Journalist who wrote English lyrics for Les Miserables ‘felt lack of credit’

The lyricist who wrote the English libretto for Les Miserables felt he was not given enough credit for transforming the original French musical into the longer version known and loved by millions today, letters reveal.

The archive of the late showbusiness journalist Herbert Kretzmer, who died in 2020 aged 95, has been donated to Cambridge University Library.

It includes a letter that Kretzmer wrote to theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1987, in which he referenced the “unpleasant actions taken by others to downgrade my credit and contribution”.

Kretzmer wrote: “I think it will clarify matters if I spell out, for the first and I hope only time, the straight and verifiable facts about the authorship of the English version of Les Miserables.”

He said that “not many people have had the opportunity to compare my English version, page for page, with the original Paris libretto”.

“So let me, as briefly as I can, point out the evidence for declaring that, in terms of the actual lyrics now being sung nightly in New York and London, there is very little indeed that can be called translation,” Kretzmer wrote.

“Les Miserables in English is virtually a new, rewritten show.”

He said there was “a mass of material that is so totally reconceived and rewritten that there is no longer any substantial similarity between my lyrics and the 1980 Paris model”.

Kretzmer continued that it “must… be understood that the English version of Les Miserables is very much original material, different in terms of culture and reference from the original libretto”.

“I regret that this letter has to be written at all, but in view of the unpleasant actions taken by others to downgrade my credit and contribution, I must emphasise that Les Miserables is not a show translated or re-written, but a show reborn,” he said.

The 40th anniversary of the English-language version of the musical, which opened in London in 1985, is on October 8.

Kretzmer’s name is now on the Sondheim Theatre in London’s West End.

Also in Kretzmer’s archive is a 1985 memo about auditions, which reveals Brian Blessed was among those discussed for roles in the original cast.

The memo notes that “Brian Blessed has been working hard on his voice, and has made considerable improvements”.

It also says that Fiddler On The Roof actor Chaim Topol and Exorcist actor Max von Sydow “will, hopefully, be available to come to London… to discuss the roles of Jean Valjean and Javert”.

There are also letters from Frank Sinatra and Peter Sellers, and photos taken by Stanley Kubrick in the archive, along with Kretzmer’s comprehensive scrapbooks of cuttings from both his newspaper days as well as his career in the theatre.

Dr Liz Savage, special collections assistant at Cambridge University Library, helped to catalogue the Les Miserables sections of the archive.

She found many edits in Kretzmer’s second draft, including a simple word change from “common” to “angry” in the song Do You Hear The People Sing?

The song, still heard in protests around the world, begins “Do you hear the people sing?/ Singing the song of angry men”.

The archive shows Kretzmer trying out various other words including “valiant” and “fearless”, before deciding on “angry”.

Documents also show the song Stars was in danger of being cut, before pressure from Kretzmer and others to keep it, writing:  “We must altogether disassociate ourselves from the decision to cut Stars. We do not agree that the show is weakened by the inclusion of this song”.

Kretzmer’s widow Sybil Kretzmer said: “The prestige of Cambridge University reflects the impact and influence of Herbert’s work, and we know the archive will be preserved by the Library and live on for generations to come, just like Les Miserables itself.”