MPAC to Stage LES MISERABLES Youth Production, 5/29-31

The Mayo Performing Arts Center presents Les Miserables as its third annual youth production. Four performances will take place May 29-31. Tickets are $20-25.

The performance, directed by Cathy Roy, MPAC Education Director, will feature a cast of over 60 youth performers, an orchestra, and a professional set imported from Las Vegas.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Miz is an unforgettable story of heartbreak, passion, and the resilience of the human spirit. Featuring a timeless score and beloved songs "I Dreamed A Dream," "On My Own," "Bring Him Home," and "One Day More," Les Miz is one of the most celebrated musicals of all time.

"I have been a huge fan of "Les Miserables" ever since seeing the original production on Broadway," Ms. Roy said. "I was immediately taken by the moving story, compelling characters and beautiful score. Having the opportunity to produce and direct our own full scale production at MPAC has been a very special experience, but also a challenge of epic proportions - a huge story to tell with enormous vocal demands and production elements bigger than we've experienced before! This challenge is definitely being met by our enormously talented cast and production team. We can't wait to share our production and make our audiences feel like they're hearing this story for the very first time! "

The cast includes Jamie Westberry (Jersey City) as Jean Valjean; Ellie Baker (Long Valley) as Fantine; Rachel Levy (Towaco) as Eponine; Amanda Harris (Montclair) as Cosette; Brandon Mangan (Dover) as Enjrolas, Andy Martinez (Morristown) as Javert, Grayson Charles Perry (Chester) as Marius; Kyle McLaughlin (Morristown) as Themardier. Full cast list attached below.

LES MISERABLES is a sung-through musical based on the novel by the French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. Set in early 19th-century France, it is the story of Jean Valjean, a French peasant, and his quest for redemption after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread. Valjean decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop inspires him by a tremendous act of mercy. But he is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector, Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a host of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade.

Previous MPAC spring musicals have been Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2013) and Hairspray (2014). Nearly 300 children auditioned for the musical when it was cast this past winter.

Mayo Performing Arts Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2014-2015 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. The Mayo Performing Arts Center has been designated a Major Presenting Organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

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