Les Misérables (musical)
Characters

Les Misérables (musical)

Section Title: Characters
Table Section Text: None

Character	Voice	Description

Jean Valjean	dramatic tenor Ab2-B4 (Optional D5)	Prisoner 24601. After being released from imprisonment for serving nineteen years (five for stealing a loaf of bread and fourteen for multiple escape attempts), he breaks parole and, after receiving mercy from Bishop Myriel, turns his life around to live for God, showing the effects of God's grace that bring a corrupt man into virtuous and selfless living.

Inspector Javert	baritone F2-F#4	Respects the law above all else and relentlessly pursues Valjean, hoping to bring the escaped convict to justice. He firmly believes in the justice of the law, and has no room for mercy.

The Bishop of Digne	baritone A2-E4	Shelters Valjean after his release from jail and gives him gifts of silver and absolution. His acts of kindness move Valjean to surrender his ways to God, escaping the label of "criminal" and living in a new identity.

The Factory Foreman	baritone or tenor D3-D4	Foreman of Valjean's (Valjean has assumed the name Madeleine) jet bead factory in Montreuil-sur-Mer which employs Fantine and other workers. The Foreman fires Fantine from the factory when she persists in resisting his overt sexual advances and because it is discovered that she is the mother of an illegitimate child (Cosette) living elsewhere.

The Factory Girl	soprano F4-Eb5	Mistress to the Factory Foreman. She intercepts a letter that the Thénardiers have sent to Fantine which exposes her as the mother of an illegitimate child, and the Factory Girl shows it to the Foreman, goading him into firing her.

Fantine	lyric mezzo-soprano D3-Eb5	An impoverished factory worker who loses her job and, as a result, turns to prostitution in order to continue paying the Thénardiers to care for her illegitimate daughter, Cosette.

Old Woman	contralto E4-D5	Affectionately called "The Hair Hag" in many of the original US companies, the Old Woman is the character who talks Fantine into selling her hair before Fantine becomes a prostitute.

Crone	soprano	Also called "The Locket Crone", this character is the woman who talks Fantine into selling her precious locket for much less than it is worth.

Bamatabois	tenor	An upper-class "fop" who tries to buy Fantine's services. He treats her abusively so she refuses him.

Fauchelevent	baritone or tenor	In a role reduced from the novel, he appears only in the Cart Crash scene, where he is trapped under the cart and rescued by Valjean.

Champmathieu	silent	A man who is arrested and on trial because he is believed to be Jean Valjean. Valjean, still under the name Madeleine, confesses his true identity at the trial in order to save the man.

Young Cosette	treble	The eight-year-old daughter of Fantine. Cosette is in the care of the Thénardiers who are paid by Fantine to take care of her child.

Madame Thénardier	contralto G#3-D5	Thénardier's unscrupulous wife, who abuses Cosette but dotes on her own daughter, Éponine. She is fully complicit in most of her husband's crimes and schemes.

Young Éponine	silent	The pampered daughter of the Thénardiers. She grows up with Cosette and is unkind to her.

Thénardier	comic baritone G#2-G4	A second-rate thief, Thénardier runs a small inn where he continually bilks his customers. He and his family later travel to Paris, where he sets up as the leader of a gang of street thugs and con men.

Gavroche	boy soprano A2-G4 (OR A3-G5)	A streetwise urchin who knows everyone and everything that happens in the slums of Paris. He joins up with the revolutionaries, and later dies on the barricade attempting to recover ammunition from fallen soldiers.

Enjolras	baritone or tenor A2-G4 (Optional Bb4)	Enjolras is the leader of the student revolutionaries and a friend of Marius. He is Idealistic and charismatic, although his plan is doomed to failure.

Marius Pontmercy	tenor A2-G4 (or Bb2-Ab4)	A student revolutionary, is friends with Éponine, but falls in love with Cosette, and she with him. He is later rescued from the barricades by Valjean, who ultimately gives Marius and Cosette his blessing, allowing them to be married.

Éponine	mezzo-soprano F3-E5	Daughter of the Thénardiers, Éponine, now a ragged street waif and a thief like her father, secretly loves Marius. Although it causes her great anguish, she helps him locate Cosette and later delivers a message he sends her from the barricade.

Brujon	baritone or tenor	A brutish and cowardly, but dissatisfied, member of Thénardier's Gang. Brujon's role in the musical expands to cover Gueulemer.

Babet	baritone or tenor	A foreboding member of Thénardier's Gang.

Claquesous	baritone or tenor	A member of Thénardier's Gang Quiet and masked, expert at evading the police, Claquesous might in fact be working for the law.

Montparnasse	baritone or tenor	A young member of Thénardier's Gang, Montparnasse is a handsome man who appears to be close to Éponine. He is usually portrayed as well-dressed, as he is in the book.

Cosette	soprano Bb3-C6	Cosette, the daughter of Fantine, has grown up to become a beautiful young woman of culture and privilege under Valjean's adoptive and loving fatherly care and protection.

Friends of the ABC	baritones and tenors A2-G4	Student revolutionaries who lead a revolution and die in the process, the Friends of the ABC become martyrs for the rights of citizens.

Combeferre	Baritone or tenor A2-G4	Combeferre is the philosopher of the ABC group. Enjolras' second-in-command.

Feuilly	tenor A2-A4	Feuilly is the only member of the Friends of the ABC who is not a student; he is a workingman. An optimist who stands as a sort of ambassador for the "outside", while the rest of the men stand for France.

Courfeyrac	tenor A2-G4	Friendly and open, Courfeyrac introduces Marius to the ABC society in the novel. He always has many mistresses, and is described as the centre of the Friends of the ABC, always giving off warmth.

Joly	tenor or baritone A2-G4	A medical student and a hypochondriac; best friends with Lesgles.

Grantaire	baritone A2-G4	Grantaire is a member of the Friends of the ABC. Though he admires Enjolras, Grantaire often opposes Enjolras' fierce determination and occasionally acts as a voice of reason.

Jean Prouvaire	baritone or tenor A2-G4	Prouvaire, a poet, is the youngest student member of the Friends. Jean Prouvaire has the honor of waving the giant red flag during "One Day More" at the end of Act One.

Lesgles	baritone or tenor A2-G4	Best friends with Joly. A very unlucky man, but also a very happy one.

Army Officer/Loud Hailer	tenor C4-G4	A voice from offstage, he demands the surrender of the student revolutionaries before the army attacks, telling them that the people of Paris have not answered their call for help.

Sentence(s)

After 19 years in prison (five for stealing bread and the rest for trying to escape), Jean Valjean, "prisoner 24601", is released on parole.

final_sentence: After 19 years in prison (five for stealing bread and the rest for trying to escape), Jean Valjean, "prisoner 24601", is released on parole.