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* AdaptationalFriendship: Marius is a full-fledged member of the revolutionary group and close friends with all the others, while in the novel he isn't a member and is only really close friends with Courfeyrac. He also treats Éponine as a close friend and is distraught as she [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in his arms]], while in the novel he only pities her, can be very cold to her when he's in a bad mood or distracted by Cosette, and doesn't particularly mourn her death.
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* DiedHappilyEverAfter: After his adoptive daughter is finally married to the man she loves, and is set for a happy life of her own, [[spoiler:Jean Valjean dies peacefully in Cossette and Marius' arms as the spirits of Fantine and Eponine come to collect his soul and guide him to his eternal reward in Heaven.]]
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* DiedHappilyEverAfter: After his adoptive daughter is finally married to the man she loves, and is set for a happy life of her own, [[spoiler:Jean Valjean dies passes away peacefully in Cossette and Marius' arms as the spirits of Fantine and Eponine come to collect his soul and guide him to his eternal reward in Heaven.]]]]
-->'''Fantine''': Monsieur, I bless your name,\\
Monsieur lay down your burden,\\
You raised my child in love,\\
And you will be with God.
-->'''Fantine''': Monsieur, I bless your name,\\
Monsieur lay down your burden,\\
You raised my child in love,\\
And you will be with God.
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* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Javert serves as one for the law. He appears whenever the plot requires any type of interaction with an agent of the state, [[WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs whether it's a prison guard, a police officer, or a spy]]. He repeatedly says "[[IAmTheNoun I am the law]]".
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* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Javert serves as one for the law. He appears whenever the plot requires any type of interaction with an agent of the state, [[WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs whether it's a prison guard, a police officer, or a spy]]. He repeatedly says "[[IAmTheNoun I am the law]]".law]]" and uses the phrase "answer to Javert" in place of "answer to the law".
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* AlternateShowInterpretation: The 2014 Dallas Theater Center production sets the show in contemporary times and played the revolution similar to police riots.
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*** The same number has the lin "Old men, young men, take 'em as they come!"
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* ChekhovsGun: In the 25th anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine. [[spoiler: Javert later commits suicide by throwing himself off of this bridge.]]
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* CharactersDroppingLikeFlies: The deaths start out slowly, with Fantine being the only major character to die in Act 1. Then Act 2 comes, and we get, in fairly rapid succession, the deaths of [[spoiler:Éponine, Gavroche, ''all'' of the students except for Marius, Javert, and [[TheHeroDies Valjean himself]]]], though the final death is at least partially from old age. Only four major characters survive the play: [[spoiler:Cosette, Marius, and M. and Mme. Thénardier, the latter two of whom are the least sympathetic characters in the entire story [[KarmaHoudini who basically get off scott-free]]]].
* ChekhovsGun: In the 25th anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine.[[spoiler: Javert [[spoiler:Javert later commits suicide by throwing himself off of this bridge.]]
* ChekhovsGun: In the 25th anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine.
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* TheDarknessBeforeDeath: During Fantine's death scene she mentions "a darkness that comes without a warning" and after things grow dark for her she spends her last moments in a happy, feverish delirium.
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* TheDarknessBeforeDeath: During Fantine's death scene scene, she mentions "a darkness that comes without a warning" and after things grow dark for her she spends her last moments in a happy, feverish delirium.
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* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the novel, Fantine hardly interacts with M. Madeleine before she's fired. It's his policy that unwed mothers cannot work at his factories that gets her fired, and she develops a bitter hatred for him based on the policy alone. The musical and film version has Madeleine present when Fantine gets in trouble, and he brushes aside her concern and leaves the Foreman to fire her. Thus, when she says to him "[[BystanderSyndrome Yes, you were there, you turned aside]]" the line packs a real wallop.
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* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul:
** In the novel, Fantine hardly interacts with M. Madeleine before she's fired. It's his policy that unwed mothers cannot work at his factories that gets her fired, and she develops a bitter hatred for him based on the policy alone. The musical and film version has Madeleine present when Fantine gets in trouble, and he brushes aside her concern and leaves the Foreman to fire her. Thus, when she says to him "[[BystanderSyndrome Yes, you were there, you turned aside]]" the line packs a real wallop.
** In the novel, Fantine hardly interacts with M. Madeleine before she's fired. It's his policy that unwed mothers cannot work at his factories that gets her fired, and she develops a bitter hatred for him based on the policy alone. The musical and film version has Madeleine present when Fantine gets in trouble, and he brushes aside her concern and leaves the Foreman to fire her. Thus, when she says to him "[[BystanderSyndrome Yes, you were there, you turned aside]]" the line packs a real wallop.
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* BystanderSyndrome: See AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul above: Valjean was present when Fantine got into trouble, but he handed the matter over to his Foreman. When they meet again and Fantine brings this up to him, Valjean is horrified and resolves to make it up to her.
** "The Runaway Cart" sequence: a cart full of pottery pins down a random pedestrian. The bystanders tell one another to look away, because there is no way to save him. Subverted, then, when the Mayor arrives and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower lifts the cart a fraction]], whereupon everyone rushes to help.* CallAndResponseSong: The first "Look Down" is sung this way among the prisoners; "Red and Black" turns into one, first Marius talks about love and Grantaire mocks him, and then Enjolras calls the Amis to arms and they take up the refrain.
** "The Runaway Cart" sequence: a cart full of pottery pins down a random pedestrian. The bystanders tell one another to look away, because there is no way to save him. Subverted, then, when the Mayor arrives and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower lifts the cart a fraction]], whereupon everyone rushes to help.* CallAndResponseSong: The first "Look Down" is sung this way among the prisoners; "Red and Black" turns into one, first Marius talks about love and Grantaire mocks him, and then Enjolras calls the Amis to arms and they take up the refrain.
