Vive L'Apaches

Les Miserables

Arcadia Stage Theatre Company

Arcadia Performing Arts Center

Arcadia, CA

Thursday, March 14, 2019

A few weeks ago, I saw a banner flying above me as I drove down Huntington Drive, advertising that the theatre students at my alma mater would be performing my favorite musical.  Awesome!  I bought my ticket.  I rushed to the high school after work, got in the very long line of General Admission folks, got my ticket scanned, took a couple of pictures in the lobby, used the facilities, and entered the door to the house of the theatre.  I asked where I could get a program, and one of the ushers walked to the other entrance to get one for me, and another one looked for a seat for me.  What service!  She found a seat for me in the front row!  In the center section!  In seat 19!  I felt like the luckiest alumnus in the building.

Photos of the cast

Props and photos of the set

I liked the French flags hanging from the balcony

Director Steven Volpe made announcements from the stage, and talked about the importance of the show in his own life and how the theme of forgiveness and people standing up for their rights is relevant in today's political landscape.  

The first musical he saw was Les Miz

• Brady Stubbs, playing Valjean, had me in tears already during the first song.  He never failed me throughout the show.  I was amazed at the fact that this person was still in high school.  The acting, the singing, just everything.  He was awesome.  I found myself beaming with pride for him, like I was his mom or something, especially during "Bring Him Home", as he sang beautifully, and tackled that last high note like a pro.
• I saw Brady limping and was, like, is that a Valjean limp, or is he actually limping, because I saw him jump off the stairs and was worried that he fell wrong.  So if that was a character thing, it was brilliantly done.  If that's the actual way he walks, then I'm sorry that he had to climb the stairs so often.
• Brady was evenly matched with Joe Ganley as Javert.  His rage and frustration with Valjean was clear, and I was impressed.  I do think that Javert's low range was a little bit too low for Ganley, but he handled those low notes OK anyway.  I loved when he entered the stage after Fantine's Death with "Val...jean" at the low end of his range.  So cool.
• I would have liked for the confrontation between Valjean and Javert to be the full piece, because I love that vocal battle.  Perhaps some of the lyrics were inappropriate for the high school stage, I don't know.  
• Ah, yes, the virtuous Fantine.  Gabriela de Santiago was wonderful as Fantine, and she made me cry, as she was supposed to do.  I didn't like the makeup around her eyes when she was dying (it seemed too red for me), but her voice outshone that, and I loved seeing how tender Valjean was with her at that moment.
• The couple playing the Thenardiers (Andrea Contreras and Alex Zhao) were very funny.  I'm surprised that they were able to recite some of the lyrics from "Master of the House", but they did edit, like using the word "Mercy" instead of "Jesus", which I felt was awkward, but probably necessary.
• Young Cosette (Charlotte Li) and Gavroche (Joshua DeLuca) were cute as could be.  They are students at the middle and elementary schools, and had good stage presence. The lines they flubbed slightly did not flummox them at all, and they were able to carry on, and I think that's great.  I might have crumbled at that age, but they did not.  My problem is that I know those lines by heart, so I'm pretty sure the rest of the audience didn't even notice because they both handled themselves well.
• And then there's my favorite role, Eponine.  Megan Colton did a wonderful job with this role and I felt her pain along with her when she was watching Marius and Cosette fall in love.  In "On My Own", she beautifully sang and displayed the emotion needed for the role, and that big note followed by the "I love him" were especially heart wrenching.
• Marius and Cosette had a nice chemistry, and the voices of their portrayers, Derrik Griggs and Dominique Stellern.
• I was impressed with the commitment from the actors as they sang from their deepest insides, sometimes growling in anger when they sang, and I thought, "YES!  That's the way to give it your all!"  
• The show was shorter than the professional production, partly because of some of the cut portions, but there weren't many of those.  The music was pre-recorded and was at a faster tempo than is played with a live orchestra in the professional shows.
• The costumes were very well done, and looked like what you would see from a professional Broadway show, even from my view in the front row.  Nice job, costume department!  
• I also liked the set.  Instead of having a turntable stage, which would be really expensive to build, a large circular staircase was rotated on the stage, and the performers walked up and down the stairs while they sang.  I loved the way that the stairs were disconnected in the middle when Javert jumps to his death in his final song.  

Can you tell that I loved this performance?  I'm really glad that I was able to go so I could cheer on these young folks.  I wouldn't be surprised if any of the principals became Broadway stars.  I'm still reeling at their amazing talent.  Congratulations on an outstanding opening night, AHS, and thank you for doing justice to my favorite show.

A closer look at some of the cast:
Top: B Stubbs as Valjean & J. Ganley as Javert
2nd row: D. Griggs, D. Stellern, M. Colton, G. DeSantiago
3rd row: D. Ro (Enjolras), A. Contreras, A. Zhao
4th row: C. Li, J. DeLuca, N. Stone (Young Eponine)