Music Theatre of Denton took on an ambitious project in the finale of its 2013-14 season.
Les Miserables is a huge show in just about every way. The libretto is a demanding score of opera and “popera,” a marathon for the principals and anything but a trifle for the chorus.
The Broadway blockbuster — which scored massive audiences in Europe and in London’s West End, where the English libretto was debuted in 1985 — broke the Campus Theatre record for audition numbers.
Nearly 200 people tried out for the musical. About 45 were cast.
Director James D. Laney shaped the show around one of the songs, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” and the steady march of loss the characters endure.
The bulk of the show rests on the shoulders of the orchestra, the conductor and the musical’s leading men. Michael Rausch returns to the Campus Theatre stage in the role of Jean Valjean — “Prisoner 24601.” Rausch ably steps into the dramatic tenor role, portraying a man who is sentenced to five years for stealing bread to feed his nephew and 15 more for trying to escape.
Malcolm Payne, a junior vocal performance major and flute student at the University of North Texas, plays Rausch’s foil, the fierce Inspector Javert, who pursues Valjean after the latter breaks his parole.
Rausch and Payne prepared for performances by saving their voices during “tech week,” the final rehearsals before opening night.
Rausch does plenty of belting in the first half of the show, and then takes on “Bring Him Home,” a lullaby-like song that sounds like it could be picked up in a pinch by a mezzo-soprano.
“I kind of wish no one would come on Thursday so I could mark it one more night,” Rausch said, half-joking just before getting in costume. In a libretto that passes 400 pages, Valjean has lines on half of them, Rausch said.
“The second half is much easier than the first, too,” he said.
Payne returns to the Campus Theatre after a turn as Harpo in the musical adaptation of The Color Purple. His audition, a few bars from Javert’s “Stars,” got an enthusiastic ovation from his peers.
“I though it was a good audition,” he said. “I did. There was a lot of talent in the room, so I was glad to get a chance to get on stage and not mess up.”
Payne calls Javert “a dream role.”
“I have a list of Broadway dream roles, and Javert is definitely on the top of it,” he said. “I thought to myself, ‘You may not have this opportunity again, or it may never present itself in such an opportune time as this might be. Go for it.’ So I did.”
Javert is perhaps the most tragic figure in the musical. Les Miserables presents parallel stories about characters who are enslaved — Valjean to his pride, Javert to the law, the young French revolutionaries to a dead-end economic system, and teenagers Cosette, Marius and Eponine to circumstance and injustice. The characters are connected by redemption, but Javert can’t grasp it.
Payne said he doesn’t see Javert as a villain. He starts with a snippet of the libretto Payne said a lot of people might miss: the character’s explanation that he was born in jail, that “I was born with scum like you, I am from the gutter too.” Javert aches to better his birth, Payne said.
Payne said he’s seen other performers make the role about a man of action.
“I’ve seen a couple of Javerts. … I always thought Javert was a little too active, and I think that comes from the conflict of his reverence and his almost hatred for not only sin but sinners. And so I tried to find a stillness in him,” Payne said. “He simply needs to walk in and stand there, and people should be afraid of him.”
Stillness means Payne says he has to “sink into myself” and have physical energy that reads as purpose. It also means Payne, like Rausch, has to color the character through song.
Both singers said the musical is an endurance feat for the hero and his rival. Payne was involved in three other productions — two with UNT and one with the educational program of the Dallas Opera. He also sings in two church choirs and a UNT choir.
Both leads — and the leading women — said they have had to pace themselves, stay healthy and get enough rest. Singers have also endured a particularly ruthless ragweed season this fall.
Music Theatre of Denton’s staging has mentored some very young performers: Luke Knittle as Gavroche, Madison Verre as the young Cosette, and sisters Allie and Christina McDonald as young Eponine and Azelma. All are under 12. Madison is making her stage debut and sings “Castle on a Cloud.” Luke sings “Little People,” and the McDonald sisters sing on ensemble numbers.
Madison, 7, said the hardest part of the show for her is stage fright.
“I have to face the audience, and this whole place is going to be full. I’m so nervous,” she said.
Allie, 9, said coordinating stage action with her fellow players is tricky. She and her sister play the daughters of a pair of unscrupulous innkeepers. They help their parents squeeze customers for money, and in spots, that can set the sisters up for an unintentional kick.
“The hardest part is stealing the drunk guy’s shoes,” Allie said. “We did it really good the other night. He took his shoes and he tripped and did the splits. I hope we get it right again.”
Christina said she can empathize with Rausch.
“The hardest thing is remembering all the words,” she said.
The young players look up to the adults in the cast. They even dream about one day getting to sing other songs from the show.
“I’d love to do ‘On My Own,’ like Eponine. That’s my favorite song,” Allie said.
“I love ‘A Heart Full of Love,’” Madison said.
Music Theatre of Denton allocated most of its budget on costumes and the crackerjack orchestra under the direction of Arturo Ortega, who recently led the rarely produced Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 by Arnold Schoenberg at UNT, in Denton and in New York City. Becky King nurtured a talented cast of singers through the score.
Audiences hungry for a big set will be disappointed. Laney, the director, again partners with graphic designer Philip Lamb to flesh out the story with screen projections. Three-story scaffolds on wheels are lined up and swiveled to create the barricades, with Lamb’s projections adding action, animation-style.
On Wednesday, fewer than 30 tickets were left for the production.
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877 and via Twitter at @LBreedingDRC.
LES MISERABLES
What: Music Theatre of Denton presents the musical adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel, with music by Claude-Michel Schonberg, original French lyrics by Alain Boubil and Jean-Marc Natel and an English libretto by Herbert Kretzmer
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and Oct. 23-25, and 2 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 26. Thursday performances are preview performances.
Details: Nearly all performances are sold out. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for seniors 62 or older, and $10 for children and students with a valid ID. For tickets, call 940-382-1915 or visit www.musictheatreofdenton.com .
