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User:Timshuwy/Burn The Floor

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{{Infobox musical | name = Burn The Floor | image = LesMisLogo.png | image_size = 290px | Producer = Delfont Macintosh Sir Cameron Macintosh | music = Multiple | lyrics = | book = None | basis = Dance | productions = 2008? Broadway
2009 West End
2010 National tour | awards = Unknown

Burn The Floor is a musical dance composed in 2008.

Background edit

Originally released as a French-language concept album, the first musical-stage adaptation of Les Misérables was presented at a Paris sports arena in 1980. However, the first production closed after three months when the booking contract expired.

Reception edit

The Broadway production opened 12 March 1989, and ran until 18 May 2003, closing after 6,680 performances. It is the third longest running Broadway show in history and was the second-longest at the time.[1] A fully re-orchestrated Broadway revival opened on 9 November 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre.

Synopsis edit

Act I edit

Sung through, Les Misérables opens in Bagne prison in Toulon, France, in 1815, where the prisoners work at hard labour ("Work Song"). After nineteen years of imprisonment (five for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family, and the r

Dances edit

Standard Dances edit

  • The Waltz is a ballroom dance in 3/4 time, with a strong accent on the first beat, and a basic pattern of step-step-close.
  • The Foxtrot is a slow, syncopated 4/4 rhythm, in a slow/slow-quick/quick count and employs the fashionably rebellious use of “trotting steps.” In 1927 it was renamed “slow foxtrot” and was characterized by smooth gliding movements.
  • The Viennese Waltz, the oldest of the ballroom dances, is a 3/4 rhythm which began as a peasant dance in Provence, France in 1559 and became a craze in Viennese dance halls in the early 1800s.
  • The Tango originated in Argentina and was brought to Paris in 1910. The international tango was born in the 1930s and combined the proud posture of the other ballroom dances with 4/4 rhythm, staccato action and walking steps, that move around the ballroom floor.
  • The Quickstep is an international style ballroom dance that follows a 4/4 rhythm, similar to a fast foxtrot. It evolved from dances in the 1920s like the Charleston and the influence of the ragtime music popular during that era.


Latin Dances edit

  • The Cha Cha, a Cuban dance, became popular in the 1950s. It is an offshoot of the triple mambo and has a 4/4 rhythm. It is fun, flirty, playful, and is known as the “afternoon dance.”
  • The Samba, the “ladies dance,” originated and is still celebrated in Brazil. It is fun and festive. The fast and intricate cross percussive music and steps are danced to a 2/4 rhythm.
  • Paso Doble is of Spanish origin, though it was developed in France. Using a 2/4 rhythm, it is a highly stylized dance that is based on the Spanish bull fight and uses marching steps. The man represents the matador; the woman the cape.
  • The Rumba has a 4/4 Cuban rhythm and is the slowest and most sensuous of the Latin American dances. This is the dance with the most sexual tension,and is known as the “dance of lust.”
  • The Jive is based on jazz and improvisation. Set in 4/4 time, this dance originated in the United States in the early 1940s. It relies on African American rhythms. It travelled to Europe when American soldiers brought the Lindy Hop/jitterbug during WWII.

Musical numbers edit

Main article: Dance Numbers from Burn The Floor

Characters edit

Listed in the order in which they appear.

