9. The wall of sound
Few other musicals deliver goose-bumps by the cart-load as Les Mis does, with its symphonic richness of sound and operatic intensity. The potent, stirring songs, of course, help hugely – just when you think the pot is empty, up swells another – but there’s an immensity to their delivery that sweeps you away.
Ever since Christopher Jahnke supplied fresh orchestrations and the synthesised sounds got souped-up, banishing the tinny electronica that gave the initial version a touch of Howard Jones, lushness has prevailed.
10. Ear-worms that keep wriggling
A hallmark of Boublil and Schonberg’s winning formula is the way songs are not only reprised but also refashioned – a motif building like an argument, or a gathering of the like-minded, linking arms across the evening: the intricacy and attention to detail is second to none, and gets under the skin.
Jean Valjean’s promise to the dying Fantine, for instance, of giving a new life to her daughter Cosette borrows the rags of I Dreamed a Dream. The songs aren’t just catchy – they’re like ear-worms that get cut into pieces and keep wriggling.
