Les Miserables: The 25th Anniversary Concert

Known, most notably, as the co-creator and co-writer for Little Britain and the more recent Come Fly with Me, Matt Lucas is also a big fan of the Arsenal football club and musicals. So much so that he recently professed his idea of a perfect Saturday outing as, “…watching Arsenal in the afternoon and a performance of Les Mis in the evening”.

For someone who first saw Les Miserables for his 13th birthday, the opportunity to perform in the shows 25th anniversary concert last October at London’s O2 Arena was both a dream come true, but also a petrifying one. He later described his performance by saying, “I was the only cast member not to have been in the show. The most terrifying moment was in the matinee when I started singing a couple of bars too early. I slowed down and the orchestra sped up and we met at the beginning of the song proper.”

Even though people are more familiar with Lucas for his British comedy partnership with David Walliams and Little Britain and Come Fly With Me, music has been a big part of his life since childhood. Lucas has previously starred in Taboo, a musical by Boy George. While Lucas’ musical talents didn’t afford him the opportunity to play the lead role of Jean Valjean, he does sing the role of Thénardier, the wicked innkeeper, to the delight of the crowd in attendance at the O2 that night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3FIonz7TA&feature=related

Les Miserables: The 25th Anniversary Concert will air on a most PBS stations nationwide on Sunday, March 6, 2011. FYI, KERA in North Texas will air beginning at 6:00pm on March 6.