Character[2] Voice[3] Description
Jean Valjean dramatic tenor Valjean is released from jail after serving nineteen years (five for stealing a loaf of bread and fourteen for multiple escape attempts). He breaks his parole and changes his identity, becoming the wealthy mayor of a small town. He later adopts Cosette, the daughter of Fantine.
Inspector Javert bass-baritone or baritone Respecting the law above all else, Javert relentlessly pursues Valjean, hoping to bring the escaped convict to justice.
The Bishop of Digne baritone The bishop houses Valjean after his release from jail and gives him gifts of silver and absolution.
Fantine mezzo-soprano or alto A worker who loses her job and becomes a prostitute in order to pay the Thénardiers for the welfare of her daughter. She later dies of a disease.
Bamatabois baritone or tenor A young gentleman who tries to buy Fantine's services and is responsible for her arrest.
Fauchelevent baritone or tenor In a role reduced from the novel, Fauchelevent appears only in the Cart Crash scene, where he is trapped under the cart and rescued by Valjean. He is an elderly man who has fallen upon hard times.
Young Cosette treble The daughter of Fantine, the Thénardiers force eight-year-old Cosette to work.
Madame Thénardier contralto Thénardier's unscrupulous wife.
Young Éponine silent Eight-year-old Éponine is the pampered daughter of the Thénardiers. She grows up with Cosette and is unkind to her.
Thénardier baritone or tenor A second-rate thief, Thénardier runs a small inn.
Gavroche boy soprano Gavroche is a streetwise urchin who dies on the barricade helping the revolutionaries. He is the abandoned son of the Thénardiers.
Enjolras baritone or tenor Enjolras leads Marius and the rest of the student revolutionaries.
Marius Pontmercy tenor Marius, a student revolutionary, is friends with Éponine, but loves Cosette.
Éponine mezzo-soprano (can be played by Soprano with solid sound) Daughter of the Thénardiers, Éponine, now ragged and a waif, secretly loves Marius. She is killed while returning to the barricades to see Marius.
Cosette soprano Cosette, the daughter of Fantine, has become beautiful under Valjean's care. She falls in love with Marius, and he returns her love.
Brujon baritone or tenor The brutish and cowardly but dissatisfied member of Thénardier's Gang. His role in the musical expands to cover Gueulemer.
Babet baritone or tenor A foreboding member of Thénardier's Gang.
Claquesous baritone or tenor Quiet and masked, expert at evading the police, Claquesous might in fact be working for the law.
Montparnasse baritone or tenor A young member of Thénardier's Gang—a handsome man who wishes to be close to Éponine.
Friends of the ABC baritone or tenor Student revolutionaries who lead a revolution and die in the process, becoming martyrs for the rights of citizens. (See Members listed below)
Combeferre baritone or tenor The philosopher of the ABC group.
Feuilly baritone or tenor Feuilly is the only member of the Friends of the ABC who is not a student; he is a workingman. An optimist who stands as a sort of ambassador for the "outside," while the rest of the men stand for France.
Courfeyrac baritone or tenor Friendly and open, Courfeyrac introduces Marius to the ABC society in the novel.
Joly baritone or tenor A medical student and a hypochondriac; best friends with Lesgles.
Grantaire baritone or tenor Grantaire is a member of the Friends of the ABC. He is the opposite of Enjolras and believes in nothing other than his worship of Enjolras.
Jean Prouvaire baritone or tenor Prouvaire is the youngest student member of the Friends.
Lesgles baritone or tenor Enjolras' second-in-command. Best friends with Joly.

Major casts edit

Character Original French Cast Original London Cast Original Broadway Cast 1995 The Dream Cast 2006 Broadway Cast 2010 O2 Arena Cast
Jean Valjean Maurice Barrier Colm Wilkinson Alexander Gemignani, replaced by Drew Sarich Alfie Boe
Javert Jean Vallée Roger Allam Terrence Mann Philip Quast Norm Lewis
Fantine Rose Laurens Patti LuPone Randy Graff Ruthie Henshall Daphne Rubin-Vega Lea Salonga
Thenardier Yvan Dautin Alun Armstrong Leo Burmester Alun Armstrong Gary Beach Matt Lucas
Madame Thenardier Marie-France Roussel Susan Jane Tanner Jennifer Butt Jenny Galloway
Marius Gilles Buhlmann Michael Ball David Bryant Michael Ball Adam Jacobs Nick Jonas
Eponine Marianne Mille Frances Ruffelle Lea Salonga Celia Keenan-Bolger Samantha Barks
Cosette Fabienne Guyon Rebecca Caine Judy Kuhn Ali Ewoldt Katie Hall
Enjolras Christian Ratellin David Burt Michael Maguire Aaron Lazar Ramin Karimloo


Productions edit

Original London production edit

 
Les Misérables at Queen's Theatre in London

The English language version, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and additional material by James Fenton, was substantially expanded and reworked from a literal translation by Siobhan Bracke of the original Paris version, in particular adding a prologue to tell Jean Valjean's backstory. Kretzmer's work is not a direct "translation" of the French, a term that Kretzmer refused to use. A third of the English lyrics were a "rough" translation, another third were adapted from the French lyrics and the final third consisted of new material.


Original Broadway production edit

The musical had its out-of-town tryout at the Kennedy Center's Opera House in Washington D.C., in December 1986 for eight weeks, through 14 February 1987.[4]


Touring productions edit

National U.S. tours edit

The show had three national touring productions in the U.S., all of which shared the Broadway producer and manager, cast, creative teams, sets, costumes, and lighting. While the touring production and the New York production were running simultaneously, the staff, cast members, crew, and musicians of the two productions interchanged often, which contributed to keeping both companies of the show in form. When the New York production closed in 2003, the Third National Tour continued for another three years, and enjoyed the influx of many members from the original and subsequent New York companies.

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Awards and nominations edit

1985 Laurence Olivier Awards
  • Unknown

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Les Misérables on Broadway". Lesmis.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  2. ^ Database (undated). "Les Misérables". Stage Agent. Retrieved 9 March 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Kayes, Gillyanne; Fisher, Jeremy (2002). Successful Sing Auditions. Psychology Press (via Google Books). ISBN 978-0-878-30163-8. Retrieved 9 March 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Richards, David (29 December 1986). "Les Miserables';The Musical: Heavy on the Spectacular;Beneath the Dazzle, Few Insights". The Washington Post. p. D1.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Les Misérables (musical).


Category:1980 musicals Category:Broadway musicals Category:West End musicals

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