"Les Miserables" Debuts with Sold Out Crowds!
This fall’s musical, “Les Miserables” broke a school record. For the first time, tickets to all three shows sold out in only two days. The St. Andrew’s cast of 47 delivered their interpretation of this world-famous musical in the Dell Fine Arts Center with the help of a live 12-piece orchestra and 22 student crew members providing the set, sound, lighting, projections, makeup, hair, costumes, props, and stage management.
Peggy Keelan, Assistant to Director Rick Garcia, says, “Les Miserables was one of our most complex shows yet - with over 155 costumes, 175 props, 25 artistic signs, and 12 crew members doing hair and makeup before the show. The set continually transformed, with pieces and parts coming together, spinning, and separating to become multiple scenes. We needed 10 set crew to move this large set throughout the show.” Though the musical is vocally challenging--almost entirely sung for over two hours--it didn’t prevent new theatre students from auditioning, or younger students either. Peggy says, “We had one 6th grader (Emily Grace Williams) and three 7th graders (Charlie Welland, Millie Sunshine and Sofia Huston) in the show. They balanced sports and the rigorous Upper School musical schedule well.”
Actors and technicians alike overcame a variety of obstacles to pull off this epic show. Gabriel Lucio-Martin ‘17 (Javert) says, “The most challenging aspect for me is the costume by far, which requires changing, heavy makeup, a beard, layers of ornate clothing, and I have to move in it for about 3 hours.” For Leah Johnson '17, “The most challenging aspect about my role was definitely gaining confidence in myself and my ability to play [Cosette].” Eric Simon ‘16 (Marius) and Alia Hakki ‘16 (Eponine) both felt challenged by the emotional demands of their roles, as Eric explains, “an epic show that covers such a wide range of emotion from intense love to great sorrow...was very challenging.”
Despite the challenges, they all agree that the musical was worth the hard work. Leah says, “I've enjoyed the community of the musical cast and crew the most. When rehearsal begins, we're no longer peers, we're a family. No matter what, we support and look out for each other, whether it's helping with a quick change, giving a hug when someone's having a bad day, or patting each other on the back for a good performance.” Eric adds, “Getting to spend countless hours rehearsing with my absolute favorite people on campus has been something I will treasure for years to come. I don't know what I am going to do without them next year!”
Behind the scenes on the Tech Theatre team, Olivia Bast ‘17 “learned practical life skills like time management and patience, to specific technical skills,” while Jimena Catan ‘18 “learned how to communicate and give better directions.” The Tech Theatre team praises their teacher, Mr. Schumann, for helping them identify their strengths. Fletcher Barnhill ‘18 says, “Mr. Schumann is such an incredible teacher..he helps you find things that you are good at.” Walton Schmidt ‘17 adds, “You could be really interested in art, and choose to paint the set. Alternatively, you could be more interested in Engineering and choose to do construction or rigging.” Olivia says, “Technical Theatre is a way for a student to unleash their inner creativity and discover hidden talents that they did not know they had.”
With so much student passion poured into the production, it’s no wonder the dress rehearsal “Middle School Night” was also standing room only! About 200 Middle Schoolers from St. Andrew’s, St. Gabriel’s, and Trinity schools and 100 faculty attended the special preview performance, including a National Charity League group as a part of their study on hunger and poverty.
As always, Director Rick Garcia brought his own creative interpretation to the musical. Peggy explains, “Rick was inspired by the lyrics ‘To love another person is to see the face of God.’ So we placed crosses in the poster, scenery, art, and projections throughout the show.” This uplifting metaphor was reinforced by the spine-tingling musical numbers that brought audiences to their feet!
Les Miserables runs Saturday, Oct. 31 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, Nov. 1 at 3:00 pm at the Dell Fine Arts Center. A few obstructed view seats and extra seats are made available to those who did not purchase tickets.
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Actors and technicians alike overcame a variety of obstacles to pull off this epic show. Gabriel Lucio-Martin ‘17 (Javert) says, “The most challenging aspect for me is the costume by far, which requires changing, heavy makeup, a beard, layers of ornate clothing, and I have to move in it for about 3 hours.” For Leah Johnson '17, “The most challenging aspect about my role was definitely gaining confidence in myself and my ability to play [Cosette].” Eric Simon ‘16 (Marius) and Alia Hakki ‘16 (Eponine) both felt challenged by the emotional demands of their roles, as Eric explains, “an epic show that covers such a wide range of emotion from intense love to great sorrow...was very challenging.”
Despite the challenges, they all agree that the musical was worth the hard work. Leah says, “I've enjoyed the community of the musical cast and crew the most. When rehearsal begins, we're no longer peers, we're a family. No matter what, we support and look out for each other, whether it's helping with a quick change, giving a hug when someone's having a bad day, or patting each other on the back for a good performance.” Eric adds, “Getting to spend countless hours rehearsing with my absolute favorite people on campus has been something I will treasure for years to come. I don't know what I am going to do without them next year!”
Behind the scenes on the Tech Theatre team, Olivia Bast ‘17 “learned practical life skills like time management and patience, to specific technical skills,” while Jimena Catan ‘18 “learned how to communicate and give better directions.” The Tech Theatre team praises their teacher, Mr. Schumann, for helping them identify their strengths. Fletcher Barnhill ‘18 says, “Mr. Schumann is such an incredible teacher..he helps you find things that you are good at.” Walton Schmidt ‘17 adds, “You could be really interested in art, and choose to paint the set. Alternatively, you could be more interested in Engineering and choose to do construction or rigging.” Olivia says, “Technical Theatre is a way for a student to unleash their inner creativity and discover hidden talents that they did not know they had.”
With so much student passion poured into the production, it’s no wonder the dress rehearsal “Middle School Night” was also standing room only! About 200 Middle Schoolers from St. Andrew’s, St. Gabriel’s, and Trinity schools and 100 faculty attended the special preview performance, including a National Charity League group as a part of their study on hunger and poverty.
As always, Director Rick Garcia brought his own creative interpretation to the musical. Peggy explains, “Rick was inspired by the lyrics ‘To love another person is to see the face of God.’ So we placed crosses in the poster, scenery, art, and projections throughout the show.” This uplifting metaphor was reinforced by the spine-tingling musical numbers that brought audiences to their feet!
Les Miserables runs Saturday, Oct. 31 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, Nov. 1 at 3:00 pm at the Dell Fine Arts Center. A few obstructed view seats and extra seats are made available to those who did not purchase tickets.
