rob Lok, Priscilla and Jonathan's Diabolical Daggers, and the Wicked Wheel of Wonder. Tickets start at $16.95 for the 7 p.m. show on June 12 and 13; 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. shows on June 14; and 2 and 5 p.m. shows on June 15. June 12-15: Actor Harvey Fierstein's 'Torch Song,' a two-act revival of the 'Torch Song Trilogy,' tells the story of Arnold Beckoff, a torch song-singing, Jewish drag queen living in New York City in the late 1970s into the 1980s. A visit from his overbearing mother reveals that he needs one more thing — respect. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. shows on June 12-14 and 2 p.m. shows on June 14-15 start at $45. See it at the Stoner Theater on the first floor of the Des Moines Civic Center, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines. June 12-14: Billy Crocker will do anything to be near Hope Harcourt, even stowing away on the S.S. American. Crocker enlists a nightclub singer and a gangster, and all wear elaborate costumes to break Hope's engagement to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in 'Anything Goes.' The Tallgrass Theater and West Des Moines Parks & Rec team up on this production that takes place at 7:30 p.m. June 12-14, with a suggested donation of $25. The Des Moines Community Orchestra performs, playing songs from Cole Porter. See it at the Jamie Hurd Amphitheater at 4100 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines. Bring your chairs, blankets, and picnic items, or visit Harrington's Dining Car on June 12, El Delicioso Street Tacos on June 13, or Momma Moody's Grinders on June 14. June 12: Grammy and Tony Award-winning jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater puts her own spin on jazz classics. She most recently won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for 'Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.' Bill Charlap brings his jazz piano chops to the stage with Bridgewater for a 7:30 p.m. show at Hoyt Sherman Place, 1501 Woodland Ave., Des Moines. Tickets start at $49. June 13-14: Proud 'N Pink with the Des Moines Gay Men's Chorus brings a celebration of love and strength that combines power-pop anthems of Pink, the poems of Maya Angelou, and songs from artists such as Chappell Roan, Pentatonix, Janelle Monáe, Doechii, and Bad Bunny. Tickets for the show at the Temple Theater, 1011 Locust St., Des Moines, start at $37.50 for a 7:30 p.m. performance on June 13 and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. sets on June 14. June 13: The Ruan Center, 666 Grand Ave., Des Moines, hosts Winefest's Sips in the City starting at 6 p.m., or 5 p.m. for VIP ticket holders. The event includes samples of wines, bites from local restaurants, and a live deejay. Tickets start at $50. More: Where to find the essential bars that offer elevated cocktails in the Des Moines metro June 13: Cabaret shows are big this spring in Des Moines with Domita Sanchez bringing hers to Noce, 1326 Walnut St., Des Moines, at 7 p.m. 'The Domita Sanchez Show' will feature some drag, as well as vocals performed with a 10-piece big band. Tickets start at $49. More: Meet Domita DeBaun Sanchez, the drag queen taking Noce in Des Moines by storm June 14: Cajun food comes to West Des Moines when Cajun Fest returns, this time at The Hall, 111 S. 11th St., West Des Moines. The celebration of food, music, and live entertainment from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. includes all-you-can-eat food tickets for $45. A crawfish boil, gumbo, jambalaya, beignets, dirty rice, and more are on the docket. More: How to spend the perfect day in Valley Junction with restaurants, bars and shopping June 14-21: Art on The Avenues brings local art and creative collaborations to Ingersoll Avenue. Each day brings something new to restaurants, in parks, on sidewalks, and in galleries. On June 14, the North of Grand Art Stroll from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 37th and 38th features a neighborhood block party with local artists and creative projects. All week, check out a Feast For Your Eyes as local chefs and mixologists team up. Artist Paul Matykowski is working with Oak Park, artist Toni Corbett is working with The Bartender's Handshake, and artist Jennifer Gauerke is working with Harbinger to create art-inspired menu items. The Doodle Wall will feature doodles by five local artists moving to different locations all week. Get the full schedule online at June 14-15: Des Moines Performing Arts brings the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus to Cowles Commons, 221 Walnut St., Des Moines, for a free show at 10:30 a.m. The hybrid of vaudeville, circus, and sideshow spectacle includes jugglers, acrobats, contortionists, plate spinning, sword swallowing, brain twisters, and other risk-taking feats set to live music. Additional shows take place at 10:30 a.m. on June 15 at Walker Johnston Park, 