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* BystanderSyndrome: BystanderSyndrome:
** See AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul above: Valjean was present when Fantine got into trouble, but he handed the matter over to his Foreman. When they meet again and Fantine brings this up to him, Valjean is horrified and resolves to make it up to her.
** "The Runaway Cart" sequence: a cart full of pottery pins down a random pedestrian. The bystanders tell one another to look away, because there is no way to save him. Subverted, then, when the Mayor arrives and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower lifts the cart a fraction]], whereupon everyone rushes tohelp.help.
* CallAndResponseSong: The first "Look Down" is sung this way among the prisoners; "Red and Black" turns into one, first Marius talks about love and Grantaire mocks him, and then Enjolras calls the Amis to arms and they take up the refrain.
** See AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul above: Valjean was present when Fantine got into trouble, but he handed the matter over to his Foreman. When they meet again and Fantine brings this up to him, Valjean is horrified and resolves to make it up to her.
** "The Runaway Cart" sequence: a cart full of pottery pins down a random pedestrian. The bystanders tell one another to look away, because there is no way to save him. Subverted, then, when the Mayor arrives and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower lifts the cart a fraction]], whereupon everyone rushes to
* CallAndResponseSong: The first "Look Down" is sung this way among the prisoners; "Red and Black" turns into one, first Marius talks about love and Grantaire mocks him, and then Enjolras calls the Amis to arms and they take up the refrain.
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For the rest:
* LesMiserablesTheatre/TropesGToL
* LesMiserablesTheatre/TropesMToR
* LesMiserablesTheatre/TropesSToZ
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This page is for tropes that have appeared in the musical ''Theatre/LesMiserables''.
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* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Depending on the production.
* AccidentalMisnaming: Thénardier seems to have a lot of trouble remembering Cosette's name, calling her Colette.
* AdaptationDistillation: As far as attempts at adaptations of the {{Doorstopper}} of a book go, this one is probably still one of the most loyal, even if it does cut out a few characters.
** A very [[PragmaticAdaptation Pragmatic]] result of the short time frame: Hugo opens the book with a few chapters talking about the Bishop of Digne and his history of generous, selfless acts. Without that preamble, the Bishop's kindness to Valjean is more surprising and meaningful.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Bamatabois in the musical is a customer who makes advances on Fantine, beats her when she refuses, and tells Javert that she attacked him first. In the book, he sees her in public, taunts her and throws a snowball at her, but there's no indication that he was interested in her sexually, and he doesn't report her to the police, but runs away from the scene.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the novel, Fantine hardly interacts with M. Madeleine before she's fired. It's his policy that unwed mothers cannot work at his factories that gets her fired, and she develops a bitter hatred for him based on the policy alone. The musical and film version has Madeleine present when Fantine gets in trouble, and he brushes aside her concern and leaves the Foreman to fire her. Thus, when she says to him "[[BystanderSyndrome Yes, you were there, you turned aside]]" the line packs a real wallop.
** In the novel, Marius is not an in-member of the Friends of the ABC; the musical usually treats him like Enjolras' second in command. Also, Novel! Marius barely knows Eponine as a pitiable waif who runs errands for him, and he treats her coldly. In the musical, they come off as friends and he deeply mourns her death.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Some songs have this.
-->'''Javert''': ”'''S'''tars, in your multitudes, '''s'''carce to be counted, filling the night, with order and light. You are the '''s'''entinels, '''s'''ilent and '''s'''ure, keeping watch on the night."
* TheAlcoholic: Grantaire. And some productions more than others emphasize Fantine as also getting an alcohol addiction around the time of "Lovely Ladies".
* AllCrimesAreEqual:
** It's bad enough that Valjean gets five years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread (and breaking a window pane to get it)... but then he gets another fourteen for his multiple escape attempts. Ouch.
** This is the cornerstone of Javert's entire character. He has a BlackAndWhiteMorality that states that anyone who commits any crime for any reason ''must'' be evil, while those who defend and uphold the law are inherently good. He can't understand the notion that someone might commit a small offense to help others (in Valjean's case, he stole the loaf of bread to save his sister's dying son). Later, when Valjean lets him go free despite their long history, Javert is so baffled and shattered by the concept of mercy from a "bad" person that he [[spoiler: throws himself into the Seine]].
* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations: Adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo of the same name.
* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: "Valjean's Confession".
** There was another, similar-looking man about to go to prison in his place. Valjean proved who he was by [[spoiler:giving his prisoner number: 24601.]]
* AngryMobSong: "Look Down" and "Do You Hear the People Sing?"
* AntagonistInMourning: The 2017 London production has Javert visibly saddened by the sight of the dead students strewn across the barricade, crossing himself out of respect, and briefly crying ManlyTears for them before resuming his pursuit of Valjean.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Javert serves as one for the law. He appears whenever the plot requires any type of interaction with an agent of the state, [[WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs whether it's a prison guard, a police officer, or a spy]]. He repeatedly says "[[IAmTheNoun I am the law]]".
* AntiVillain: In his way, Javert is a kind of idealist himself, being possibly a perfect textbook case of WellIntentionedExtremist. Overlaps with VillainyFreeVillain.
* AnyoneCanDie: Proven true, namely with [[spoiler: Gavroche]].
* ArcNumber: 24601, [[YouAreNumberSix Valjean's prison number]].
* ArcWords: "Look down” and “Tomorrow".
* TheArtfulDodger: Gavroche. "This only goes to show what little people can do!"
* ArtisticLicense:
** There are sometimes moments, such as the line "They were schoolboys, never held a gun" in the song ''Turning''. When you consider that nearly everyone who died had fought on the barricades only two years before in 1830, and some in other riots, the idea that none of them had fought before is a little ludicrous. (The 2012 film discards this line.)
** In the same song, "No one ever told them that a summer day could kill"... despite the fact that Javert told them this over and over, and the students themselves acknowledge it several times as well.
