The Main Stage performing arts program at Foothills Composite High School/Alberta High School of Fine Arts is upping its game once more.
The people involved in the program have taken on the formidable task of presenting “Les Misérables” an acclaimed, long running Broadway musical based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name.
Nicole Hounjet, musical director at the Comp, revealed the challenge comes mainly in the structure of the show.
“Musically speaking it is one of the biggest undertakings we’ve ever had because the entire show is singing and music,” she said. “There are no scenes of just speaking in the show.”
Hounjet said with each Main Stage production they try to depart as much as possible from the previous one. Since last year’s show was the dark comedy “Little Shop of Horrors” about a man-eating plant and the socially awkward guy who took care of it, “Les Misérables,” a story of strife, courage and redemption set in revolutionary France, fit as a substantial change of direction.
Rehearsals for “Les Mis”, as many refer to it, began in earnest in September. With the curtain set to rise on the show Feb. 4, efforts have ramped up substantially with the cast and orchestra rehearsing several hours each school day.
With no stand alone dialogue in the production, the singing voices of the performers have to resonate with the highest level of strength and clarity so audiences can absorb the details of the story and understand the motivations of the characters.
It’s a message Hounjet has been hammering home to the performers.
“I think this is a really difficult show and our students have really risen to the occasion,” she said. “They’re being asked to have a lot of musical sophistication in terms of singing all these pieces with a lot of meaning. They have to treat all these pieces as dialogue.”
While an ensemble piece with many streetwise working class characters, “Les Mis” at its heart is the story of Jean Valjean, an ex-con looking for a fresh start. Upon his release after serving nearly two decades for stealing bread and his subsequent escape attempts, he finds he is dogged and later pursued by policeman Inspector Javert.
Donning the role of Valjean for Main Stage is Grade 12 student Cole Dempsey. He admitted to knowing virtually nothing about the musical prior to auditioning.
As he’s taken the steps to learning his role, the actor has come to appreciate the significance of the rivalry between his character and the police inspector, played by Grade 12 student Sean Macallum.
“I think it’s a solid driving force for the story,” he said. “It keeps things moving. There are many things happening in Valjean’s life but through it all there is always the threat of Javert.”
Main Stage artistic and technical director James Keary said he is pleased with how well Dempsey has taken to his lead role.
“He’s really worked hard to get himself to the vocal range the role demands,” he said.
In general, Keary said he has been impressed with how well his Main Stagers have adapted to their roles.
“Many of them, in terms of the degree of characterization, their showing is comparable to semi-professional theatre,” he said.
One actress who has the unusual task of playing the same character at two radically different points in her life is Erica Gorieu, also a Grade 12 student. She has the role of Eponine who initially appears in the musical as a young, poverty stricken girl. She returns later in the production as a grown up lovesick woman.
Gorieu said it hasn’t been too difficult adapting to both incarnations of the character.
“I don’t really show a lot as the younger Eponine,” she explained. “She’s only in one song and I don’t sing in it. So it’s just a matter of acting childish. With the older Eponine I have to show more maturity and emotion. I’m in love with one of the other characters, Marius, but he’s not in love with me. It’s one of those love triangles. I show all my emotions to him and he shows his to somebody else.”
Jean Valjean, Eponine and the other rich characters of “Les Misérables” will be seen and heard on the Main Stage at FCHS/AHSFA in Okotoks from Feb. 4 until Feb 19. For more information on show times and dates as well the different ticket options go to www.fchs.fsd38.ab.ca
