“Les Miserables” cast member sing on stage.
Micheala Estruth | Collegian
The blood of the martyrs watered the meadows of France in Hillsdale Academy’s performance of “Les Miserables” to a sold out audience at The Sauk Theatre in Jonesville last weekend.
Sixty high schoolers filled the stage, bringing the famous musical to the Hillsdale community.
“I’m going to try as faithfully as I can to show that all this hard work that everyone has been putting in is worth it. I want the audience to be blown away by it,” junior Zane Socha, who played Jean Valjean, said in an interview with WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale.
Socha dedicated months of work in voice lessons and acting to bring the challenging character of Jean Valjean to life, according to co-director Kathryn Wales.
“Our Jean Valjean is a kid who had barely acted before, but wanted to be the lead and worked really hard,” Wales said in an interview with the Collegian. “He got a private voice teacher, and he has really transformed himself over the last several months. His leadership is one of the most striking features of this experience because the other kids are watching him put his whole heart and soul into this, and it’s beautiful and inspiring to everyone.”
In his interview with WRFH, Socha described the show as a story of redemption, mercy, and forgiveness.
“Jean Valjean works through inner turmoil that he expresses throughout the show, especially in the song ‘Who Am I?’ That’s what he’s trying to discover through the whole show,” Socha said. “As Valjean goes through, he discovers who he is as a son of God and as a good father as he takes care of Cosette and then Marius at the end of the show.”
Wales said the cast of 60 is one of the largest ever for an Academy production. She said the students were dedicated from the beginning.
“It’s been wonderful, because a lot of these students are real fans of the story. Many of them are reading the novel, or have read the novel,” Wales said. “They’re several students who already knew what ‘Les Miserables’ was, and so when we announced it, the response was humongous. I mean, kids jumping up and down. One broke into tears.”
Many Hillsdale College professors’ children played leads in the show, which drew the college community, according to Wales.
“Henry Lindley is really funny and doing a great job as Mr. Thénardier. What a goofball,” Hillsdale College sophomore Josh Underwood said. “The young men are really talented and I’m so glad they are participating in theater.”
The Thénardier songs were favorites, Wales said.
“‘Master of the House’ blew the roof off the place. It was so funny and amazing. Henry Lindley and Anne Gray are such a powerhouse of talent,” Wales said. “I love all the music. I love the songs for different reasons at different points. But the one that made me hoot and holler was definitely ‘Master of the House.’”
Hillsdale Admissions Counselor Juliana Undseth saw “Les Miserables” years ago at her hometown community theater and said she was impressed with the performance and the number of professors’ children involved.
“They are killing it. Their costumes are really epic and they look super cool,” Undseth said. “Mary Schlueter killed it with Fantine’s song, ‘I Dreamed a Dream.’ That moved me.”
Wales said Schlueter’s performance as Fantine brought her to tears.
“Kids have told me that they rush to peek through the curtain to watch Mary sing ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ because she puts her entire soul into that song every time she does it,” Wales said. “It’s amazing to see.”
Wales said the Academy balanced the rehearsal schedule with sports obligations, which made perfecting the show a challenge. She said during show week the entire cast rose to the challenge and unified to bring it to life.
“Show week is the most exciting of all,” Wales said. “We’re finally putting all the elements together. We’re in the space. We’ve got the costumes. We’ve got the lights. It’s been a great time to get everyone together.”
In the radio interview, Socha and Gray said the ensemble is essential to the overall performance.
“The ensemble builds the world in which the main characters act,” Gray said. “We could not do it without them.”
Gray said she enjoyed portraying such a well-known character who brings comedic relief to a serious show.
Wales said Gail Mowry, her co-director, arranged a school trip to Chicago to see the Broadway tour of “Les Miserables” in December. The high schoolers knew their parts at that point and could revel in the excitement of seeing them brought to life.
“It was a wonderful way to kick off that camaraderie and made everyone so excited,” Wales said. “I felt immensely grateful to her for that experience. It was definitely one of the highlights of the year.”
Wales said, on a personal note, this production has been touching for her because of her family’s involvement. Her parents joined her in the audience and her eldest child, Academy freshman Gregory Wales, entered the stage as Grantaire.
“He’s been watching me do drama and absorbing by osmosis from what I talk about, and seeing all my shows in the front row over the years,” Wales said. “I’m so glad for him to finally be in it.”
