RED BANK, New Jersey, Nov. 9, 2026. The question theatergoers in Monmouth County usually ask first is simple: how many chances are there? For Les Miserables at the Count Basie Theatre, the answer is four. The musical is listed for Friday, June 25, 2027, at 7:30 PM, two performances on Saturday, June 26, at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM, and a Sunday matinee on June 27 at 2:00 PM.
That is a single weekend, and it comes at the end of a season the theatre has framed around its own anniversary. The Basie opened in 1926, and its centennial celebration finale took place this month. A run of Les Miserables in June gives the building one of the largest musicals in the repertoire to carry it into its second century.
The show schedule, seating notes and parking details for Les Miserables at Count Basie are listed on one page for all four performances.
The musical and its source
Les Miserables is adapted from Victor Hugo's 1862 novel. It follows Jean Valjean, a former convict who breaks parole and rebuilds his life, and Inspector Javert, who spends years trying to bring him back. Around them are Fantine, the factory worker forced into desperate poverty, her daughter Cosette, the Thenardiers who exploit the girl, and a group of students who build a barricade in the Paris uprising of 1832.
Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil first created the piece in French in 1980. Cameron Mackintosh's English-language production opened in London in 1985 and reached Broadway in 1987. In London it has never really stopped: the production now running at the Sondheim Theatre is promoted as the world's longest-running musical, as the London listing for Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre notes.
The score is nearly all sung, with very little spoken dialogue. Audiences tend to know the big numbers before they arrive: "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Bring Him Home," "Do You Hear the People Sing?" and the first-act finale, "One Day More," where every major character sings at once. The story spans close to two decades, and productions usually run close to three hours with an intermission.
Many younger theatergoers first met the story through the 2012 film starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russell Crowe, and the property keeps returning to the screen. A new French film adaptation opened in October, with Vincent Lindon and Tahar Rahim in the leading roles. The stage musical remains the version most audiences know best. Its themes include poverty, death and revolution, so parents generally treat it as a show for older children and teenagers rather than young kids.
Why the Basie suits a big score
The Count Basie Theatre is a 1920s movie and vaudeville house with a proscenium stage, a main orchestra level and a balcony. A theatre of this size and age gives a sung-through musical a sense of closeness that larger touring houses do not. Voices carry without much effort, and from the balcony the stage pictures of the barricade scenes read clearly. Recent Google reviewers call it intimate and praise the seats, which fits the experience in a hall where few seats are far from the stage.
For a three-hour show, aisle seats are worth considering if you expect to leave at intermission for the restroom or the bar. Matinee audiences on Saturday and Sunday often include families. The listing recommends arriving at least 30 minutes before showtime. A separate school edition of the musical also appears on the theatre's calendar earlier in the year, so check that you are buying the June production.
Arriving in downtown Red Bank
The theatre stands at 99 Monmouth Street, a block off Broad Street in the center of town. The venue's parking information mentions a main garage near the building, valet service, and a designated rideshare drop-off area. Plan for a busy weekend: June evenings in downtown Red Bank fill quickly, and parking options vary with event attendance. The Red Bank station on NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line is within walking distance, which makes the train a reasonable option from northern New Jersey.
Broad Street and Monmouth Street are lined with restaurants, cafes and bars, and the Navesink River waterfront sits a few blocks north. A pre-theatre dinner on foot is easy to arrange, though reservations help on a Saturday in summer.
A theatre with a local name
The building opened as the Carlton Theatre and was renamed in 1984 for William "Count" Basie, the bandleader and pianist who was born in Red Bank in 1904. Today the stage is called the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, and it anchors the Count Basie Center for the Arts, which also operates a second venue, The Vogel. The center remains a regular stop for rock and pop artists, orchestras, comedians and Broadway-style tours. In October it hosted the first TeachRock Teachers Hall of Fame Gala, where Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance and Stevie Van Zandt was honored, as JamBands reported.
The spring 2027 calendar around the musical includes New Jersey Symphony concerts, family shows, tribute acts and comedy. The complete Count Basie schedule runs through late August 2027.
About the Count Basie Theatre
The Count Basie Theatre, now the Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, is a restored 1926 theatre at 99 Monmouth Street in Red Bank, New Jersey. Renamed in 1984 for Red Bank native Count Basie, it presents concerts, musicals, comedy, dance and orchestra programs throughout the year. Les Miserables plays June 25 to 27, 2027. Count-basie.com is an independent ticket guide and is not the theatre's box office.