Bayou City Theatrics to Open Second Season with LES MISERABLES, 9/19-29

After a critically acclaimed and highly successful inaugural season, Bayou City Theatrics will open their second season with a reinvented production of the world-famous musical, LES MISERABLES. Following the success of the 2012 Academy Award winning film adaptation, (starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway) Music Theatre International released the performance rights for the musical to be licensed to companies nationwide. BCT's Artistic Director, Colton Berry, jumped at the chance.

"I am very lucky to have had the privilege of directing one of the very first productions of the School Edition (to be performed by actors under the age of 18) back in 2005 on the East Coast," says Berry. "I've always been a huge fan of the show and cannot wait to recreate it and allow Houstonians to experience it with fresh eyes."

BCT consistently proved (through their inaugural 2012-2013 season) that each production followed suit with the company's vision: re-creating musicals through new theatrical concepts and breathing new life into pieces we know and love. BCT's first season, including a 1980's hair-band themed Rocky Horror Show, an intimate steam-punk Into the Woods, a dark and camp-less Little Shop of Horrors, an in-the-round and glitz stripped Aida as well as a highly stylized Wild Party all skewed our preconceived notions for those musicals. So, how will BCT put their stamp on the well-known and beloved LES MISERABLES?

"Victor Hugo's epic novel is just that; epic. Both the original West End and Broadway productions translated that quality utilizing enormous production value; state-of-the-art sets and lighting, thousands of intricately detailed and heavy costumes, hundreds of sound effects, and hoards of performers swallowing the stage... the list goes on," Berry explains. "We want our production to have the same effect on viewers that a reader feels when they pick up that small, paperback book that transports them into the epic story. Out of something simple and nondescript comes a complex and beautiful story. Our production utilizes a smaller cast and a simple design that allows the true heart of Hugo's story to billow off of the stage and into our hearts. Gone is the turn-table stage and thousand-pound machinery!"

There were some new and different choices made in the casting department as well. The roles of Fantine, Eponine, Cosette and Young Cosette, are each played by two separate actresses, while two actors trade off between the roles of Marius and Enjolras, every-other performance. Though the score remains the same nightly, the vocalists performing have a varied auditory aesthetic. During certain performances, the music maintains the classical sound we've all become accustomed to hearing, while other performances take on a more raw and modern quality. These choices will allow die-hard LES MISERABLES fans to experience the music as they remember it, while offering a fresh take for those patrons that are ready to experience famous songs such as "I Dreamed a Dream" and "On My Own," in a brand new way.

New York actor, Joey Sanzaro, takes on the role of Jean Valjean, the man who escaped parole after serving nineteen years of imprisonment for stealing a loaf of bread. After promising Fantine (Danica Dawn Johnston and Ronna Mansfield) to give her illegitimate daughter, Cosette (Erin and Mackensey Doyle), the life she deserved, he retrieves her from the sinister innkeeper, Thenardier (Alex Lambert) and his wife (Heather Hall). Years later, as the Revolution begins to boil, a now teenaged Cosette (Kelly Waguespack and Katie Fridsma) falls for a young student involved in the Revolution, Marius (Jake Frank and Colton Berry). Valjean narrowly evades capture from the God-fearing Inspector Javert (Mark Frazier) numerous times before Marius and a band of students erect their barricade on the dingy Paris streets. Learning of his daughter's new love from a letter delivered by Eponine (Erin Wasmund and Hannah Miller), Valjean joins the rebellious students in order to protect the object of his daughter's affections.

The cast also includes 10-year-old Estus Stephens as Gavroche, and Jake Frank and Colton Berry on alternating nights as Enjolras, the young leader of the student-organized rebellion. Featured in more than fifty roles is the talented ensemble made up of Willie Alba, Jordan Brady, Brian Chambers, Luke Hamilton, Derrien Kellum, Will Ledesma, Nicole Norton, Harry Perrin, Victoria Shoemaker, Dana Stephens, Faith Taylor and Anna Yost. Rounding out the cast of professional actors is a chorus of children that features some of the younger talent of Houston: Finley Bell, Maya Credeur, Reagan Ezer, Hannah Hale, Emma Luyties, Maddie Mansfield, Valerie Ng, Gia Ochsenbein, and Maddie Pallanez.

The sung-through musical includes music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, a book by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and was originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh Ltd. After winning over fifteen awards world-wide, translated into twenty-one languages, and produced in forty-two countries, LES MISERABLES returns to Houston in a re-envisioned production by Bayou City Theatrics, September 19th-29th (Thurs.-Sat., 8pm, Sun., 5pm) at Frenetic Theater.

Tickets are available at the door or in advance by visiting www.BayouCityTheatrics.com

General Admission, $30

Senior/Youth (under 18), $20

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