Susan Boyle lauded on Les Misérables’ 30th anniversary

SCOTS singing sensation Susan Boyle has been credited with boosting the popularity of the West End show Les Misérables after her ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ audition.

Susan Boyle's audition for Britain's Got Talent when she sang 'I dreamed a dream' from Les Misérables. Picture: Contributed

Speaking ahead of the Les Mis’ 30th anniversary gala, US actress and singer Patti LuPone, said Boyle’s meteoric rise to international stardom with her rendition of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ on the television talent show Britain’s Got Talent in April 2009 - a song made famous by LuPone in her role as Fantine in the musical’s original cast - had created a tremendous buzz which saw ticket sales soar.

LuPone, 66, a two-time Grammy Award and Tony winner, said: “I was told by Trevor Jackson (executive producer for Cameron Mackintosh Ltd) that Susan Boyle was the one that turned this around.

“It wasn’t necessarily limping but it may not have lasted the 30 years, and Susan Boyle, by singing that song, created another fever around it. I got a lovely royalty cheque so good for Susan Boyle.”

She added: “What can I say? Good for Susan Boyle. It was surprising because she was a mess and suddenly she opened her mouth and it was like, ‘Good for you, girl!’”

Boyle, 54, from Blackburn, West Lothian, released her debut album in November 2009 which shot to number one around the world. She has now sold over 20 million records and has been transformed into a multi-million pound brand.

LuPone, who had also appeared in a number of Holywood films including Witness (1985) and Driving Miss Daisy (1989) was among the former cast members who joined the current company for a spectacular finale of One Day More at the Queen’s Theatre, in London, on Thursday evening to celebrate the musical’s record-breaking anniversary.

Thirty years to the day after taking the stage at the Barbican Centre, Colm Wilkinson, Roger Allam and Frances Ruffelle also reprised their roles as Jean Valjean, Inspector Javert and Eponine respectively for the gala in aid of Save The Children’s Syria’s Children appeal.

A choir of 126 Welsh schoolchildren flanked the audience, having been picked by producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh from the musical’s school’s edition programme for the dramatic climax.

Based on Victor Hugo’s novel and with a score by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg, Les Misérables opened at the Barbican Centre in London on 8 October 1985 and has been seen by over 70 million people worldwide in 44 countries and 22 languages.

The current cast features Peter Lockyer, Jeremy Secomb, Rachelle Ann Go and Carrie Hope Fletcher.