In the original French production and the 2012 film adaptation, these two musical numbers are swapped around, to place dramatic emphasis on Fantine's depressing descent into prostitution.
The first English-language production of Les Misérables opened on the West End in London in October 1985, with the role of Fantine portrayed by Patti LuPone.
[3] When the musical made its Broadway début in New York City in March 1987, Fantine was played by Randy Graff.
[13] Although not released as a single, Franklin has performed the song at various venues, including the 1993 inaugural celebration for U.S. President Bill Clinton.
[14] Other female singers who have recorded versions of the song include English singer and stage actress Elaine Paige, from a 1993 performance at Birmingham Symphony Hall which was included on her 1995 album, Encore,[15] original Annie title cast member Andrea McArdle in the 1996 recording On Broadway,[16] New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra and British pop star Petula Clark, each in 2001, Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe in 2005, and Broadway actress Susan Egan in 2008.
The song was covered on the Glee episode "Dream On" by Shelby Corcoran and Rachel Berry, portrayed by Idina Menzel and Lea Michele respectively, akin to a dream sequence where they duet together, while in real time Rachel was listening to a tape of Shelby, her birth mother singing the song.
Josh Groban and Michael Ball sang a duet at the end of Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Broadcast 21 December 2010).
Katherine Jenkins released a French cover of the song entitled "J'avais rêvé d'une autre vie/I dreamed of another life" in her 8th studio album Daydream.
The song, which was only released on DVD and as part of the television special, was sung by Lisa Kelly and Chloë Agnew.
[17] As part of the Chinese theatrics singing competition Super-Vocal aired by China HunanTV, two male competitors, Li Qi and Gao Tianhe, covered this song.
[18] The song had a resurgence in popularity in 2009 when Scottish singer Susan Boyle performed it as her audition for the third series of the British reality television programme Britain's Got Talent.
[19] The programme received high ratings and Boyle's performance was quickly added to sites such as YouTube, where millions of people viewed it in the first month alone.
[20][21] Boyle sang the song again during the finals of Britain's Got Talent on 30 May 2009, where she placed second in the competition behind British dance troupe Diversity.
The movie was produced by Working Title Films and directed by Tom Hooper from a script by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg with Herbert Kretzmer.
The role of Fantine was played by Anne Hathaway for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Her performance of the song was released as part of the Les Misérables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack on 21 December 2012 and was confirmed to be featured in the deluxe edition of the album as well.
In his largely negative review of Les Misérables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, Rolling Stone's Jody Rosen mentions Hathaway's rendition of the classic as one of the two decent tracks on the compilation, stating that "There are a couple of redeeming moments on this chart-topping soundtrack; Sacha Baron Cohen has fun with the jaunty "Master of the House," and Anne Hathaway gives the schmaltzy "I Dreamed a Dream" her all.
[44] The cover art for the single pays homage to the musical and the character of Fantine by depicting Kahara as a broken but hopeful woman.
The single also includes a piano version of "Yume Yaburete" as well as a self-cover of Kahara's 1996 hit song "I'm Proud".