** The use of convicts as actual galley slaves in the 25th anniversary staging counts, since this had been abolished in the eighteenth century.
** Some productions use anachronistic hoop skirts, which came in a few years after the story is set.
* AsYouKnow: Granted, awkward exposition is to be expected of the genre. Still, a particularly noticeable example is Valjean's line "I am the mayor of this town" in "At the End of the Day".
* AscendedExtra: A lot of understudies for the major roles eventually ended up playing the role proper. And the show ran for so long on Broadway--and has run even longer in London--that many of the actors playing the children who left the show when they aged out eventually came back to play one of the adult roles.
* {{A Taste of the Lash}}: Depending on production, but some of them show little mercy for the convict soloists in the "Work Song".
* BackForTheFinale: The "Do You Hear the People Sing" reprise is sung by the entire cast of characters including the ones who died.
* BackstoryHorror: The Tenth Anniversary Concert prominently features Gavroche in the background of "A Little Fall of Rain", looking horrified. This is even more heartbreaking for those who read the book, which explains that [[spoiler: Éponine is his sister.]]
** The recent Broadway revival makes it even more obvious, as Gavroche is outright sobbing loudly at [[spoiler: Eponine's death]], to the point where he needs to be comforted by one of the students.
* BadassAdorable: Gavroche, who joins the revolutionaries, even when they don't want him to get hurt.
* BadassAndChildDuo: Valjean and young Cosette.
* BalconyWooingScene: In some productions, Marius approaches Cosette by throwing a pebble at her window before she steps out onto the balcony to investigate.
* BaitTheDog: Though this was far from M. Hugo's original intent, the musical gives its most upbeat, funniest, and catchiest musical number to Monsieur Thenardier and his wife, as they swindle, cheat, and serve questionable food to the patrons at their inn, and abuse and starve the little girl they're supposed to be taking care of.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Valjean to the Bishop of Digne. Because this man showed him kindness and love he had not known for nearly 20 years, it inspires Valjean to become a better man.
* BigFinaleCrowdSong: The production has the reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing", in which the entire cast of characters returns for the final number, including nearly everyone who died.
* TheBigGuy: Varies with the production of course, but Valjean is often cast as this, given his prodigious strength.
* BigNo: Depending on the production, there is sometimes one when [[spoiler: Gavroche dies.]]
* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Madame Thenardier thinks so.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted; in some productions Gavroche has this attitude towards Eponine who is his older sister. He tries to go to her when she gets shot, and cries after she passes.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Well, most of the cast is dead, the rebellion failed and the Thenardiers have gotten away with all their crimes (and will likely continue to do so). But at least our Alpha Couple live happily ever after. And Valjean finally finds absolution at the end of his life. And the ghosts give us hope for a better future.]]
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity:
** Javert. Such an extreme case that when he's finally forced to challenge it, [[spoiler:he's driven to suicide.]]
** On the French Concept Album, [[spoiler:"Javert's Suicide"]] is even called "Noir ou Blanc" (Black or white).
* BlackComedyBurst: "Master of the House" is short for, "Allow us to interrupt your regularly scheduled [[BreakTheCutie Breaking of the Cuties]] for some madcap fun as the Thénardiers cheat, poison, and steal from everyone in their inn!"
* BookEnds: "One Day More" begins and ends with a TitleDrop.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: In "Master of the House", Monsieur Thénardier refers to himself as [[BlatantLies "comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate'']]. Mme. Thénardier makes an IronicEcho of this by calling him "comforter, philosopher, and lifelong shit".
** Immediately after this, she describes him, saying "Cunning little brain. Regular [[Creator/{{Voltaire}} Voltaire]]. Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there."
* BreakTheCutie: Fantine. Also Éponine, and little Cosette. And Marius. Given how the title literally means "The Miserable Ones", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin this is to be expected]].
* BrokenBird: Fantine starts out as an honest factory worker, motivated by love for her daughter, but when her reputation is ruined, the only route for her is prostitution. In the space of a couple of songs, she's reduced from a kindhearted dreamer to an alcoholic, embittered wreck who spits on Valjean's face.
* BSODSong: "What Have I Done?", Valjean asks. The Bishop's kindness has put him to such shame that Valjean is driven to a complete reckoning of his life and soul. In the end, he decides [[ToBeLawfulOrGood to break his parole and start a new life.]]
* BystanderSyndrome: See AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul above: Valjean was present when Fantine got into trouble, but he handed the matter over to his Foreman. When they meet again and Fantine brings this up to him, Valjean is horrified and resolves to make it up to her.
** "The Runaway Cart" sequence: a cart full of pottery pins down a random pedestrian. The bystanders tell one another to look away, because there is no way to save him. Subverted, then, when the Mayor arrives and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower lifts the cart a fraction]], whereupon everyone rushes to help.* CallAndResponseSong: The first "Look Down" is sung this way among the prisoners; "Red and Black" turns into one, first Marius talks about love and Grantaire mocks him, and then Enjolras calls the Amis to arms and they take up the refrain.
* TheCaretaker: Valjean, briefly, to Fantine (he blames himself for her reduced circumstances) and, on Fantine's deathbed, he swears he will look after her daughter. Valjean adopts Cosette and becomes a good, loving father.
* ChekhovsGun: In the 25th anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine. [[spoiler: Javert later commits suicide by throwing himself off of this bridge.]]
* ColorfulSong: "Red And Black".
* CompressedAdaptation: The book is a proper Doorstopper. Some elements that got cut include the Bishop's backstory and history of good works before meeting Valjean, Fantine's love affair and meeting with the Thenardiers, how exactly Valjean became Mayor of M-sur-M, detailed character profiles of every Friend of the ABC, a whole plotline with Marius' father ''and'' grandfather, and a wee kerfuffle called the Battle of Waterloo.
