Jean Valjean is released after spending 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. As a result, he is a bitter and desperate man. Due to the kindness of a Bishop, Valjean is able to find God and is motivated to be a good man. Eventually he rises to become the Mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer and a factory owner. Unfortunately, he has also broken his parole and Javert, a policeman, is after him. As one of his workers, Fantine, is about to die, Valjean promises to take care of her daughter, Cosette. After Valjean purchases Cosette from the money-grubbing Thenardiers (where she had been lodging), the show moves 9 years to the future where Cosette has become a woman. With the French Revolution ensuing, Cosette falls in love with a student revolutionary, Marius. After a battle, Marius falls unconscious in the sewer of Paris. Before Valjean dies, he manages to save Marius so that Marius and Cosette can be wed.
