A stolen loaf of bread. Nineteen years in prison. A bishop’s extraordinary act of mercy. And two men whose radically different ideas of justice will pursue each other across a lifetime.
Welcome to Broadway in the Common Room, where we go behind the curtain to discover the books, plays, history, old-time radio and enduring ideas behind the great musicals.
For our first journey, there could hardly be a bigger story: Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
We begin with Hugo’s monumental 1862 novel and follow it to a remarkable 1937 radio adaptation created by a 22-year-old Orson Welles, who adapted and directed the seven-part production and starred as Jean Valjean.
Then the story takes another extraordinary leap — into music.
We trace Les Misérables from Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil’s original French concept through London and Broadway to its place among the most successful musicals in theatrical history. Along the way, we explore the dramatic power of “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Stars,” “One Day More,” “Bring Him Home,” “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” and the unforgettable finale.
But underneath the spectacle is a much older question.
What happens when justice encounters mercy?
Jean Valjean receives mercy he has done nothing to deserve — and it changes his life.
Javert believes absolutely in justice, order and the law. When he finally encounters a mercy his worldview cannot explain, everything he believes begins to collapse.
Is Javert really a villain? Is Les Misérables ultimately a story about revolution — or conversion? And why, more than 160 years after Hugo published it, do we keep telling this story again?
Pull up a chair. The curtain may have come down, but the conversation is just beginning.
🎧 Hear the Orson Welles Production
Listen to the complete 1937 Orson Welles radio adaptation of Les Misérables on Chesterton Radio:
Read Hugo. Hear Welles. Then discover what happened when Les Misérables reached the musical stage.
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