* ConnectedAllAlong: A meta-example: The [[Literature/{{LESMISERABLES}} original novel]] mentions that [[spoiler: Gavroche is Eponine's brother]], but the modern plays seldom mention this.
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler: Valjean lives under false identities during most of the story.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: Usually the fact that all important characters happen to show up in the same place at the same time.
* CounterpointDuet: "The Confrontation", "A Heart Full of Love" and its reprise "Everyday".
* CriminalDoppelganger: Champmathieu gets arrested in Jean Valjean's place because he just happens to look exactly like him. Of course, depending on the actors portraying them on stage, this can range from entirely believable, or you needing to have a WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.
* CrossCastRole: In professional productions Gavroche is sometimes understudied by an adult female member of the cast.
* CrowdSong: "Red And Black", "One Day More" and "Do You Hear The People Sing?"
* CrucifiedHeroShot: The death of [[spoiler:Enjolras]].
* DaddysGirl: Cosette to Valjean. [[spoiler: As long as he allows her to.]]
* DarkReprise:
** Thenardier waltz - The robbery
** Castle On a Cloud - Attack on the Rue Plumet
** Eponine's Errand - A Little Fall of Rain
** [[WouldHurtAChild Little People]]
** Valjean's Soliloquy and Stars - Javert's suicide
** Bring Him Home - [[DyingAlone Bring me home]]
** The first time Valjean's melody plays is after his soliloquy where he declares he will devote himself to goodness. All subsequent appearances of his melody gets sadder in context. On "Who Am I?", he must expose his identity to save an innocent man. His melody plays again when Cosette and Marius meet. On "One Day More", Valjean is weary of always running. Finally, "Who Am I?" is reprised when he reveals his identity to Marius and leaves Cosette to him.
* TheDarknessBeforeDeath: During Fantine's death scene she mentions "a darkness that comes without a warning" and after things grow dark for her she spends her last moments in a happy, feverish delirium.
* DeathByDespair: [[spoiler: Jean Valjean, after being separated from Cosette.]]
* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Eponine]]
* DeathGlare: Valjean and Javert typically exchange a few of these.
* DeathSong: Oh, dear God. Take your pick.
** "Come To Me" [[spoiler:Fantine]]
** "A Little Fall Of Rain" [[spoiler:Eponine]]
** "The Second Attack" [[spoiler:Gavroche]]
** "The Final Battle" [[spoiler:The students]]
** [[spoiler:Javert's Suicide]]
** [[spoiler:Valjean's Death]]
* DefiledForever: Fantine's one lover abandoned her and the child. She's trying to live honestly in Montreuil-sur-Mer, but once word gets out of her child out of wedlock, it's enough to get her fired. Then she can't get work anywhere else in the town... except prostitution.
* DelicateAndSickly: Fantine is reduced to a "ghost of herself," suffering from a never-exactly-named disease (implied to be tuberculosis, which was rampant at the time), and acts as a motivator for Valjean to go and retrieve her daughter, and then dies.
* DemotedToExtra: Inevitable, in this show, but Gavroche gets ''a lot'' less screen time in the play than in the book because his subplot's cut, going from one of the more memorable characters to a few solos and glossing over the fact that he's a Thénardier. Barring a change in songs, though, his [[spoiler:death scene]] is kept mostly intact.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
** "I ''dreamed'' a ''dream''..."
** "Please do not send me out ''alone'' / not in the darkness ''on my own''."
** "Men like you can never change / A man such as you. / Men like me can never change. / Men like you can never change."
** "Good evening, dear inspector, lovely evening, my dear. / I know this man, my friends, his name's Inspector Javert."
* TheDeterminator: Both Javert and Valjean.
* DiedHappilyEverAfter: After his adoptive daughter is finally married to the man she loves, and is set for a happy life of her own, [[spoiler:Jean Valjean dies peacefully in Cossette and Marius' arms as the spirits of Fantine and Eponine come to collect his soul and guide him to his eternal reward in Heaven.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: Éponine]] dies in Marius's arms in "A Little Fall of Rain."
* DissonantLaughter: It's common to have Thénardier let off some cackles during the "Dog Eats Dog" number.
* DistantDuet: Marius and Cosette (who are actually distant lovers longing for each other), Eponine and Enjolras (who is joined by Marius deciding what to do) on "One Day More".
* DoomedMoralVictor: Les Amis.
* DoubleEntendre:
** Opening "Lovely Ladies" is, "I smell women, smell 'em in the air / Think I'll drop my anchor in that harbor over there..."
** In "At the End of the Day", one of the factory workers, when talking about the foreman, says, "Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands.'
* DownerBeginning: The first song in the entire musical is about a group of prisoners singing about how miserable they are doing slave labor and being tormented with the knowledge that they'll be stuck there for the rest of their lives. And it just gets worse from there, kiddies!
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When Valjean is trying to explain his theft to Javert in the first song.
-->'''Valjean''': "My sister's child was close to death, we were starving--"
-->'''Javert''': "You'll starve again!"
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Javert disguises himself as an insurgent and lies low in order to spy; Valjean wears a French National Guard uniform so he can cross the barricade.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Javert,]] because of the cognitive dissonance caused by having his life saved by Valjean.
* DrunkRolling: In his song "Master of the House," Thenardier cheerfully admits to robbing his patrons when they're too drunk to notice, alongside all his other shady business practices.
-->''Master of the house, keeper of the zoo\\
Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two\\
Watering the wine, making up the weight\\
Pickin' up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight''
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: Éponine, to Marius, in the song "A Little Fall Of Rain".
