Taking advantage of many talented members of the senior class, the music department performed the musical “Les Miserables” on April 11-14 and drew interest from the community, selling out the show twice.
Tickets to the show were available online and at the show for $10.
“Les Miserables” takes place during the early 1800’s in France and centers around a character named Jean Valjean who, after stealing a loaf of bread, is sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The musical follows Valjean after he breaks his parole and is hunted by Inspector Javert.
Senior Hunter Haight who played Valjean described his character as a “selfless person” because of how he took in a young girl named Cosette, played by junior Shannon Stover, from her dying mother Fantine.
Senior Anna Stratton, who received her first major part this year as Fantine, also had some trouble portraying her character.
“One of the hardest things about playing Fantine is that she’s a mother and her whole character is about loving her daughter,” Stratton said, “and that’s not something that I have experience with being only 18 years old.”
Stratton does, however, resonate with Fantine in other ways like how “she’s always trying to do what’s best for the people that she loves.”
According to director Lori Maxwell, she decided to perform “Les Miserables” because of the group of seniors that she had this year.
“I’ve been thinking about wanting to do it here for probably a good 10 years,” Maxwell said, “but we just never had the right group of seniors to fit into all the roles.”
Senior Jackson Rohrbaugh, who played Inspector Javert, said that he chose to audition for the part after first hearing Javert’s main solo “Stars” at a community play.
“When I was a freshman I did a community theater production of ‘Les Mis’ and I remember the first time that I heard ‘Stars’. I thought ‘Wow, that sounds like so much fun,’” Rohrbaugh said.
Senior Abraham Bleazard who plays Marius, Cosette’s love interest, chose to audition for his role because he believes that he fits the part.
“I’ve just had a lot of experience playing these kinds of roles,” Bleazard said. “Last year was the first year that a student pit performed during the musical and this year they continued that.”
Pit director Alicia Simpson said having a pit is important so that the cast can practice with live music.
“I think one of the benefits of having a student pit is that those kids have been with each other for almost a month now,” Simpson said, “so we can really do what the actors want to do with their songs.”