ONE of the most famous musicals of all time is coming to Winchester as Footlights Youth Theatre perform Les Miserables School Edition at the Theatre Royal.

The 65 strong cast of the company, previously known as eomsjs, are putting the final touches to this musical epic which has been taking the West End by storm for nearly a quarter of a century.

The cast includes many names who have regularly performed with Footlights over the years including Chris Morgan, who takes the role of Javert, Emma Bailey who plays Fontine and Oliva Snow as Eponine.

Eve Lethbridge ends a long association with the company in this production in the role of Madame Thernardier.

There are several new faces too as 13-year-old Katherine Evans takes her first leading role as Cossette, opposite Andrew Morgan, aged 14, as Marius.

New member Ben Lyons, 16, will be performing the demanding lead role of Valjean. He told us: “There is no musical like Les Mis! Rehearsals have been great fun and I can’t wait to get it on the stage!”

The show is directed by David Tatnall, musically directed by Martin Paterson and choreographed by Louise Hodson.

It runs nightly from Wednesday, January 21 Saturday, January 24 with a Saturday matinee.

Tickets are priced from £10 from 01962 840 440.