* DueToTheDead: In some productions, especially those that don't make use of the turntable, [[spoiler: Javert finds the bodies of Enjolras and Gavroche. He is clearly moved by both, but especially the latter, who had taunted him throughout. He briefly kneels by his body and does the sign of the cross and carries Gavroche onto the cart where Enjolras has already been laid.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original 1985 production had some major differences from the musical as most of us know it today. "Stars" was placed rather awkwardly between "Waltz of Treachery" and "Look Down" as opposed to its more familiar location after "The Robbery".[[note]]The film restores it to this place.[[/note]] "Little People" had almost entirely different lyrics, was substantially longer, and was sung prior to "Drink with Me" instead of before "A Little Fall of Rain". A song called "I Saw Him Once" which is no longer present at all preceded a shorter version of "In My Life". A lot of smaller lyrical differences also existed, but these ones are definitely the most blatant ones. The show was edited into its more familiar format once it was brought to Broadway in 1987, and though some edits have been made since then, its structure remains more or less the same as it was once that change was made.
%%* EccentricMentor: The Bishop of Digne. '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''
%%* EarnYourHappyEnding: Jean Valjean is practically the poster boy for this trope. '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''
* EverybodyDiesEnding: Well, mostly anyway. The exceptions are [[spoiler:Marius]], Cosette and the {{Karma Houdini}}s.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The revolutionaries refuse to let Gavroche put himself in the line of fire, because he's the youngest of all of them. [[spoiler:He has to sneak past them to get the shells they need, ignoring their protests]].
* EmbarrassingRescue: [[spoiler: Valjean]] sees [[spoiler: Javert]] is slated for execution and requests that he have the privilege of killing the spy. Being killed by [[spoiler: Valjean]] squares with [[spoiler: Javert's]] rigid view of the world and he accepts it, feeling like a martyr. When [[spoiler: Valjean]] unties him, fires into the air and urges him to flee, [[spoiler: Javert]] at first thinks it's a trick, and is so shocked that he later self-terminates due to the ensuing cognitive dissonance. His entire view of the world is crumbling, and furthermore, as long as he is alive he must pursue [[spoiler: Valjean]], but at the same time he feels he should not pursue a man who saved his life.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Miserable People.
* ExactWords: Thenardier wasn't lying when he said he served [[LethalChef "food beyond belief"]] or when he said he treated Cosette like [[AbusiveParent "one of [his] own"]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity:
** [[spoiler: Enjolras]], just as in the book, stands tall before a firing squad.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Thénardier tries this several times. He instead comes off as a nasty and distasteful crook, while still being PluckyComicRelief.
* FinalLoveDuet: "A Little Fall of Rain" serves as one for Eponine: she dies in Marius' arms and even expresses her love for him, while Marius sings comfort in counterpoint.
* {{Flanderization}}: It's inevitable with such a CompressedAdaptation... but there is more to Javert than chasing Valjean (snuff, for instance) and there's more to Éponine than loving Marius (mental illness, for instance.) The barricade boys also have a bit more character that the little that actually gets sung.
* ForTheEvulz: The woman factory worker who tells lies about Fantine and delights in her consequent firing, for no apparent reason.
* FourthDateMarriage: A SubvertedTrope. Marius and Cosette are sighing that they were born to love each other after about twenty minutes of conversation. But after Marius is gravely injured, Cosette nurses him during a convalescence of at least several weeks, and their relationship grows much stronger for it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the 25th Anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine. [[DrivenToSuicide The bridge shows up later.]]
** Also, prior to "Master of the House," Thenardier's guests sing about Thenardier's past in which he stole from the dead soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo. [[spoiler:He later does exactly the same thing after the rebellion fails.]]
* FriendshipSong: "Drink With Me", an ensemble number where the Friends of the ABC remember the good times and raise toasts to one another.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the 25th anniversary staged concert at the O2, the performers do a hand dance during Beggers at the Feast.
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* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Depending on the production.
* AccidentalMisnaming: Thénardier seems to have a lot of trouble remembering Cosette's name, calling her Colette.
* AdaptationDistillation: As far as attempts at adaptations of the {{Doorstopper}} of a book go, this one is probably still one of the most loyal, even if it does cut out a few characters.
** A very [[PragmaticAdaptation Pragmatic]] result of the short time frame: Hugo opens the book with a few chapters talking about the Bishop of Digne and his history of generous, selfless acts. Without that preamble, the Bishop's kindness to Valjean is more surprising and meaningful.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Bamatabois in the musical is a customer who makes advances on Fantine, beats her when she refuses, and tells Javert that she attacked him first. In the book, he sees her in public, taunts her and throws a snowball at her, but there's no indication that he was interested in her sexually, and he doesn't report her to the police, but runs away from the scene.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: In the novel, Fantine hardly interacts with M. Madeleine before she's fired. It's his policy that unwed mothers cannot work at his factories that gets her fired, and she develops a bitter hatred for him based on the policy alone. The musical and film version has Madeleine present when Fantine gets in trouble, and he brushes aside her concern and leaves the Foreman to fire her. Thus, when she says to him "[[BystanderSyndrome Yes, you were there, you turned aside]]" the line packs a real wallop.
** In the novel, Marius is not an in-member of the Friends of the ABC; the musical usually treats him like Enjolras' second in command. Also, Novel! Marius barely knows Eponine as a pitiable waif who runs errands for him, and he treats her coldly. In the musical, they come off as friends and he deeply mourns her death.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Some songs have this.
-->'''Javert''': ”'''S'''tars, in your multitudes, '''s'''carce to be counted, filling the night, with order and light. You are the '''s'''entinels, '''s'''ilent and '''s'''ure, keeping watch on the night."
* TheAlcoholic: Grantaire. And some productions more than others emphasize Fantine as also getting an alcohol addiction around the time of "Lovely Ladies".
* AllCrimesAreEqual:
** It's bad enough that Valjean gets five years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread (and breaking a window pane to get it)... but then he gets another fourteen for his multiple escape attempts. Ouch.
