NEWS

Mayo kids tackle demanding 'Les Mis'

William Westhoven
@WWesthoven

MORRISTOWN –

The Mayo Performing Arts Center has charted a challenging course for its education mission over the last two years with full-scale youth productions of the popular musicals "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Hairspray!"

Inspired by the success of those shows, Director Cathy Roy decided to up the ante for 2015.

But seriously, "Les Miserables?" More than two hours of drama, death and violent revolution, all staged to a demanding operetta score? What was she thinking?

"It is definitely is challenging," said director Cathy Roy, who also directs the ever-growing education program at MPAC. "It is a very difficult score, and characters, and story line, set requirements. It's really on a much larger scale than what we have done before. It was so hard to pick something to do after 'Hairspray!', and I wanted something that would really challenge our kids and entertain our audience, but would have a nice message as well."

Friday through Sunday, Roy and her troupe of more than 60 mostly young actors, hope to fill the house and bring it down with their professional-quality production of one of Broadway's most difficult — and popular — shows. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $20 to $25. For information, call the box office at 973-539-8008 or visit mayoarts.org.

"We knew it would be hard to top 'Hairspray!', and when Cathy presented this production as her pick for the spring musical, I was a bit apprehensive," said MPAC President and CEO Allison Larena. "It is an enormous production and a challenging undertaking for Cathy and her team. But I had the utmost confidence in Cathy, and she has an incredible track record. With her productions of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' and 'Hairspray!', I knew that if anyone could pull it off, she could."

"I didn't even think we could get the rights because of the Broadway revival," Roy said. "When I applied, they even said on the phone that 'we're not really giving out the rights, but you can try.' I did and couldn't believe it a few weeks later when we got a letter back saying we could do it. And I immediately thought, 'What have we gotten ourselves into?' "

Auditions took place in December and rehearsals began in March. One exception from year's past in the "Les Mis" cast is 32-year-old professional actor Jamie Westberry of New York, who will play the central role of Jean Valjean.

"We were open to finding somebody through our regular calls for Jean Valjean if we found the right person," Roy said. "But we didn't find someone who quite fit the bill, so we had an audition in New York. I'm thrilled with who we got."

About two-thirds of the rest of the cast and ensemble features experienced students who have spent at least some time studying their craft in the MPAC Education Program. Some are as young as 7, while most of the ensembles ranges in age from 14 to 22.

"There's a lot of young people in the cast, but it's hard to find anyone up there who is not experienced," said Musical Director Kevin Lynch, a Jefferson native who at age 24 is leading a 13-piece orchestra and guiding the singers through a complex score where every line is sung.

"It is a lot harder," said Rachel Levy, 16, a junior at Montville High School who was a narrator in "Joseph" and was part of the "Hairspray!" ensemble. "It's a lot more vocally-demanding, but also emotionally-demanding. You can't just go up there and have a good time and entertain people."

Levy, who recently played Vivian in her school's spring musical production of "Legally Blonde," went straight from that show to rehearsals for "Les Mis" in the role of Eponine.

"She's actually been involved in my program for years, since she was about 8 years old," Roy said about Levy. "This is her first real lead role, and she is just perfect for the part. She's worked so hard and really deserves it."

"Everyone tends to misinterpret (Eponine) as sad and hopeless, always pining for Marius," Levy said. "But I see her as persistent, and it is uplifting to me how she tries to make the best of the situation."

Of course, as the legions of "Les Mis" fans know, Eponine dies before the final curtain.

"I know, when I first rehearsed it, I was like 'What is going on?' " Levy said. "But now I love it. It's my favorite scene."

But everyone faces challenges in the show, Levy says, from complex songs to moving around the elaborate set pieces, rented from a professional Las Vegas production.

"Don't get me wrong, "Hairspray!" was a big show, a lot of choreography and what-not," Roy said. "This is just different. You really need to take the time in making sure that you're really working on the cast understanding all the layers of the story, and what is happening. We did spend a lot of time talking about the (original Victor Hugo) novel and parallels. I'm always telling them the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. That is time-consuming, but all the actors have brought so much to the table as far as really researching their parts and knowing the story so well."

"Les Mis" also is the most expensive youth production to date at MPAC, coming in at a cost just shy of $100,000. Fortunately, the productions have drawn large crowds in the past, and similar support is expected this year.

"I'm not saying we will break even, but with tickets, program ad sales and some very generous sponsors, we can come close to breaking even," Roy said.

"Cathy has assembled a talented group of cast members, musicians, and an experienced creative team to work behind the scenes to bring this production to life to on the MPAC stage," Larena said. "I can't wait to see the final product, and I'm sure we will see some of these incredibly talented children and young adults on the Broadway stage in the future."

"It really feeds in perfectly to the education program," Roy said. "It's all about really collaborating, being team players, giving people positives experiences and building self-esteem, working together to put some magic onstage."

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.