Interview: Francesca Barletta of LES MISERABLES at 5-Star Theatricals

Today we catch up with an old friend, Francesca Barletta, who we first spotted as the Queen of Hearts, threatening to chop people's heads off in Alice in Wonderland, Jr., a Conejo Players Children's Theatre production from 2008 when Francesca was fifteen years old. We've followed her through the years as she played roles in Cabaret, Godspell, Heathers, Oklahoma, Sister Act, and many others. She returned to play Miss Hannigan in High Street Theater's production of Annie this past February. This week she comes full circle by playing a role we saw her do in 2011 at the age of eighteen: the unscrupulous Madame Thénardier in 5-Star Theatricals' production of Les Misérables and we took the opportunity to chat with her. 

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 I can't believe it's been fifteen years since I saw you play Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables. Is this like visiting an old friend for you?

Of course! It's crazy to think that I was eighteen, playing this part. And now I'm a more age-appropriate version (laughs). 

Looking back at our review of your performance then, I described you as "deliciously wicked." What do you remember about that production?

Oh, my gosh, I remember that I didn't know anything about Les Mis going into it, but all of my friends were doing it in their senior year, and I remember everyone was going to go off to college so this was my last chance to be with all my friends. I had just played Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Young Artists Ensemble and I remember thinking, "This is kind of the same character!" 

Who was loonier?

Right, and who's more evil? 

Is there any room for humanity with Madame Thénardier?

You know, that's a great question. I feel that she's pretty bad, but she's just all about benefitting herself and her husband. Our director was talking about how they just step on everybody else to get to the top and that's so fitting for what we are seeing within the U.S.,, especially politically now. And sometimes the bad guys end up on top. 

An interesting observation. So how are you approaching the character this time around?

Our director, Doug Kreeger is so collaborative that he sometimes says, "I'm not really sure what to do here, what do you think?" Or "Do you have any ideas on what's going on here?" Joey (Richter), who plays Thénardier and I are just having the best time coming up with little things to do, little nuances to put into things, and there are some occasions where ad-libbing is called for and we came up with some funny things to do together. So I just think I have more life experiences ot draw from than I did fifteen years ago. The basic character is there, obviously, so it's all about building on top of what's written on the page. And it's so much fun doing that. You know, we're not doing Cockney accents this time.

Oh, you're not.

It's a little hard because it's written so specifically for an accent but there are no accents at all in this version.

Do you still do makeup and hair design?

I am. I'm working on Frozen right now at High Street in Moorpark. I've been styling some wigs and will have to take those down there soon for people to start wearing them. 

Do you do any of the work for your own character?

I know that I have two wigs and I'm sure the makeup is going to be horrible - in a good way (laughs). But I have no idea what he has planned for us.

Can you see yourself devoting to that in your career or are you still mainly a performer?

Yeah, That's tough.  actually thought abou tmaybe pursuing wigs and makeup. I applied to some colleges and got in and I said that same thing to myself. And I thought, will I be happy doing this when I know I should be performing on the stage. I think it's fun to do and it's been a hobby of mine since high school, but I don't think I could do it full time. 

What did you do during COVID?

Oh, that's a great question. In 2019, after I assistant directed Matilda,  I did one other show with our Young Artists Forever group and then I took a little break. My mom and I opened up a little antiques business so I was devoting a lot of time to that. Then COVID happened so I couldn't do that anymore and I couldn't do anything theater-wise, so I just took a really long break. I moved to Redondo Beach for a year-and-a-half but there weren't any shows to do out there so when my ex and I broke up I moved back to Ventura County and realized I hadn't been happy for a really long time and just wanted to get back into theater. So I came back and did Spamalot at High Street, I reconnected with a bunch of old friends, made all these new friends, and I've been steadily doing shows ever since.

Is this your profession now or do you have another job?

I also work for my father who owns Tuscany (note: an Italian restaurant in Westlake Village) and do their social media, which is not a lot of work, but I get paid. I also have a very small baking business where I do custom-decorated cookies for events and things. I do a lot of show openings, so that's fun, but certainly doesn't pay the bills. 

No meat pies, I guess, in your baking business.

No meat pies. 

There are so many characters  that are perfectly suited to your talents, from the Witch in Into the Woods to your recent turn as Miss Hannigan in Annie. Do you have a favorite?

 Yes, anything Sondheim. I'd love to play Mrs. Lovett again. I was seventeen when I played that part and again, with more life experience, there is so much more I could do if I had the chance to play her again. I loved the Witch in Into the Woods. I love meaty characters and rarely ever played an ingenue part! (laughs)

Ingenues are a dime a dozen. Being a character actress is not only more difficult but more valuable to a director. 

Thank you. 

Anything especially challenging or different about this production, other than the lack of accents?

At our first production meeting, with the cast and everybody, they said to us, "If you're not tired by the end of this show, you're not doing it right." I remember fifteen years ago, when I did "Master of the House," I was just walking around, making sure everybody had a drink and doing little bits of business in the back, This time I am running around the stage and by the end of the number we are exhausted. So the answer to your question is yes. We're doing it right. Yesterday I wrote down all the little things I had devised for that number in the order I was to do them, and it is a lot of work. But it's been so rewarding so far and I'm so excited we are starting to do runs this week and seeing what everybody else is doing while I'm off the stage. 

We can't wait to see you in this. 

Looking forward to seeing you there as well. 

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