** This is the cornerstone of Javert's entire character. He has a BlackAndWhiteMorality that states that anyone who commits any crime for any reason ''must'' be evil, while those who defend and uphold the law are inherently good. He can't understand the notion that someone might commit a small offense to help others (in Valjean's case, he stole the loaf of bread to save his sister's dying son). Later, when Valjean lets him go free despite their long history, Javert is so baffled and shattered by the concept of mercy from a "bad" person that he [[spoiler: throws himself into the Seine]].
* AllMusicalsAreAdaptations: Adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo of the same name.
* AndThatLittleGirlWasMe: "Valjean's Confession".
** There was another, similar-looking man about to go to prison in his place. Valjean proved who he was by [[spoiler:giving his prisoner number: 24601.]]
* AngryMobSong: "Look Down" and "Do You Hear the People Sing?"
* AntagonistInMourning: The 2017 London production has Javert visibly saddened by the sight of the dead students strewn across the barricade, crossing himself out of respect, and briefly crying ManlyTears for them before resuming his pursuit of Valjean.
* AnthropomorphicPersonification: Javert serves as one for the law. He appears whenever the plot requires any type of interaction with an agent of the state, [[WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs whether it's a prison guard, a police officer, or a spy]]. He repeatedly says "[[IAmTheNoun I am the law]]".
* AntiVillain: In his way, Javert is a kind of idealist himself, being possibly a perfect textbook case of WellIntentionedExtremist. Overlaps with VillainyFreeVillain.
* AnyoneCanDie: Proven true, namely with [[spoiler: Gavroche]].
* ArcNumber: 24601, [[YouAreNumberSix Valjean's prison number]].
* ArcWords: "Look down” and “Tomorrow".
* TheArtfulDodger: Gavroche. "This only goes to show what little people can do!"
* ArtisticLicense:
** There are sometimes moments, such as the line "They were schoolboys, never held a gun" in the song ''Turning''. When you consider that nearly everyone who died had fought on the barricades only two years before in 1830, and some in other riots, the idea that none of them had fought before is a little ludicrous. (The 2012 film discards this line.)
** In the same song, "No one ever told them that a summer day could kill"... despite the fact that Javert told them this over and over, and the students themselves acknowledge it several times as well.
** The use of convicts as actual galley slaves in the 25th anniversary staging counts, since this had been abolished in the eighteenth century.
** Some productions use anachronistic hoop skirts, which came in a few years after the story is set.
* AsYouKnow: Granted, awkward exposition is to be expected of the genre. Still, a particularly noticeable example is Valjean's line "I am the mayor of this town" in "At the End of the Day".
* AscendedExtra: A lot of understudies for the major roles eventually ended up playing the role proper. And the show ran for so long on Broadway--and has run even longer in London--that many of the actors playing the children who left the show when they aged out eventually came back to play one of the adult roles.
* {{A Taste of the Lash}}: Depending on production, but some of them show little mercy for the convict soloists in the "Work Song".
* BackForTheFinale: The "Do You Hear the People Sing" reprise is sung by the entire cast of characters including the ones who died.
* BackstoryHorror: The Tenth Anniversary Concert prominently features Gavroche in the background of "A Little Fall of Rain", looking horrified. This is even more heartbreaking for those who read the book, which explains that [[spoiler: Éponine is his sister.]]
** The recent Broadway revival makes it even more obvious, as Gavroche is outright sobbing loudly at [[spoiler: Eponine's death]], to the point where he needs to be comforted by one of the students.
* BadassAdorable: Gavroche, who joins the revolutionaries, even when they don't want him to get hurt.
* BadassAndChildDuo: Valjean and young Cosette.
* BalconyWooingScene: In some productions, Marius approaches Cosette by throwing a pebble at her window before she steps out onto the balcony to investigate.
* BaitTheDog: Though this was far from M. Hugo's original intent, the musical gives its most upbeat, funniest, and catchiest musical number to Monsieur Thenardier and his wife, as they swindle, cheat, and serve questionable food to the patrons at their inn, and abuse and starve the little girl they're supposed to be taking care of.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Valjean to the Bishop of Digne. Because this man showed him kindness and love he had not known for nearly 20 years, it inspires Valjean to become a better man.
* BigFinaleCrowdSong: The production has the reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing", in which the entire cast of characters returns for the final number, including nearly everyone who died.
* TheBigGuy: Varies with the production of course, but Valjean is often cast as this, given his prodigious strength.
* BigNo: Depending on the production, there is sometimes one when [[spoiler: Gavroche dies.]]
* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Madame Thenardier thinks so.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Inverted; in some productions Gavroche has this attitude towards Eponine who is his older sister. He tries to go to her when she gets shot, and cries after she passes.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Well, most of the cast is dead, the rebellion failed and the Thenardiers have gotten away with all their crimes (and will likely continue to do so). But at least our Alpha Couple live happily ever after. And Valjean finally finds absolution at the end of his life. And the ghosts give us hope for a better future.]]
* BlackAndWhiteInsanity:
** Javert. Such an extreme case that when he's finally forced to challenge it, [[spoiler:he's driven to suicide.]]
** On the French Concept Album, [[spoiler:"Javert's Suicide"]] is even called "Noir ou Blanc" (Black or white).
* BlackComedyBurst: "Master of the House" is short for, "Allow us to interrupt your regularly scheduled [[BreakTheCutie Breaking of the Cuties]] for some madcap fun as the Thénardiers cheat, poison, and steal from everyone in their inn!"
* BookEnds: "One Day More" begins and ends with a TitleDrop.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: In "Master of the House", Monsieur Thénardier refers to himself as [[BlatantLies "comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate'']]. Mme. Thénardier makes an IronicEcho of this by calling him "comforter, philosopher, and lifelong shit".
** Immediately after this, she describes him, saying "Cunning little brain. Regular [[Creator/{{Voltaire}} Voltaire]]. Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there."
* BreakTheCutie: Fantine. Also Éponine, and little Cosette. And Marius. Given how the title literally means "The Miserable Ones", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin this is to be expected]].
