The University welcome two world-renowned guests Tuesday — librettist Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schönberg — who have collaborated to write a number of renowned musicals for Broadway and London’s West End. Their celebrated presence on Grounds culminated at a special event in the Culbreth Theatre featuring performances by the University Singers and a conversation with Schönberg and Boublil led by Drama Prof. Marva Barnett.
The University Singers — led by Asst. Music Prof. Michael Slon — performed three selections from two Boublil and Shönberg shows — “At the End of the Day” and “I Still Believe" from “Miss Saigon” and, “Do You Hear The People Sing” from “Les Misérables.” Each featured an impressive lineup of student soloists.
The composer and librettist lauded the University Singers for their performance — praising in particular the emotional depth of their rendition of “Do You Hear The People Sing.”
Barnett was an appropriate host for the discussion which followed, her studies involving the works of “Les Misérables” author Victor Hugo. She currently teaches the University course “Les Misérables: From Page to Stage to Screen.”
Questions ranged from inquiries about Schönberg's and Boublil’s early career together to the success of “Les Misérables” and future projects. Throughout the discussion, the duo's lively and witty personalities shined through.
On the origin of "Les Misérables," Boublil recounted a story of watching the musical "Oliver" while half of his brain was imagining Hugo's character Gavroche on the streets of Paris. With this single spark of inspiration, Boublil approached Schönberg and began working on adapting this story for themselves.
The two men spoke many times of their inspiration in regards to the process of adapting “Les Misérables” for the stage, saying they luckily shared a vision of the the novel as a “written opera.”
And just when the audience thought it could not get any better, Schönberg approached the piano to sing and play a few bars of the original French version of “I Dreamed a Dream.”
Candid moments like these make classic works like “Les Misérables” accessible to modern students and enhance spectators' proclivity to embark on their own artistic endeavors.
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