1832. The teeming, squalid streets of Paris. Beggars, urchins, prostitutes, students, etc. BEGGARS Look down and see the beggars at your feet Look down and show some mercy if you can Look down and see the sweepings of the street Look down, look down, Upon your fellow man! GAVROCHE ‘Ow do you do? My name’s…
THENARDIER What to do? What to say? Shall you carry our treasure away? What a gem! What a pearl! Beyond rubies is our little girl! How can we speak of debt? Let’s not haggle for darling Cosette! Dear Fantine, gone to rest… Have we done for her child what is best? Shared our bread. Shared…
DRINKER THREE Come on you old pest DRINKER TWO Fetch a bottle of your best DRINKER ONE What’s the nectar of the day? (Thenardier enters with a flask of wine) THENARDIER Here, try this lot Guaranteed to hit the spot Or I’m not Thenardier DRINKERS Gissa glass a rum Landlord, over here! THENARDIER Right away,…
[Young Cosette is working as a drudge in the Th?nardier’s inn at Montfermeil] [YOUNG COSETTE] There is a castle on a cloud, I like to go there in my sleep, Aren’t any floors for me to sweep, Not in my castle on a cloud. There is a room that’s full of toys, There are a…
[JAVERT] Valjean, at last, We see each other plain `M’sieur le Mayor,’ You’ll wear a different chain! [VALJEAN] Before you say another word, Javert Before you chain me up like a slave again Listen to me! There is something I must do. This woman leaves behind a suffering child. There is none but me who…
[Fantine is lying in a hospital bed, deliriously dreaming of her daughter Cosette] [FANTINE] Cosette, it’s turned so cold Cosette, it’s past your bedtime You’ve played the day away And soon it will be night. Come to me, Cosette, the light is fading Don’t you see the evening star appearing? Come to me, and rest…
[VALJEAN] He thought that man was me Without a second glance! That stranger he has found This man could be my chance! Why should I save his hide? Why should I right this wrong When I have come so far And struggled for so long? If I speak, I am condemned. If I stay silent,…
[The docks. Sailors, whores and their customers, pimps, etc. Fantine wanders in] [SAILOR ONE] I smell women Smell ’em in the air Think I’ll drop my anchor In that harbor over there [SAILOR TWO] Lovely ladies Smell ’em through the smoke Seven days at sea Can make you hungry for a poke [SAILOR THREE] Even…
There was a time when men were kind, And their voices were soft, And their words inviting. There was a time when love was blind, And the world was a song, And the song was exciting. There was a time when it all went wrong… I dreamed a dream in time gone by, When hope…
[The bishop addresses Valjean] But remember this, my brother See in this some higher plan You must use this precious silver To become an honest man By the witness of the martyrs By the Passion and the Blood God has raised you out of darkness I have bought your soul for God! [VALJEAN] What have…