DHS Prepares to Dazzle With ‘Les Miz’
By Dennis Shaughnessey, The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
Apr. 9–DRACUT — After the success of Dracut High School’s production of Beauty and the Beast in 2006, Music Director Leon Grande was talking about performing Les Miserables.
Acting director and local playwright Jack Neary, who has been on board for 11 of the past 12 productions, said Grande was crazy to think they could pull it off.
“I still think he’s crazy,” Neary said last week as students were in rehearsal for the Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg classic based on the 1884 novel by Victor Hugo. “But you know what? This is going to be the most ambitious thing we’ve done yet. This is huge. Mammoth.”
The musical will be performed tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.
Neary said each year, as the shows get more challenging and complex, the students get easier to work with.
“I guess I understand them more. I know what language to use to get my point across. When to be funny and when to yell,” Neary said. “Leon doesn’t yell anymore. I still yell a little bit.”
Neary credits Grande with putting together a tight group of musicians and performers.
“The kids are just amazing. They get into the musical end of things so well,” Neary said. “They’re easier to work with in a lot of cases than many adults.”
Les Miserables follows the story of Jean Valjean, released from prison after 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. The backdrop is the turbulent 19th-century France, the revolution of 1832 and the seedy side of Paris during that
period.
“We’re taking on some pretty serious subjects, such as forced prostitution and the death of a 10-year-old,” said Grande. “But these kids are phenomenal. The leads, the chorus, the sets the costumes. They’ve been working incredibly hard and it’s going to pay off for them.”
Grande remembers how important the school musical was when he was in school.
“That’s why I’m here now. I know what it took for me and I know what it takes for these kids,” he said.
Technically and musically, it is more ambitious than anything they’ve ever done, said Grande.
“It’s continually moving. The music, the acting, it’s constant. And the kids are right on top of it. Every scene,” he said.
Last year’s production of Fiddler on the Roof earned Dracut High School the North Shore Music Theater’s Spotlight Award for best musical. Senior Christian Hoots took home the best actor award for his role as Tevye. Hoots plays Valjean in this year’s production.
Tomorrow’s performance begins at 7 p.m. Performances on Friday and Saturday begin at 8 p.m.
For ticket information, call the high school at (978) 957-1500.
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