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The original illustration by Émile Bayard, upon which is based the ubiquitous logo of Les Misérables.

Les Misérables (pronunciation /le mi ze 'ʀɑHb/), colloquially known as Les Mis, is a musical composed in 1980 by French composer Claude-Michel Schönberg on a libretto by Alain Boublil. Through-sung, it is perhaps the most famous of all French musicals and one of the most famous and most performed musicals worldwide. On October 8, 2006, the show celebrated its 21st anniversary and became the longest-running West End musical in history and is still running (though it has changed venues). The musical is based on the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Its Tony award-winning score includes the songs "I Dreamed a Dream", "Do You Hear the People Sing?", "One Day More", "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" and "On My Own." Another popular song is "Master of the House".

Les Mis tells the stories of paroled convict Jean Valjean who, failing attempts to find work as an honest man with his yellow parole note, tears up his shackles and conceals his identity in order to live his life again; the police inspector Javert, who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean; Fantine, the single mother of Cosette, who is forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter; Marius, a French student who falls in love with Valjean's adopted daughter Cosette; Eponine, the young daughter of the Thénardiers who falls in love with Marius; the Thénardiers, who own an Inn and exploit their customers; and Enjolras and the other students, who are working toward freeing the oppressed lower class of France.