Au Revoir: Final Les Miz Playbill Celebrates May 18 Milestone

The special onetime-only edition Playbill cover shows an image from the end of Act One — in which the hopeful revolutionaries embrace and agree to fight the forces oppressing them. The words "Au Revoir" linger above the crowd.

The cover was designed by Serino Coyne and the "au revoir" is fitting: Producer Cameron Mackintosh has said Les Miz will always be around in some form, whether tour, concert or student versions, and that "au revoir" doesn't really mean goodbye.

The cover also indicates "Final Performance, May 18, 2003."

For Collectors Only

Inside the May 18 Playbill are a special message from Mackintosh; facts about the history of the Broadway, international and future productions of Les Misérables; a roster of the 415 performers who have appeared in the Broadway staging; a page remembering the late theatre people who contributed to the Broadway show; and photos representing "Miz Milestones." The May 18 final performance is sold out, reserved for special guests of Mackintosh and friends of the production. A gala at Rockefeller Center follows. The 6 PM show will present the three-hour musical and curtain call Broadway theatregoers have seen more than 6,600 times, plus an added finale, the details of which have been kept secret.

A close-up of the classic black-and-white illustration of Young Cosette has been seen on the Playbill cover in recent months (and in different variations in ads and covers over the years). The now well-known image by artist Emile Bayard was lifted from the first edition of the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo.

The total performance count for Broadway's Les Miz by May 18 will be 6,680.