By Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
The words here are as they were sung in the Notables February 5, 2000, performance, and are to be sung in the October 27, 2000, performance. Text given in black is to be sung by the chorus. Text in green is sung by soloists.
1823, Montreuil-sur-Mer. Outside the factory owned by the Mayor, Monsieur Madeleine (Jean Valjean in disguise).
The Poor:
At the end of the day you're another day older,
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor.
It's a struggle, it's a war,
And there's nothing that anyone's giving.
One more day standing about, what is it for?
One day less to be living.
At the end of the day you're another day colder.
And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill.
And the righteous hurry past;
They don't hear the little ones crying.
And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill.
One day nearer to dying!
At the end of the day there's another day dawning.
And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise.
Like the waves crash on the sand,
Like a storm that'll break any second,
There's a hunger in the land,
There's a reckoning still to be reckoned, and
There's gonna be hell to pay
At the end of the day!
The foreman and workers, including Fantine, emerge from the factory.
Jerry & Cindy S:
Foreman:
At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing;
Sitting flat on your butt doesn't buy any bread
Worker 1:
There are children back at home,
Workers 1&2:
And the children have got to be fed.
Worker 2:
And you're lucky to be in a job
Woman:
And in a bed!
Workers:
And we're counting our blessings!
The workers discuss that the foreman has been hitting on Fantine.
Workers:
At the end of the day it's another day
over,
With enough in your pocket to last for a week.
Pay the landlord, pay the shop,
Keep on grafting as long as you're able,
Keep on grafting till you drop,
Or it's back to the crumbs off the table.
You've got to pay your way
At the end of the day!
At the end of this, a girl takes a letter from Fantine. They fight over the letter. Valjean (M. Madeleine) rushes on to break up the squabble. He turns the problem over to the foreman. The other women complain that Fantine is a slut. She tells him she has a daughter, and the letter is a request for more money for the daughter. The foreman then uses this as an excuse to fire Fantine.
Fantine is left alone, unemployed and destitute.
Fantine (Mary):
There was a time when men were kind
When 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,
Then it all went wrong.
I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high
And life worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die;
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.
He slept a summer by my side;
He filled my days with endless wonder;
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came .
And still I dream he'll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather.
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living;
So different now from what it seemed,
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.
Fantine in desperation turns to prostitution. She is abused by a customer, struggles, and then is arrested by Javert. Valjean (still as M. Madeleine) intervenes, and, as Mayor, takes care of her. Fantine dies in his care, and he promises to take care of his daughter, Cosette.
Young Cosette is working as a drudge in the Thénardier'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 hundred boys and girls,
Nobody shouts or talks too loud,
Not in my castle on a cloud.
There is a lady all in white,
Holds me and sings a lullaby,
She's nice to see and she's soft to touch,
She says "Cosette, I love you very much."
I know a place where no one's lost,
I know a place where no one cries,
Crying at all is not allowed,
Not in my castle on a cloud.
Meanwhile, customers are at the Thénardiers' inn.
Valjean finds Cosette fetching water in the dark. After bargaining with Thénardier, he takes her to Paris. The city is in ferment: students, beggars, urchins, prostitutes, &c. While Valjean and Cosette are walking through the city, Thénardier and his gang attempt to rob them, but Javert intervenes to stop the robbery. In the confusion Marius sees Cosette. Valjean, recognizing Javert, vanishes with Cosette. Later Marius finds Eponine and persuades her to find Cosette for him.
The students, including Marius, plan an uprising in the ABC Café. Marius, however, is distracted by thoughts of the mysterious Cosette.
On learning of the death of General Lamarque, the students march in the streets to stir up popular support for their revolution.
Eponine leads Marius to meet Cosette, and the two discover their love for each other.
Valjean, convinced it was Javert who was lurking outside his house, tells Cosette they must prepare to flee the country. On the eve of the revolution the students and Javert see the situation from their different viewpoints; Cosette and Marius part in despair of ever meeting again; Eponine mourns the loss of Marius; and Valjean looks forward to the security of exile. The Thénardiers, meanwhile, dream of rich pickings underground from the chaos to come.
This is the usual place for the intermission.
Click here for Act II lyrics.
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