9000 Douglas Ave. in Urbandale, and at 6:30 p.m. on June 15 at Columbus Park, 1921 S.E. First St. in Des Moines. June 14: Living History Farms, 11121 Hickman Road, Urbandale, hosts the Filipino Fiesta from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. This free festival from the Filipino American Society of Iowa brings a full day of music, food, dance, and cultural exploration. Multiple food vendors will serve lumpia, sisig, pancit, and halo-halo. June 14: This celebration features all-local, all-queer vendors and performances, a free book exchange, complimentary event food and beverages, and all-ages activities from noon to 5 p.m. at Des Moines Water Works Park, 2201 George Flagg Parkway, Des Moines. Get the full schedule on Instagram at June 14: This new festival at Jasper Winery, 2400 George Flagg Parkway, Des Moines, from 3 to 11 p.m. features barbecue from Smokey D's BBQ, Cornbred Barbecue, Whatcha Smokin? BBQ, and Farm Boys BBQ, and music from bluegrass band Arkansauce, country and Americana act Cole Chaney, roots rock from Cousin Curtiss, outlaw country from Alex Williams, and classic rock and country from Jordan Beem. Tickets are $50 for music and barbecue and $30 for music only. Children age 10 and younger are free. More: New Free Range Music and BBQ Festival coming to Des Moines' Jasper Winery this summer. June 14: George 'Fluffy' Iglesias has starred on television shows and films, and performed stand-up on late-night television and in front of an audience, including last year at the Iowa State Fair. Now he returns to Des Moines with a show at Hoyt Sherman Place, 1501 Woodland Ave., Des Moines, at 8 p.m. with tickets for $70.50 to $100.50. His latest comedy series for NBC, 'Lopez vs Lopez,' features his real-life daughter, Mayan Lopez, in a fictionalized version of their real-life relationship. Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@ This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Things to do in Des Moines this weekend: George Lopez, 'Hamilton'
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Why does Trump like ‘Les Mis'? The many meanings of the megamusical.
Claudia Salazar had the crazy idea to produce 'Les Miserables' in Venezuela in 2019, at the height of the demonstrations raging against the authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro, when violence scarred the streets and citizens struggled to find food and medical care. 'I decided that my biggest protest was to put on 'Les Mis' in the country that was living 'Les Mis,'' recalls Salazar, now 39. During rehearsals, the company lost power for several days; the threat of violence sent the director fleeing home to London for a bit. But when the show finally went up at the Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, it sold out most of its 12-performance run. 'They came from the streets to the stage,' she says of the cast. 'They knew exactly what they were portraying to the audience.' 'Siento libertad,' one audience member said as she left the theater: I feel freedom. 'Les Miserables' has sparked all sorts of feelings in the 130 million people who have seen it over the past 40 years, since the musical based on Victor Hugo's 1862 epic novel first opened on the London stage in 1985. 'I love the songs, I love the play,' President Donald Trump proclaimed last week ahead of its return to the Kennedy Center Wednesday through July 13, the first Broadway musical tour to arrive since his takeover of the institution. Trump has organized a fundraiser for the center around the first night's performance, with guests paying up to $2 million. A chunk of the main cast plans to boycott. Some may hear a dissonance between the show's values and Trump's; for others in this left-leaning city, the three hours in the Opera House could be portal to a better world, like how 'The West Wing' became a balm to liberals during Trump's first term. But theatergoers across the political spectrum have long seen themselves in the populist uprising at the center of the story — and with its romance and heroism, 'Les Mis' can appeal to the hearts and minds of just about anyone. The tour's last stop before D.C. was at the Stranahan Theater in Toledo, a Democratic stronghold of an increasingly red state, where some theatergoers at Saturday's matinee found their politics reinforced. 'I first saw 'Les Mis' in the late 1980s on Broadway when my friends and I were the 'angry men' because so many people were dying of AIDS — and every time I've seen it again it has reminded me of how important resistance is,' recalled retired hairdresser Will Lawson, 68, of Toledo. 'You can't watch it today and not relate it to the cruelty of the current administration toward people who are undocumented, can you?' Jerri Carpenter, 50, a ride-share driver from Milan, Mich., saw parallels between the protagonist, Jean Valjean, and Trump, in having been 'wrongly accused, never given the benefit of the doubt, constantly hounded and chased by the Democrats.' The lyric 'the blood of the martyrs will water the meadows of France' resonated with retired autoworker Grant Parson, 66, who lives near Perrysburg, Ohio, and said he volunteered for Vice President JD Vance's 2022 Senate campaign. 