This past Thursday through Saturday, MHS students performed Les Miserables to a live audience. The shows were about two hours in length, one show a night (with the exception of Saturday, which featured two shows in one day). Les Miserables was based off of a novel by Victor Hugo.The story is based around the June Rebellion of 1832 in Paris and the events occurring between one man, Jean Valjean (Preston Tolbert) and the police officer (Matt Adamo) that endlessly pursues him after breaking his parole. Valjean changes from a person with nothing left after 19 years of back-breaking jail work to the mayor of a town and father to a once-orphaned daughter, Cosette (Morgan Sanchez). In addition, the musical explores the lives of other characters as well, such as the young and feisty Gavroche (Ben Sadowski) and charismatic rebel fighter as well as Cosette’s love interest, Marius (Ransom Silliman). The performance usually lives up to its name, “the miserables,” as it is rather grim at times.
In the Madison High version, the sets for the show were more elaborate than past musicals, making use of a fog machine and several other technical effects to enhance the performers. The lighting was superb. In front of the stage, a live orchestra played each piece from the famous soundtrack, timing their instrumentals to the events unfolding behind them. There was no dialogue in the show, the story was completely told through songs sung by the actors. They did a wonderful job of expressing the emotions and energy of the story through their voices and general performance. Accompanying the main characters, the ensemble also worked together to provide support and add the effective illusion of a “crowd” in scenes. There were 31 musical numbers in total, split by a fifteen minute intermission in between.
The musical was directed and produced by Mrs. Elephante. It sold out all 3 nights, almost a record for the school and certainly impressive. It lived up to its expectations and the hard work that these performers put in clearly showed through on stage. It was a proud weekend for MHS and the surrounding Madison community to witness the sheer talent exhibited by all who participated in the musical, and it’s exciting to see what comes next.
Julia Prout • Apr 6, 2015 at 6:49 am
Great article Mackenzie! You truly explained the musical in a way that someone who was unable to see it that Thursday-Saturday could still understand it!