Downside of Susan Boyle’s Success … Comeback for Les Mis

My worst fears about Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer with the most beautiful voice, are about to come true. She is leading a revival in interest in Les Miserables, which has got to be the longest and most depressing musical of all time.

Under family pressure I have had to sit through Les Mis three times and after each performance I amazed that when I walk from the theatre my brain is still functioning and I can find my way to my car.

I know it is the longest running musical of all time in London and the third longest on Broadway but why? It lasts for a bum-numbing three hours, with only one intermission. That’s usually the time I offer a prayer that the audience and the cast will admit they have had enough of the dreariness and we can all go home.

Let’s be honest it’s not a fun night out. All the main characters die and there is no Hollywood ending. I believe it got negative reviews when it first opened but somehow survived and prospered. Please somebody tell me why.

Now Ms Boyle has gotten people talking about the production and I can just imagine the powers that be in America thinking, maybe we can revive the touring company or maybe Broadway audiences can be fooled again.

When I last checked there had been more than 35 million views of her singing I Dream a Dream on YouTube. There are dollar signs everywhere.

Take for instance what is happening in Vancouver, where according to Globe and Mail, ticket sales for a local production have gone through the roof.

Box office staff started to notice sales something was up on Wednesday. According to spokesperson Nicole McLuckie, "Tuesday [the box office] was up about 40%. Wednesday was up by about 115%. And yesterday it was about 250%," according to the newspaper.

Sara-Jeanne Hosie, the actress playing Fantine, who sings I Dream a Dream, has been forwarded the Boyle clip so many times that she's started answering the phone "Susan Boyle's understudy."

I feel sorry for those poor ticket buyers waiting for one song that comes in Act I. They probably don’t realize they have another couple of hours of suffering ahead of them.