BPA’s Camp Teen Broadway stages the hit ‘Les Misérables.’
Jake Mallove was over at a friend’s house one day, and she asked if he’d ever heard the music from “Les Misérables.”
When he told her no, she sat him down, played 30 seconds of each song accompanied by a blow-by-blow plot synopsis, and then sent him home with the soundtrack.
He thought it was okay. But then he saw a live production in London and had the type of epiphany that has generated an audience of over 50 million people worldwide and kept the show running in London’s West End for nearly 22 years.
“It was just so moving,” Mallove said. “It’s not your typical ‘musical theater’ musical…it’s really intense and extreme, but at the same time you really feel for the characters. When I heard they were doing it, I said, ‘I have to be a part of it.’”
“Les Misérables,” which opens Wednesday evening at Bainbridge Performing Arts, represents the second outing for Camp Teen Broadway, an arm of BPA’s Theatre School that puts specially adapted school editions of well-known musicals into eager and – as productions evolve – increasingly capable student hands.
Without sacrificing any of the plot or music, verses and reprises from the original show are trimmed, rendering the three-plus hour show a more manageable two hours, twenty minutes.
Still, director Steven Fogell said the work in front of his youthful cast and crew has represented a “hefty sum of the show,” and those who signed on have been put through their dramatic, musical and technical paces.
Based on Victor Hugo’s intricate, sprawling 1862 novel, “Les Misérables” depicts a post-Revolution Paris in which life still isn’t so great for the working class; poverty and desperation drive even the noble characters to perform acts they abhor.
Jean Valjean, a.k.a. prisoner 24601, steals a loaf of bread, setting off an operatic examination of heroism, love and redemption. Amidst Valjean’s journey of re-invention and self-discovery, with obsessed Inspector Javert constantly at his heels, a group of students concoct a revolution to overthrow the ruling class.
Love, students and the difficult work of revolution in many ways create the perfect youth-driven theatrical vehicle.
Fogell cast the show just before spring break and sent the principles home with scripts and scores so they could begin to get to know their characters.
He didn’t bring everyone together again until the first of July, at which point he conveyed his overall vision for the show, blocked it, and then handed much of the continued character development off to his assistant director and cast.
Claire Hosterman, no stranger to student theater, described her assistant director role as “one of the hardest things ever.”
Although Hosterman is new to the play, she said Fogell entrusted her to interpret the work and guide her peers in their character development, a job she says sometimes has occasionally resulted in an unfamiliar dance between her desire to do her job seriously and well but at the same time not throw off her peers when having to enter into “power mode.”
The students’ musical preparation was similarly self-directed. When first cast, they were asked to get a jump-start on their solos, which many did by working with their existing vocal coaches.
When the cast convened early this month, music and vocal director Karen Harp-Reed began teaching the choral numbers, refining the solos and pulling it all together.
Mallove, who has acted in Bainbridge productions since he was nine years old, said that his familiarity with the musical helped a good deal with preparation but that the music is “tough,” and not being able to sight-read put him at a slight disadvantage.
So to prepare for his role as Marius, a student revolutionary, Mallove listened to the soundtrack and worked with his mother, who plays the piano. He also sought help from close friend, castmate and trained singer Lana McMullen, who plays his love interest Cosette.
The cast, which comes from Seattle, Bremerton, Port Townsend and Poulsbo as well as Bainbridge and includes seasoned theater students along with newer ones, is starting to gel.
“It’s definitely getting there,” Hosterman said. “People are finally now slapping each other on the back and taking the risks.”
With the show opening Wednesday, the cast and crew are about to enter what she calls “hell week.”
After the musical revolution completed on Camp Teen Broadway’s first-ever revolving stage, students can return to their regular programming, albeit a little wiser and better prepared for their next pursuits. Perhaps their summers will parallel Mallove’s take on the show’s finale.
“The whole cast comes together…and they’re all in heaven,” he said, “and finally they can relax.”
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Four days more
BPA’s Camp Teen Broadway presents “Les Misérables School Edition” Aug. 1-5, with shows Wednesday through Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15/$10; call 842-8569. For more information, see www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org.
