Tom Hogan ‘20
Photo courtesy of Liz Palumbo ’19
The theatre department of the Episcopal Academy will perform Les Misérables as the spring musical from May 2nd to May 4th. Based on the 1962 novel by Victor Hugo, the musical tells of the redemption of French peasant Jean Valjean against the backdrop of the French Revolution. The previous two musicals, Chicago in 2016-17 and Grease in 2017-18, received widespread acclaim among the Episcopal community.
Les Misérables is considered to be one of the most difficult musicals to learn and perform. Daniel Clay, theatre department chair and musical director, explained, “There’s a lot of challenges in terms of the high drama of the piece and the maturity of the characters.”
Despite the musical’s difficulty, Clay is confident in the actors’ ability to perform this musical with some modifications. He explained, “They came out with a school version of it which kinda maintains the integrity of the show, but it cuts some stuff down and changes some of the keys to make it easier for high school performers.” This high school version of the play cuts down verses in some of the songs and smaller, ultimately unimportant scenes from the musical.
Nevertheless, both Clay and Jim Erwin, music department chair and choir teacher, believe that these slight changes will not take away from the show as a whole.
Erwin is also convinced that a successful execution of Les Misérables is not just possible, but guaranteed. “I worked with them for four years and as a musician I really wanted to give them opportunities to really excel,” said Erwin. The teacher’s positivity and emphasis on assistance wherever it is needed are factors that will impact the success of the show.
This show has eight leads, four men and four women, and several other key roles. Due to the large number of important roles, Erwin believes that many people will have the opportunity to sing solos and have pivotal roles in the performance. Domino Board member Arnie Shiva ‘20 said, “If you look at our senior class, itself, the level of strength we have in vocals and the level of acting we have is outstanding.” Clay and Erwin agree with that statement and have faith that the senior class will transform the spring musical to an outstanding display. “We have a lot of talent this year,” Clay explained, “especially in the area of singing.”
Even with this amount of talent, there will still be a significant amount of work to be done behind the scenes. Because of copyright issues, the theatre department cannot use the same sets as were used in the Broadway musical. However, the stage crew has ways to tackle this issue. Erwin explained, “I think the way most people do it is more abstract, which Mr. Clay and Ms. Bertucci are masters at that.”
Despite the musical’s theatrical and design challenges, the actors and directors of Les Misêrables are optimistic that their production will be a success.