ENTERTAINMENT

‘Les Miserables’ runs at Mayo PAC May 29 to 31

BILL NUTT
CORRESPONDENT

In many ways, “Les Miserables” is a downer. The musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel includes pain, degradation, and the deaths of several major characters.

So why are the director and actors who are staging “Les Miserables” at the Mayo Performing Arts Center so thrilled to be doing this show?

Take, for example, Grayson Perry, a 17-year-old home-schooled student from Chester. “I’m a bit of a ‘Les Miz’ junkie,” says Perry, who plays the idealist Marius in Morristown. “I’ve seen the movie. I’ve seen it on Broadway twice. I love this show.”

“This is a timeless story of redemption, grace, and fighting for what you believe in,” Perry adds. “It’s necessary for people to realize that there are things worth fighting for.”

Or consider the opinion of Rachel Levy, a 16-year-old sophomore at Montville High School who plays Eponine, who secretly loves Marius.

“I come home from a full day of school, but when I have rehearsal, I’m energized. I’m so excited to be there,” says Levy.

Perry and Levy are only two of more than 60 cast members who will take the stage of the Mayo PAC this weekend for four performances of “Les Miserables.”

Most of the performers are high school and college-age young people from the greater Morris County area. The significant exception is Jamie Westberry, a 32-year-old actor from Franklin Lakes, who is playing the central role of Jean Valjean.

The production - the center’s third annual spring youth musical – is being directed by Cathy Roy, Mayo PAC’s education director.

Roy acknowledges that “Les Miz” represents a challenge on several levels. Besides the large on-stage cast, she has to coordinate a 13-piece orchestra and professional sets (which were rented from the Las Vegas production).

But Roy stresses that these trappings are secondary to the characters. “My goal is that you could tell this story on a bare stage and still have it be moving,” she says.

Even more daunting is the sweep of the plot. The story of Valjean (an ex-convict who breaks parole and is pursued by the relentless Inspector Javert) intersects with the 1832 student revolt that shook Paris.

What is more, “Les Miz” is a sung-through musical with relatively little spoken dialogue. The music is by Claude-Michel Schonberg, with original French lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and libretto in English by Herbert Kretzmer.

“This is a huge, epic show,” says Roy. “We’ve looked at the Victor Hugo novel, and we’ve looked at the history. Until you dive into it, you don’t realize what an amazing experience this show is.”

“I direct as a performer, with the instincts of a performer,” Roy adds.

That approached is appreciated by her cast. “As a director, she makes sure everyone has a place,” says Levy. “She wants everyone to shine.”

“Cathy is an actor’s director,” agrees Westberry. “She’s absolutely wonderful, and she’s super-smart about everything she does.”

Westberry also says that he is impressed by the young performers in the cast. “They are very talented,” he says. “Some of the voices, at such a young age, are incredible. They bring a freshness to the show with their love of theater.”

Perry accepts that compliment. “The people who come to see this show are going to see a lot of talented young people putting their hearts on the stage,” he says.

“I know that a lot of people have seen ‘Les Miz,’ ” says Roy. “But this is our production. I’d love for audiences to feel like they’re seeing this show for the first time.”

LES MISERABLES

WHAT: The award-winning adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel about the student revolution in Paris in the 19th Century is presented as the Mayo Performing Arts Center’s spring youth musical. The cast is comprised mainly of more than 60 teens and young adults from the greater Morris County area.

WHEN: 7:30 tonight, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 31

WHERE: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown

TICKETS: $20 to $25

INFORMATION: 973-539-8008 or www.mayoarts.org