Kretzmer's songs for Aznavour and "Our Man Crichton" came to the attention of producer Cameron Mackintosh in 1984. The latter thought highly of the musical's lyricism, and invited him to write an English version of a French musical "Les Misérables" (by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg). Kretzmer's lyrics extended the two-hour Paris original into a three-hour show. The all-sung ""Les Mis"" opened at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985 and is still running in the West End, the longest-running West End musical. The score includes such well-covered ballads as "I Dreamed a Dream", "Bring Him Home", "On My Own", "Master of the House", and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". For his work on the "Les Misérables" lyrics, Kretzmer received Tony and Grammy awards.