* BrokenBird: Fantine starts out as an honest factory worker, motivated by love for her daughter, but when her reputation is ruined, the only route for her is prostitution. In the space of a couple of songs, she's reduced from a kindhearted dreamer to an alcoholic, embittered wreck who spits on Valjean's face.
* BSODSong: "What Have I Done?", Valjean asks. The Bishop's kindness has put him to such shame that Valjean is driven to a complete reckoning of his life and soul. In the end, he decides [[ToBeLawfulOrGood to break his parole and start a new life.]]
* BystanderSyndrome: See AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul above: Valjean was present when Fantine got into trouble, but he handed the matter over to his Foreman. When they meet again and Fantine brings this up to him, Valjean is horrified and resolves to make it up to her.
** "The Runaway Cart" sequence: a cart full of pottery pins down a random pedestrian. The bystanders tell one another to look away, because there is no way to save him. Subverted, then, when the Mayor arrives and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower lifts the cart a fraction]], whereupon everyone rushes to help.* CallAndResponseSong: The first "Look Down" is sung this way among the prisoners; "Red and Black" turns into one, first Marius talks about love and Grantaire mocks him, and then Enjolras calls the Amis to arms and they take up the refrain.
* TheCaretaker: Valjean, briefly, to Fantine (he blames himself for her reduced circumstances) and, on Fantine's deathbed, he swears he will look after her daughter. Valjean adopts Cosette and becomes a good, loving father.
* ChekhovsGun: In the 25th anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine. [[spoiler: Javert later commits suicide by throwing himself off of this bridge.]]
* ColorfulSong: "Red And Black".
* CompressedAdaptation: The book is a proper Doorstopper. Some elements that got cut include the Bishop's backstory and history of good works before meeting Valjean, Fantine's love affair and meeting with the Thenardiers, how exactly Valjean became Mayor of M-sur-M, detailed character profiles of every Friend of the ABC, a whole plotline with Marius' father ''and'' grandfather, and a wee kerfuffle called the Battle of Waterloo.
* ConnectedAllAlong: A meta-example: The [[Literature/{{LESMISERABLES}} original novel]] mentions that [[spoiler: Gavroche is Eponine's brother]], but the modern plays seldom mention this.
* ConsummateLiar: [[spoiler: Valjean lives under false identities during most of the story.]]
* ContrivedCoincidence: Usually the fact that all important characters happen to show up in the same place at the same time.
* CounterpointDuet: "The Confrontation", "A Heart Full of Love" and its reprise "Everyday".
* CriminalDoppelganger: Champmathieu gets arrested in Jean Valjean's place because he just happens to look exactly like him. Of course, depending on the actors portraying them on stage, this can range from entirely believable, or you needing to have a WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief.
* CrossCastRole: In professional productions Gavroche is sometimes understudied by an adult female member of the cast.
* CrowdSong: "Red And Black", "One Day More" and "Do You Hear The People Sing?"
* CrucifiedHeroShot: The death of [[spoiler:Enjolras]].
* DaddysGirl: Cosette to Valjean. [[spoiler: As long as he allows her to.]]
* DarkReprise:
** Thenardier waltz - The robbery
** Castle On a Cloud - Attack on the Rue Plumet
** Eponine's Errand - A Little Fall of Rain
** [[WouldHurtAChild Little People]]
** Valjean's Soliloquy and Stars - Javert's suicide
** Bring Him Home - [[DyingAlone Bring me home]]
** The first time Valjean's melody plays is after his soliloquy where he declares he will devote himself to goodness. All subsequent appearances of his melody gets sadder in context. On "Who Am I?", he must expose his identity to save an innocent man. His melody plays again when Cosette and Marius meet. On "One Day More", Valjean is weary of always running. Finally, "Who Am I?" is reprised when he reveals his identity to Marius and leaves Cosette to him.
* TheDarknessBeforeDeath: During Fantine's death scene she mentions "a darkness that comes without a warning" and after things grow dark for her she spends her last moments in a happy, feverish delirium.
* DeathByDespair: [[spoiler: Jean Valjean, after being separated from Cosette.]]
* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler: Eponine]]
* DeathGlare: Valjean and Javert typically exchange a few of these.
* DeathSong: Oh, dear God. Take your pick.
** "Come To Me" [[spoiler:Fantine]]
** "A Little Fall Of Rain" [[spoiler:Eponine]]
** "The Second Attack" [[spoiler:Gavroche]]
** "The Final Battle" [[spoiler:The students]]
** [[spoiler:Javert's Suicide]]
** [[spoiler:Valjean's Death]]
* DefiledForever: Fantine's one lover abandoned her and the child. She's trying to live honestly in Montreuil-sur-Mer, but once word gets out of her child out of wedlock, it's enough to get her fired. Then she can't get work anywhere else in the town... except prostitution.
* DelicateAndSickly: Fantine is reduced to a "ghost of herself," suffering from a never-exactly-named disease (implied to be tuberculosis, which was rampant at the time), and acts as a motivator for Valjean to go and retrieve her daughter, and then dies.
* DemotedToExtra: Inevitable, in this show, but Gavroche gets ''a lot'' less screen time in the play than in the book because his subplot's cut, going from one of the more memorable characters to a few solos and glossing over the fact that he's a Thénardier. Barring a change in songs, though, his [[spoiler:death scene]] is kept mostly intact.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
** "I ''dreamed'' a ''dream''..."
** "Please do not send me out ''alone'' / not in the darkness ''on my own''."
** "Men like you can never change / A man such as you. / Men like me can never change. / Men like you can never change."
** "Good evening, dear inspector, lovely evening, my dear. / I know this man, my friends, his name's Inspector Javert."
* TheDeterminator: Both Javert and Valjean.
