STAGE PROBLEMS CANCEL TWO ‘MISERABLES’ SHOWS

The U.S. premiere of the London hit musical “Les Miserables” got off to a rocky start when a $200,000 rotating stage malfunctioned in the Kennedy Center Opera House, forcing cancellation of two sold-out performances.

About 4,600 disappointed ticket holders were unable to see Sunday matinee and evening performances of the show, which opened Saturday night without a hitch for an eight-week, pre-Broadway run.

The audiences were sent home with promises of refunds or ticket exchanges, even though the Washington engagement is almost entirely sold out. Kennedy Center officials estimated Sunday’s losses at $60,000.

Alan Wasser, general manager of the center’s theaters, said Monday the problem had been traced to glitches in the computer and electronic controls that operate the revolving turntable, which covers nearly all of the 40-foot Opera House stage.

A team of electronic specialists worked throughout the day with new components flown in from New York and Chicago to repair the balky rotating stage in time for Monday evening’s performance. Wasser called the stage “an absolutely integral part of the show” for constant scene changes signifying the passage of 17 years in the life of hero Jean Valjean.

The musical, based on Victor Hugo’s epic novel, was written originally in French for the Paris stage in 1980. The American touring version is the same English-language production by the Royal Shakespeare Company that opened to critical acclaim in London a year ago.

After the Kennedy Center tryout ends Feb. 14, the musical will move to the Broadway Theater in New York for an indefinite engagement.

The Washington Post said “Les Miserables” is “popular entertainment on a grand scale” which “for sheer, breathless theatricality is certain to give ‘Cats’ a pause or two.” The Washington Times called it “a musical classic-to-be.”

Wasser said the revolving stage is used at one point to hold two huge scenic pieces, the towering barricades erected in a Paris street in 1832 by rebellious students. Each barricade set weighs as much as four tons, not counting cast members who are on stage at the time.