BY SHENGAS MCGLUMPHIE

A local theatre company has announced the staging of its interpretation of the world famous, long-running stage musical, Les Misérables.

The show, ‘The Pishmires’, will be produced by local impresario and director Oliver Carr, and is expected to make its world premier in September.

“We’re very excited”, said Carr very excitedly. “It’s going straight into the west end which shows how confident we are of it popularity. West end of Tyrone that is. The Banter Theatre in Dungannon. It holds nearly 180 people and if we can get the licence for the bar and a lock of free egg sandwiches for the spectators at half-time, it’s guaranteed to be a sell-out. We might even have to do a second night. Class”.

Showing a limited grasp of the synopsis of the current Les Misérables show which has been running in London for over 20 years, Carr said, “We’ve had to make a few wee compromises, like cutting out nearly all of the music. Jaysus, have you heard it? It would put years on you. Singing all the way through, can you imagine?  No, that’ll never catch on. That’s why we’re bringing on a talking parrot near the beginning, and then later on a man who can do deadly whistling through his nose. Lighten things up a bit”.

Rehearsals well underway

The original Les Misérables story tells of the lead character Jean Val Jean, who is pursued relentlessly after blatantly breaking parole in Paris, whereas in the Tyrone re-make, the lead character Sean Val Sean, is pursued relentlessly after blatantly breaking wind in Dungannon library.

“It’s not quite finished yet, because we haven’t found a way of getting Susan Boyle into the story”, said Carr. “I’m pretty sure she’s one of the main characters in the original show. That’s tricky. Maybe we could just have her as a big hefty librarian or something”.

Carr is also working on the adaptation of another musical, ‘Wicked’, which includes a delusional man who pretends to be capable of incredible feats by creating an entirely fictional persona. It is expected to feature Joe Brolly.