Questions and their Answers about Les Miserables

These were questions and answers that didn't make it into the Sioux City Journal about our current production of Les Miserables.  Joanne Fox wrote a wonderful article centering attention on the message of this epic musical centering on the character of the Bishop and his act of forgiveness and grace which empowers Jean Valjean to dream--and expect more for his life.  

The following are some of the questions and their answers which fills out more about our particular production:

1.How are you handling the music? Live? Canned?

The music…and this musical is considered “sung through”, like an opera….. is one of the challenges of producing this show. Donny Short has created beautiful music tracks that utilize the full orchestra sound.   In fact, in the opening number over 60 different instruments are tracked!   We rarely use live music any more.   We have found that for our purposes, tracks allow us to begin the finessing of our shows sooner as the tempo for songs/dances are set and will never change.  We also have a consistency on what the actors will hear each and every time they need to make a vocal entrance.   I personally love performing with live instruments, however, with wonderful tracks that assurance that everything will be there exactly as it was when rehearsed is an enormous comfort and allows a performer to still demonstrate inspired emotion without losing their way.    Donny works with each of the actors to determine the tempo and flexibility that each wants within their solos so that everyone ends up comfortable and happy.  We would have to hire the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra to get the sound and depth and complexity that we get with Donny's music tracks.

2.How will the movie help/hurt?  The movie was great.   It really helped to define relationships between the characters in a way that I hadn’t seen or thought of before.   So that is what I liked about the movie: it brought something new to a story that I thought I knew so well.   There are some song order changes in the show that doesn’t follow the stage version and an added song plus a lot more dialogue than what is done in the stage version.  But there is nothing like live theatre. As we have been rehearsing we have taken time to analyze what each scene needs to tell the audience.in order to propel the plot forward.   Sitting in an audience and being up close and personal is a thrill like no other, especially when the actors are so invested in the story.  Our intimate stage really allows the audience to feel as though they are a part of the story, as you could actually reach out and touch the action.  You can’t get that feeling in the movie theatre.

3.What do you like about the show?

It has so much drama ----and humor.   It teaches by example how we all must choose for ourselves the role we will play in our own lives and in the lives of others.  It is a powerful story of redemption. We talk about theatre being a reflection of society and that we can learn from history.    This show is such an excellent example of that.  It truly is an uplifting, inspiring time in the theatre.

4.The staged musical is known for its revolve: How might you be including that?

We do have a 16 foot turntable that is permanently installed in our stage  but we made the decision not to use it for this production.  That is what everyone expects to see.  The way the musical is being billed is “ a new production”.    We took that very seriously as we went about creating our show..   My students know that I rarely do anything the same way twice, that there is always more than one way to create a feeling or actually do anything.   We have, through Michael Rohlena’s beautiful design, done that.   We have our “new production”.  We are imagining this story, this musical in ‘a new “ way.   

5.What might surprise the audience about this performance?

Those audience members who have never seen Les Miserables will be pleased and surprised to see that they can understand and appreciate…and maybe even fall in love…with the story.   Our production is purposefully not dark and depressing but rather very uplifting.   For those who know this musical well, I think they will appreciate the clarity of the story and our “take” on the production.

6.Side notes on this production:  

Connor O’Brien is playing Marius, the young student revolutionary. He is a Marine who recently returned from two tours in Afghanistan.   His experiences there and his experiences in the military have really informed a lot of what is done in the battle scenes.    “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” takes on a whole new dimension because of his so recent experiences overseas.

It has been absolutely thrilling to direct Luke Saunders in a musical again.    As a former LAMB School student/actor, Luke’s voice and commanding stage presence reassures us that the training that we offer our young people is right on target.   As we have been rehearsing I have “flashbacks” to his Professor Harold Hill as a seventh grader in MUSIC MAN, jr.   His grasp of the essence of Jean Valjean inspires the entire production and his impressive voice just soars through the theatre.

We have many family combinations in this show:

Complete Family Combo:   Nick Prior as Enjolras, Chuck and Andi Prior as multi character ensemble and daughter Lydia as spot operator

Mother/Daughter combo:   Mary Madsen as Mme Thenardier and Christine Madsen as Cosette.

Father/Daughter combo:   Rev Matt Miller as Bishop & Multi Character Ensemble and daughter Andi (spot operator)

Brother/Sister Combo:   Connor O’Brien (Marius) and Bronwyn Eastlick (Booth Technician)

Mother/Daughter/Daughter:   Allison, Grace (Multi Character Ensemble) and Sarah Beumler (Children Multi Character Ensemble)

Husband/Wife:   Matt and Lindsey Rixner as Multi Character Ensemble

Brothers:   Michael and Billy Danner (Student Revolutionaries)

Diana Guhin Wooley
CEO LAMB Arts Ltd
417 Market Street Sioux City, IA 51103
 712-293-0930
Keep current with LAMB--:www.lambtheatre.com