This year’s musical, Les Miserables, has over 80 members when combining cast and crew. A large portion of this 80 is the cast, with roughly 60 individuals immersed in this fan-favorite musical. With that being said, to get a deeper understanding of how behind-the-scenes is presenting, I interviewed a handful of the lead roles and ensembles of our show. In this article we will discuss what was behind these students auditioning, their role in the musical, how they balance school with such a time-consuming feat, and finally their favorite song in the musical.
An important part of an individual becoming involved in our shows here at Oak Hills High School is the audition process. Many students spend weeks preparing for this. What’s something that is arguably more important? The desire to prepare and audition. One of the students I interviewed was Junior, Kennie White. After being inquired about this, she replied, “..the good community or the people involved, they are all so friendly.” This was followed up by one of the other individuals I interviewed, Senior, Niko Palassis, “I love the show, I love playing these characters, they’re so special.” Both of these quotes give us an idea of the motivation most students have for auditioning.
After the audition process, roles are chosen by Mrs Palassis, or more familiarly, Mama P. Following my questioning about the student’s favorite part of their role, Senior Jacon Irwin remarked, “I play Thénardier. In a super depressing show, I’m the one that gets to have fun.” He goes on, “He’s a con man, despite being the bad guy, he’s so fun to play.” This inside look at the infamous character Thénardier shows us that no matter the role, villain or not, everyone has an amazing time being involved in this community.
Mickey Weadbrock and I brainstormed what the most difficult thing would be for these students to handle during their time in the musical. We quickly concluded that it must be the workload. We wondered how these students could take care of their work even with having to stay after school for 3 hours at a time, frequently. Senior Niko Palassis advised me, “Take a study hall, you’ll need it.” This was followed by Senior Quentin Johnson who stated, “For a decent amount of the seniors, if we’re not at school or rehearsals we’re at work or other things. It’s hard to find time for yourself.” This made me realize that besides juggling school and their role, work was thrown into the mix. This balance takes much concentration, and yet, many of these students can fend for themselves despite these challenges.
One of the most popular parts of all musicals is the soundtrack, students can immerse themselves in these fantasized worlds with magical songs. Senior Jacob Irwin gave me his insight, “For ensemble songs, I love one day more.” He followed up saying, “…epilogue is my favorite. It’s a nice calming way to end the show with the annotation of hope, a very depressing show ending with hope…” This statement gave me a good idea of what the show was all about, even if it does have sad points, eventually, everyone rises together to make the show have an inevitably happy ending.
In conclusion, Les Miserables is a powerful show that I cannot wait to be a part of/watch as it develops. Being a part of a community, such as a drama club, is a great reminder of how individuals with all types of differences can come together to make something amazing. We ended the interview with a final note from Irwin, “I feel like any show that would be done at the high school I’d do, our drama club is fun, no matter what show we do, it’s special.“ What are you waiting for, don’t take my word for it, buy a ticket to see the show this coming April from our school website!