Get to know the cast of the 'Les Misérables' 40th-anniversary celebration

The long-running West End show has lined up a phenomenal company, including Killian Donnelly, Bradley Jaden, Katie Hall, and Jac Yarrow.

Do you hear the people sing? They’ve been singing in the West End for an astonishing four decades! Yes, this autumn the revolutionary musical favourite Les Misérables celebrates its 40th anniversary in London: it was first seen at the Barbican in October 1985, and has been running in the West End since December of that year.

Les Mis has since become a hit all over the world, from Broadway to Australia and beyond. It has played in 55 countries total and 452 cities, viewed by more than 130 million people. It also became an Oscar-winning movie in 2012.

To mark the show’s remarkable milestone in the West End, producer Cameron Mackintosh has announced a special 40th anniversary version of Boublil and Schönberg’s musical, running for eight weeks only at the Sondheim Theatre with an all-star company. Get to know the Les Mis cast who are taking to the barricades for this incredible birthday celebration.

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Killian Donnelly as Jean Valjean

Donnelly has a long and storied history with Les Mis. He first joined the West End production as a swing back in 2008. He then became a second cover for Javert and Enjolras, and, by 2011, had graduated to principal Enjolras and third cover Valjean. In 2010 he played Courfeyrac in the 25th anniversary concert at The O2, and he was Combeferre in the movie version.

Donnelly returned to the West End production in 2017 to tackle the mighty lead role, our ex-convict hero Jean Valjean, to great acclaim. He reprised it in the 2018 UK and Ireland tour, and again in 2023 in the West End, and most recently he shared it with Alfie Boe and Peter Joback in the Les Mis Arena Spectacular World Tour. It wouldn’t be a 40th anniversary celebration without Donnelly leading the charge.

Bradley Jaden as Javert

Like Donnelly, Jaden is a long-time Les Mis cast member who has taken on multiple roles during his impressive career. He made his West End Les Mis debut in 2014, playing Lesgles and understudying both Jean Valjean and Enjolras. He later took over the role of Enjolras and was part of another special celebration: the production’s 30th anniversary.

In 2018, Jaden took on the Les Mis role that he has become most famous for: the dogged policeman Javert. He played Javert in the West End for several years, and most recently he reprised it for the arena world tour in 2024. It’s a thrill to see him back for the 40th anniversary – and going toe to toe with Donnelly’s Valjean.

Katie Hall as Fantine

It’s been fascinating to watch performers graduate from one Les Mis character to another, whether growing into the star roles or going from a younger character to one in the next generation. Hall first appeared in the West End production as Cosette, a role she also played in the 25th anniversary celebrations in 2010, alongside Donnelly. She also had a cameo in the Les Mis movie.

But Hall’s current signature role in Les Mis is Fantine. She made her debut as Cosette’s doomed mother in 2018 in the UK and Ireland tour, and then she took the role in the West End production in 2023. She also played Fantine in the arena world tour – so she is no stranger to a very special Les Mis occasion.

Jac Yarrow as Marius

Yarrow got his big West End breakthrough in another beloved musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, in 2019. But this buoyant talent was clearly perfect casting for Les Mis’s resident dreamy romantic, the idealistic student Marius, who falls deeply for the mysterious Cosette (now Valjean’s adopted daughter) in the latter half of the show.

Yarrow first played Marius in the London production in 2024 for a four-week stint, and he then reprised the role in the arena world tour. Now he’s back in London for the 40th anniversary, giving fans who missed his quick West End run another chance to see him in action.

Adam Gillen as Thénardier

The nefarious Thénardier plays a key role in Les Mis, offering some comic relief with his money-making schemes – first as the “master of the house”, running a dodgy inn, and later as part of a street gang in Paris. No wonder so many actors have enjoyed inhabiting him: everyone from Alun Armstrong and Luke Kempner to Matt Lucas and, in the movie, Sacha Baron Cohen.

Gillen, whose excellent past work includes playing Mozart in Amadeus at the National Theatre and the Emcee in the West End’s Cabaret, now joins that proud list. He is making his Les Mis debut as Thénardier right as the show marks the 40th anniversary – a very exciting time to become part of this record-breaking long-running musical.

Marina Prior as Madame Thénardier

You can’t have Thénardier without his partner-in-crime: his equally shrewd and calculating wife. For the anniversary show, Les Mis has brought in celebrated guest stars from international productions too, and Australian theatre legend Marina Prior is coming to the West End to play Madame Thénardier.

Prior first appeared in Les Mis as Cosette in the Australian premiere production in 1987, playing a crucial role in its expanding global story. She then returned to the show to play Fantine, and in 2025 she took on this darkly comic character of Madame Thénardier in the arena world tour – a role she is now reprising in London for the first time.

Shan Ako as Éponine

One of the most poignant moments in Les Mis is the plaintive solo sung by Éponine: the Thénardiers’ daughter who desperately loves Marius, but watches helplessly as he falls for Cosette. “On My Own” has become a breakout favourite, along with other stirring Les Mis numbers like “I Dreamed A Dream” and “Bring Him Home”.

Éponine has proved to be a star-making role for the incredible Shan Ako. She first took the part in the staged concert in 2019, then she joined the West End production in 2020. After playing other impressive roles, such as Eliza in Hamilton, she returned to Les Mis for the arena world tour, and is now part of the 40th anniversary celebrations.

Jordan Shaw as Enjolras

Alongside all of that romantic angst, there is plenty of revolutionary drama in Les Mis too! Marius’s friend Enjolras is the charismatic leader of the student faction: he hopes that their brave efforts on the barricades will inspire all of Paris to join their cause, as laid out in the memorable anthem “Do You Hear the People Sing?”.

It’s an exciting role for a talented young actor, and for the 40th anniversary it’s Shaw who will get the honour of playing Enjolras. He has plenty of experience in the role: he joined the West End production in 2021, and continued fighting for freedom with his fellow student rebels for almost two years.

Beatrice Penny-Touré as Cosette

The innocent Cosette is central to the multi-generation-spanning Les Mis story. She is the young daughter for whom Fantine will do anything in the early part of the show, and is then rescued by Valjean. Following a time jump, we see the grown-up Cosette in a love triangle with Marius and her former childhood companion Éponine.

She also has some beautiful songs to sing, like the romantic duet “A Heart Full of Love”. Penny-Touré brought exquisite vocals to those numbers while playing Cosette on the Les Mis arena world tour, and she is another exciting addition to the West End company for the 40th anniversary spectacular.

Ian McIntosh as Jean Valjean

While Killian Donnelly is playing Valjean for most of the anniversary shows, fans also have the chance to enjoy McIntosh in the lead role at certain performances. McIntosh (as well as Gillen and Hall) is part of the new West End cast, so he will be London’s Valjean beyond this special celebratory run too.

It’s a return to this extraordinary central role for McIntosh, who first went on that journey with Valjean – from embittered former prisoner to self-made man to father and devout believer, who acts in the service of God – when he joined the West End production in 2024. Now, he will help bring us home for the 40th anniversary.

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Main photo credit: Danny Kaan