'That's pretty close to that line about the tree of liberty needing blood, isn't it?' he asked. (Thomas Jefferson's 1787 quote 'The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots and tyrants,' has long been a right-wing slogan.) The MAGA movement is about the 'angry people' taking back power and making the world more fair for everyone, Parson said. Donna Winchester of Toledo agreed. 'I'm sure the liberals and the fake-news media will say that 'Les Mis' is anti-Trump,' she said, while rolling up the windows of a Jeep adorned with stickers mocking 'wokeness' and LGBTQ pride. 'I think we can all agree the songs are great,' These days, when the prisoners sing, 'Look down, look down, you're here until you die,' some on the left might remember the administration sending Kilmar Abrego García and 260 other Salvadorans and Venezuelans to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center. Others, on the right, may recall the defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol singing 'The Star-Spangled Banner" in jail. The show's student uprising may bring to mind law enforcement's clashes with the Los Angeles protests of Trump's administration immigration crackdown. When the impoverished Fantine is forced to give up her child or gets sick, some might think of Trump's big tax bill, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will shift resources from the bottom 10th of income earners to the top 10th, with 8.6 million people losing access to health insurance. (Even in the 'Sesame Street' parody, a Frenchman named Jean Bon-Bon, brought to life by Cookie Monster, learns to share his cookies.) 'The values of 'Les Miserables' are completely antithetical to the current administration,' says David Bellos, a Princeton University professor and author of 'The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Misérables.' The story, he says, 'is a plea for charity and mercy. It shows you that the law when applied without mercy or charity is cruel and absurd.' Its anthem 'Do You Hear the People Sing?,' sung by the protesters in the 1832 anti-monarchist student uprising in Paris (not the French Revolution, as historians will remind you), has been borrowed by a global multitude of protest groups, including in Belarus, the Philippines, Turkey and South Korea. Tom Hooper, director of the 2012 movie adaptation, compared the plotline to Occupy Wall Street. A 2014 modern-dress production in Dallas alluded to the Arab Spring, among other movements. In 2002, the Chinese government invited the show to be the nation's first full-scale Western musical, in part because Victor Hugo is so popular there. But after Hong Kong protest movements deployed the show's stirring anthem in 2014 and 2019, Chinese authorities reportedly blocked the tune from streaming services. Trump used the song as his entrance music to a 2016 Miami rally, where a screen graphic behind him read 'Les Deplorables' — a scoff at Hillary Clinton for calling a segment of Trump supporters a 'basket of deplorables.' The show's producer Cameron Mackintosh and other copyright owners released a statement saying that they 'were not asked for permission and did not authorize or endorse usage … and have never done so for any of the songs from the musical for this or any other political event.' Nonetheless, Trump cued it up again for his 2022 announcement that he was running again, and the U.S. Army Chorus performed it at the White House Governor's Ball in February. 'President Trump is a virtuoso and his musical choices represent a brilliant palette of vibrant colors when others often paint in pale pastels,' says Steven Cheung, White House communications director, in a statement. '… There is nobody more uniquely qualified to bring this country, and its rich history of the arts, back to prominence.' Representatives from the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Army did not comment. The touring production declined interview requests for the cast and the current and original creative teams, and Mackintosh was unavailable for comment. When asked about the show's politics in 2017, Mackintosh carefully toed the line. 'It's all about passionate beliefs,' the British producer told Washingtonian, 'which certainly on both sides of the divide is what's happening in your country and indeed in ours.' Hugo's original 1862 novel was a phenomenon, and arguably helped inspire universal primary education and other liberal-minded initiatives. Working-class Parisians would band together to buy a single copy and spend evenings reading it aloud. But it was also so popular among Confederate soldiers that the Army of Northern Virginia came to call it, and themselves, 'Lee's Miserables.' Salazar says that even Maduro loyalists appreciated her Caracas 'Les Mis.' His predecessor and mentor Hugo Chávez was a fan of the novel — a New Yorker story after his death quoted him as saying that socialism 'clicked for him' after he read it. 