* DiedHappilyEverAfter: After his adoptive daughter is finally married to the man she loves, and is set for a happy life of her own, [[spoiler:Jean Valjean dies peacefully in Cossette and Marius' arms as the spirits of Fantine and Eponine come to collect his soul and guide him to his eternal reward in Heaven.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: Éponine]] dies in Marius's arms in "A Little Fall of Rain."
* DissonantLaughter: It's common to have Thénardier let off some cackles during the "Dog Eats Dog" number.
* DistantDuet: Marius and Cosette (who are actually distant lovers longing for each other), Eponine and Enjolras (who is joined by Marius deciding what to do) on "One Day More".
* DoomedMoralVictor: Les Amis.
* DoubleEntendre:
** Opening "Lovely Ladies" is, "I smell women, smell 'em in the air / Think I'll drop my anchor in that harbor over there..."
** In "At the End of the Day", one of the factory workers, when talking about the foreman, says, "Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands.'
* DownerBeginning: The first song in the entire musical is about a group of prisoners singing about how miserable they are doing slave labor and being tormented with the knowledge that they'll be stuck there for the rest of their lives. And it just gets worse from there, kiddies!
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When Valjean is trying to explain his theft to Javert in the first song.
-->'''Valjean''': "My sister's child was close to death, we were starving--"
-->'''Javert''': "You'll starve again!"
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Javert disguises himself as an insurgent and lies low in order to spy; Valjean wears a French National Guard uniform so he can cross the barricade.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Javert,]] because of the cognitive dissonance caused by having his life saved by Valjean.
* DrunkRolling: In his song "Master of the House," Thenardier cheerfully admits to robbing his patrons when they're too drunk to notice, alongside all his other shady business practices.
-->''Master of the house, keeper of the zoo\\
Ready to relieve 'em of a sou or two\\
Watering the wine, making up the weight\\
Pickin' up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight''
* DyingDeclarationOfLove: Éponine, to Marius, in the song "A Little Fall Of Rain".
* DueToTheDead: In some productions, especially those that don't make use of the turntable, [[spoiler: Javert finds the bodies of Enjolras and Gavroche. He is clearly moved by both, but especially the latter, who had taunted him throughout. He briefly kneels by his body and does the sign of the cross and carries Gavroche onto the cart where Enjolras has already been laid.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original 1985 production had some major differences from the musical as most of us know it today. "Stars" was placed rather awkwardly between "Waltz of Treachery" and "Look Down" as opposed to its more familiar location after "The Robbery".[[note]]The film restores it to this place.[[/note]] "Little People" had almost entirely different lyrics, was substantially longer, and was sung prior to "Drink with Me" instead of before "A Little Fall of Rain". A song called "I Saw Him Once" which is no longer present at all preceded a shorter version of "In My Life". A lot of smaller lyrical differences also existed, but these ones are definitely the most blatant ones. The show was edited into its more familiar format once it was brought to Broadway in 1987, and though some edits have been made since then, its structure remains more or less the same as it was once that change was made.
%%* EccentricMentor: The Bishop of Digne. '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''
%%* EarnYourHappyEnding: Jean Valjean is practically the poster boy for this trope. '''Administrivia/ZeroContextExample'''
* EverybodyDiesEnding: Well, mostly anyway. The exceptions are [[spoiler:Marius]], Cosette and the {{Karma Houdini}}s.
* EveryoneHasStandards: The revolutionaries refuse to let Gavroche put himself in the line of fire, because he's the youngest of all of them. [[spoiler:He has to sneak past them to get the shells they need, ignoring their protests]].
* EmbarrassingRescue: [[spoiler: Valjean]] sees [[spoiler: Javert]] is slated for execution and requests that he have the privilege of killing the spy. Being killed by [[spoiler: Valjean]] squares with [[spoiler: Javert's]] rigid view of the world and he accepts it, feeling like a martyr. When [[spoiler: Valjean]] unties him, fires into the air and urges him to flee, [[spoiler: Javert]] at first thinks it's a trick, and is so shocked that he later self-terminates due to the ensuing cognitive dissonance. His entire view of the world is crumbling, and furthermore, as long as he is alive he must pursue [[spoiler: Valjean]], but at the same time he feels he should not pursue a man who saved his life.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The Miserable People.
* ExactWords: Thenardier wasn't lying when he said he served [[LethalChef "food beyond belief"]] or when he said he treated Cosette like [[AbusiveParent "one of [his] own"]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity:
** [[spoiler: Enjolras]], just as in the book, stands tall before a firing squad.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Thénardier tries this several times. He instead comes off as a nasty and distasteful crook, while still being PluckyComicRelief.
* FinalLoveDuet: "A Little Fall of Rain" serves as one for Eponine: she dies in Marius' arms and even expresses her love for him, while Marius sings comfort in counterpoint.
* {{Flanderization}}: It's inevitable with such a CompressedAdaptation... but there is more to Javert than chasing Valjean (snuff, for instance) and there's more to Éponine than loving Marius (mental illness, for instance.) The barricade boys also have a bit more character that the little that actually gets sung.
* ForTheEvulz: The woman factory worker who tells lies about Fantine and delights in her consequent firing, for no apparent reason.
* FourthDateMarriage: A SubvertedTrope. Marius and Cosette are sighing that they were born to love each other after about twenty minutes of conversation. But after Marius is gravely injured, Cosette nurses him during a convalescence of at least several weeks, and their relationship grows much stronger for it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the 25th Anniversary staging, "Stars" is sung on a bridge over the Seine. [[DrivenToSuicide The bridge shows up later.]]
** Also, prior to "Master of the House," Thenardier's guests sing about Thenardier's past in which he stole from the dead soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo. [[spoiler:He later does exactly the same thing after the rebellion fails.]]
* FriendshipSong: "Drink With Me", an ensemble number where the Friends of the ABC remember the good times and raise toasts to one another.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the 25th anniversary staged concert at the O2, the performers do a hand dance during Beggers at the Feast.
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