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Shaler Area excited to put on "Les Misérables"

Shaler Area High School’s spring musical is in full swing, and the students have been practicing for weeks to prepare. This year, the theater department chose to take on “Les Misérables,” a French musical based off the novel by Victor Hugo.

The production is set to debut on Friday March 3rd at 7 p.m. There are also performances on March 4th, 5th, 10th and 11th.

The musical is set in 19-century France and follows the story of Jean Valjean, played by senior Dan Bittner, and his journey to better himself and stay out of trouble after spending 19 years in jail for stealing a loaf of bread. From there, he tries to make a life for himself as a new man, but is constantly being pursued by Inspector Javert.

As the inspector, junior Zach Reed is the one man standing in Jean Valjean’s way of a perfect life. He is determined to catch Valjean and bring him to justice for breaking parole.

“Playing the antagonist is just as exciting as it sounds. As Javert, I don’t really have a break at practices but I realized I love that,” Reed said.

Tech Week began on Monday, February 20th, when the students ran through the show with their microphones, and practiced with a full cast, crew and pit orchestra. The theater department has also rented a new lighting system to create a better and more visible atmosphere for those who are on stage.

Many might consider this to be Shaler Area’s most difficult show to date, as it requires an enormous amount of dedication and practice.

“Everyone says ‘Les Misérables’ is a monster of a musical, because of its need for lots of talent in the actors, pit and stage designers,” senior Brendan Gunde said.

“Les Misérables” requires so much emotional energy to accurately portray the hardships that each of the characters would have gone through in France at that time. The musical emphasizes poverty and the struggle that the peasants had to go through as they attempt to overthrow their government in response to poor working conditions and pay. The students practice every day, running and redoing scenes, always striving for their best.

“We’ve all been working extremely hard in these past weeks to make absolutely certain that the show is as emotional and thorough as any Broadway production,” assistant stage manager senior Adrienne Abel said. “You really grow to love everyone in theater after spending so much time with them, and it really shows in the final product.”

All cast, crew and pit members have to always be on their toes, especially with a show that is continuous. In “Les Misérables,” the singing and the music never stop.

“I’d say the hardest part about being in pit is always paying attention to your music. Everyone is guilty of looking at the show on stage and completely space out and missing their parts. …we never stop playing; Les Misérables never has breaks music wise, which is fun but stressful,” junior Jake Aufman said.

Despite long rehearsals, the cast, crew, and pit are excited to let the public see their show. Some of the cast had previewed a song at Memorial Park Church, with the hopes of getting people excited to see the show.

“The production is very well put together and planned out, and stage crew, set design, cast and pit all mesh very well and combine for an amazing performance,” sophomore Jackie Geyer said. “I really believe our audiences are going to have a lot of fun, and leave singing just as everyone else here does.”

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