'They took it upon themselves to see, 'This is the 'Les Mis' we believe in. This is also our revolution,'' Salazar says, adding, 'That's the beauty of art. It belongs to all of us.' Hugo witnessed the arrest of a man for stealing a loaf of bread — a poignant moment that inspired his singularly appealing protagonist Jean Valjean. The author imagined the man's struggle to get back on his feet after 19 years in prison; the pitiable peasant steals from a sympathetic bishop, who later shields him from the authorities. It inspires Valjean to become an 'honest man,' a businessman and mayor, displaying astonishing strength and generosity, even as he arouses the suspicions of an Inspector Javert against the backdrop of the student uprising. 'He's a bit of a Hercules, a bit of a Christ figure, a bit of an action hero and all the way through a moral hero,' says Bellos, the professor, whose book notes the existence of least 65 'Les Mis' screen versions — from silent film to anime — not to mention loose adaptations such as 'The Fugitive.' The version that made its way to Broadway and regional theater around the world is propelled by the affecting songs composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg, notably 'I Dreamed a Dream,' which Anne Hathaway sang to win an Oscar and Aretha Franklin belted out at a Bill Clinton inauguration event. (Not everyone was enchanted: Barack and Michelle Obama bonded over their dislike for the show, she wrote in her memoir.) 'Frankly, it's pop music from the '80s, so it has an enduring quality,' says Jason Moore, who directed the a cappella movie 'Pitch Perfect' after a decade overseeing 'Les Mis' stage productions. 'The thing that's unifying about it is the spiritual message, the endurance of the human soul, the hope that is engendered by climbing toward the light,' he says, citing its climactic lyric: To love another person is to see the face of God. 'That's basically the whole show,' Moore says. He observed that Latter-day Saints especially liked 'Les Mis,' and in the conservative city of Salt Lake City, auditions would attract several hundred actors, and audiences would applaud at the beginning of songs. 'It was like being at a god---- rock concert.' 'It was sort of a cathartic way for me to feel big, sweeping emotions a safer way,' recalls Melissa Juarez, 37, who grew up Mormon in rural Idaho and watched the 10th anniversary concert every Sunday for five years. As an awkward teen, she identified with Eponine, who sings of her unrequited love for Marius in 'On My Own.' Now, as a parent, she relates to Valjean, who adopts Cosette and later carries a wounded Marius through the Paris sewers to save his life. 'He didn't want Cosette to be with Marius,' she says, 'but he is actively trying to protect him and sacrificing his life and health and well-being, because that's what he knows his daughter will appreciate.' The original London production drew mixed reviews, but set designer John Napier remembers women leaving the first performance with mascara running down their cheeks. 'It makes you feel like a good person, a better person, to have watched it and listened to it and been moved by it, and have sympathy for the poor and dispossessed,' says Roger Allam, who originated Javert in London. 'I think that was a big hook for the audience and still is 40 years later.' There was also Napier's sculptural set built around a turntable to accommodate the book's formidable array of characters. 'It was very much to do with bringing people into the foreground from out of the darkness,' he says. 'And it was magical.' Not to mention the instantly iconic marketing poster, which Russ Eglin — the same designer behind the classic logos for 'Cats,' 'The Phantom of the Opera' and 'Miss Saigon' — adapted from the novel's Cosette illustration. Almost from the start, the do-good ethos of 'Les Mis' put it at the center of fundraising efforts and cast activism — for the Amazon rainforest, for victims of the 1988 airline bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and for Amnesty International, prompted by the Tiananmen Square massacre. When the show came to the Kennedy Center in 1988, about 10 cast members worked in a shelter kitchen every Friday and invited 150 people experiencing homelessness to a matinee. 'I cried a lot because I have a little boy who's living with his father now and who I haven't always been such a good mother to,' said an unidentified 22-year-old woman, quoted in The Post. 'It made me want to run to a phone and call my son and tell him I'll do a lot better.' Steve Friess contributed reporting from Toledo.
