Cameron’s cavalcade of shows

BROADWAY MATINEE

Last fall in London, when I dropped by Cameron Mackintosh’s elegant Bedford Square headquarters, located in two adjoining Georgian mansions, the place was buzzing.

Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg was going over the final edit of the film version of “Les Misérables.” Nick Allott, Mackintosh’s extremely able right-hand man, was poring over a list of upcoming shows, trying to figure out what to book in Mackintosh’s stable of West End theaters. Assistants were scurrying up and down the spiral staircase armed with marketing plans. And Mackintosh, clad in jeans and a T-shirt, was racing out the door to catch a plane to Los Angeles, to meet with studio executives about the “Les Miz” film launch.

As busy as Cameron Mackintosh Ltd. seemed back then, it must be a madhouse today. For Mackintosh, the most successful producer in the history of the theater, has even more on his plate this summer.

First, there’s the North American tour of “Les Misérables” rolling through Canada and into the US this summer, and doing, thanks to the movie, big business. Mackintosh is bringing the revival to Broadway next spring. It’s streamlined and much harder-edged than the original, which was directed by Trevor Nunn. As the movie did, the new “Les Miz,” staged by Laurence Connor and James Powell, emphasizes the awful plight of the downtrodden of Paris.

(Nice bit of gossip: A few years ago, when Nunn heard a new version was in the works, he told a British newspaper he felt “betrayed” he wasn’t asked to direct it. Last summer, Mackintosh threw a big party and invited Nunn. As the director was leaving, Mackintosh put his arms around him and said, “We’re OK now, aren’t we Trevor?” Nunn replied: “Nice party, Cameron” — and walked away.)

Mackintosh is also planning a revival of “Miss Saigon,” to open in London later this year. I hear he’s going to put it in his Prince Edward Theatre, where “Jersey Boys” is playing. “Jersey Boys” will transfer to the Piccadilly, which sits empty now that “Viva Forever!” — the Spice Girls musical — turned out to be “Viva for Six Months!”

The new “Saigon,” which Mackintosh hopes to bring to New York, will also be directed by Connor and Powell. The original was directed by National Theatre chief Nicholas Hytner. Connor and Powell “have worked for Cameron a long time, and they’ll do whatever he tells them to,” says a London source. “And we know he likes to meddle!”

(Hytner to Mackintosh: “Nice party, Cameron.”)

Mackintosh is rolling out a revival of “Barnum” next month at the Chichester Festival Theater. Christopher Fitzgerald (“Finian’s Rainbow”) will play the title role. If the reviews are decent, it will move to the West End before coming to Broadway next spring.

This “Barnum” has two choreographers — one for the Broadway-style dancing, another for the circus and aerial effects.

Move over “Pippin,” here comes Cameron.

“Barnum” is certainly worth reviving, but I worry about the director, Timothy Sheader. He’s one of those British hot-shots who like to make American musicals look dark and sinister. He tried that with “Into the Woods” in Central Park last year, and wound up making it look underpopulated and boring. If he screws up “Barnum,” Mackintosh should fire him — right out of a cannon and over the circus.

As if three shows weren’t enough, Mackintosh is also planning a Broadway revival of “Oliver!”

Lionel Bart’s chirpy old musical hasn’t been seen in New York since a short-lived 1983 production starring Patti LuPone.

It’s said to be Mackintosh’s favorite musical, and it’s how he got his start in the theater. “Oliver!” played the New Theatre in London in 1960, and a teenage Mackintosh got a job polishing the brass railing in the theater lobby.

Considering he now owns the theater, renamed the Noel Coward, he’s certainly come up in the world.

michael.riedel@nypost.com