Young Students, Big Roles! Highly Competitive Les Miz Auditions Held

Uma Mani ’20, Staff writer

This winter, Peddie’s theater department will be presenting a production of the musical Les Misérables.

Originally based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo, the story takes place during the French Revolution and explores the heart-wrenching tales of the lower class of this time.  The story shows the more debasing and sleazy aspects of French life following the tale of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who was sentenced to 19 years in jail for stealing a piece of bread.  Early in the play, his story gets intertwined with that of a single mother who also works as a prostitute to earn a living for her and her precious daughter, Cosette.

Due to the size and extent of Peddie’s art and music programs as well as the musical itself, the auditions for the cast were highly selective. Hannah Keaton’20 felt this pressure going into her audition. Keaton, recalling advice from her peers, said, “Freshman rarely get in, and if they do, it’s very unlikely they’ll get a main role.” Indeed, the winter musical is very competitive, regardless of grade. However, contrary to the common perception, three freshmen, Julia Patella ’20 (Gavroche), Sara Lougy ’20 (ensemble), and Keaton (ensemble), received roles in the musical and are currently hard at work along with the rest of the cast and crew. The cast of Les Misérables will be accompanied in the stunning musical numbers by an audition based pit orchestra.  The musicians, actors, and set crew members attend rehearsals every day after school throughout the winter term perfecting the musical, which will culminate in a fantastic performance at the end of the term.