Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 88

An Irish actor leads a British musical based on a French classic The producer Cameron Mackintosh spent months hare last spring and summer auditioning actors for this part He insisted that he had every intention of fielding an entirely American cast fir the Broadway version of his London hit Eventually he came to believe that Wilkinson was the man to create Valjean for American audiences "He is a very special actor I think it is that occasional thing that happens an extraordinary fiishm of an actor and a role" Mackintosh said Mackintosh has been quoted as saying that soul and Jean Valjean'a soul are at one" Wilkinson raised his eyebrows appreciatively at that "I loved it" he said "When I read that I figured Td ask him for more The London-based Mackintosh is the most likely man on Broadway to be asked for money today -With sell-out productions of playing around the world a brand new London hit in- "ITiantam of the the still-running Tendon production of "Les Miserables" and 11 million in advance sales for "Les here he probably the single most important producer on either side of the Atlantic It was Mackintosh who came up with the idea of translating what began as a limited-run French arena show into a full-blown stage musicaL The team of Claude-Michel Schoenberg (musk) and Alain Boublil (book and lyrics) created "Les Miserables" for the 4800 seat Palais des Sport in Paris in I960 It was hugely successful throughout its scheduled 16 weeks An album came out of it and a copy reached Mackintosh who docidod to mount it By Joseph Koenenn OLM WILKINSON waa named for one of Ireland's peat saints (Co-Iimicille) who sent missionaries all over Europe and may hare dispatched some so far afield that they discovered came to be known as America America is about to discover the namesake He is sailing into the New World ss the star of the $45-million musical "Les and if the excitement generated by that show is enough to make it the Broadway blockbuster of the 808 the betting on Wilkin- son is that destined to be one of the nuyor stars Even in London where the critics were not uniformly kind to "Les there was abundant praise for Wilkinson In Washington where the American production just ended an eight-week premiere run the reviews for both show and star were enthusiastic remarkable voice and seasoned presence provide a rock-solid anchor to this sweeping and technically elaborate production" Variety said "Les the musical treatment of -Victor 19th-Century classic is ulad to open Thursday night at the Broadway Theater with Wilkinson the central role of Jean Valjean the harshly treated ex-convict who spends the latter half of his life in an almost saintly pursuit of righteousness.