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CD
The most genuinely moving extravaganza to be credited to theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh -- the impresario behind The Phantom Of The Opera, Miss Saigon, and Cats -- is 1987's Les Misérables, a musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel. With a score by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg, and Herbert Kretzmer, Les Misérables is a sung-through opera-lite variety show set in Paris in 1832. Bringing their stirring voices to this double-disc Broadway cast recording are Colm Wilkinson in the role of Jean Valjean, the tormented hero unjustly jailed for stealing a loaf of bread, and Terrence Mann as his obsessed pursuer, Javert. Aided by sterling performances from Randy Graff and Frances Ruffelle, this blockbuster musical contains the gorgeous melodies "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Who Am I?," and "Bring Him Home," all deservedly familiar anthems. David Elliot Cohen, Barnes & Noble