Skyline High School staged a production of Les Miserables in late November after rehearsing for several months.
Les Miserables is a story following Jean Valjean, a man pursued by an inspector named Javert for stealing bread. The production follows many different themes with a variety of characters. It follows themes of love, hope, despair, mercy, redemption, and so much more. Emma Williams, a Junior who plays Madame Thénardier, said, “It has lots of heavy, heavy themes, but it’s also very hopeful, and in the end, almost everyone dies, but it’s happy and very impactful.”
From actors to musicians, many show their own special perspectives on Les Miserables. Oryana Harmstead, a Freshman at Skyline High School and an ensemble member said, “Les Mis has a lot of people that are all from different backgrounds, and I feel like a lot of people could relate to each individual character. I feel like that makes it really special in that it really touches people’s emotions, and it really makes memories.” This seems to be a common sentiment, as Williams said, “My favorite part was probably seeing everything come together at the very end. The end was just so satisfying, because all the work that we put into it brought out a great production.”
Along with the actors, the musicians playing in the pit also helped tremendously to bringing the production to life. Eila Yorgason, a Sophomore who plays the viola, said, “It was fun to play especially because I played it so much, and I knew all the songs.” Yorgason expressed her favorite songs, saying, “I love all the songs, but mostly when the whole ensemble is singing with the main characters, like the song Master of The House.”
Along with her favorite songs, Yorgason also expressed the hardest part of rehearsing. She said, “It was just hard practicing the parts and matching it up to the actors sometimes and the rhythm.” Harmstead also expressed the hardest part of rehearsing for her, saying, “It was a lot of practice. I would say it’s about 20 or more times rehearsing the song before I got it right and perfect. I feel like as we got closer, knowing your scene changes, knowing when you do things, knowing when you go on, knowing your cues, knowing that you have to be respective of all the other members—it takes a while to figure out exactly what you’re supposed to do and where you’re supposed to go and just how that works with everyone else around you.”
The characters in Les Miserables are all very unique and special in their own way. Williams said, “My character is very crazy, but I just loved how I could have made it and I could have done a bunch of things and I could have done a bunch of other things. […] Looking at other people playing it, like Broadway versions, yes, they’re amazing, but I feel like everyone has different special touches they add to it, and it’s great.” When Harmstead was asked who her favorite character was, she said, “Javert, because his story is really emotional. He has a lot of deepness to it. You can really go into his character and look more into his character, and there’s more than just the surface level.”
When asked what her thoughts were on the overall performance, Williams said, “At the very end, everyone pulled through and they were all amazing. I believe everyone put their heart and soul into the performances. Although it was very draining and some people didn’t want to be there, they all stuck it out and it was amazing.” In addition to Williams thoughts, Harmstead said, “I thought the performance was amazing. […] I thought it was really memorable, especially since this is the last show in this building. So, it was pretty cool; it was really amazing. It was cool to be in my first show at Skyline.” Finally, besides the cast members, Yorgason also noted, “After all the hard work of the actors and the musicians, it was really cool to see and hear it all come together in the end.”
