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Community Corner

"Les Miserables" a Hit

Pine-Richland High School musical is an amazing production.

There is a reason that Pine-Richland High School musicals are nominated year after year for Gene Kelly Awards – they deserve them. Their latest production, "Les Miserables," is no exception.

In Friday's opening night show, the cast performed  “I Dreamed a Dream," “On My Own” and other songs made famous by "Les Miserables."

"Les Miserables" is known as a difficult musical, but you would never have known that based on the students’ performance Friday night before a packed audience.

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The musical isn’t what one would call uplifting, with a somber story line set in the mid-1800s in France. Jean Valjean is the main character, a man sentenced to prison for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. The story follows Jean Valjean’s journey once he is released from prison, a long trek involving ups and downs, injustices and redemption.

There are numerous noteworthy performances in this production, including Jeff Burgess as Jean Valjean; Jake Morrissey as Jean Valjean’s nemesis, Javert; Matthew Ceurvorst as Marius; Christine Lamendola as Frantine; and Megan Hawbaker as Eponine.

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The real scene stealer, however, was sixth-grade Eden Hall student, Jake Pedersen as Gavroche. Little but mighty, Jake belted out several songs and won the hearts of everyone in the audience. I hope that we see more from Jake in the future.

Christine’s solo of “I Dreamed a Dream” brought tears to my eyes, and I wanted Marius to fall in love with Megan’s Eponine as much as she did. One of my favorite scenes was the “Final Battle,” when the actors fight and end the scene in slow motion. It was beautifully acted.

While watching the musical, it is hard to remember the hours of planning and practice that brought the entire cast to that moment. It is also imperative to note that not everyone award-worthy is onstage.

The orchestra brings the scenes to life with its performance  and the costumes, sewn by volunteers including many mothers in the district, are beautiful. The stage crew is also an important element to the success of "Les Miserables."

When the Gene Kelly awards are announced in April, without a doubt, Pine-Richland’s "Les Miserables" will once again land numerous nominations.

Cast members for "Les Miserables" include:  Jeff Burgess, Jake Morrissey, Christine Lamendola, Jake Chavara, Jen Rausch, Matt Ceurvorst, Raychel Shipley, Jared Berry, Megan Hawbaker, Jake Pedersen, Andy Deutsch, Brianna Kutchko, Lucy Hess, PJ McMahon, Jordan Banyas, Andrew Murray, Mike Morrissey, Connor Griffin, Graham Suvick, Ben Gentzel, Scott Hilger, Sidney Brooks, Katie Colosimo, Abby Dionise, Madeleine O’Neil, Jessica Barrett, Rachel Baur, Lauren Beling, Taylor Bittle, Lauren Dailey, Kealy Griffin, Kristen Gustovich, Laura Hancock, Brittany Hicks, Kelsey Hillock, Brianne Janosko, Mariah Kutchko, Alexis Loiselle, Helen Loughead, Jessica Malandro, Marcella McGuire, Kayla McMurry, Kelly Parsons, Taylor Perz, Tara Petak, Katrina Sanzi, Jillian Schmidt, Emily Smith, Hannah Todorowski, McKenzie Trader, Alaina Zappas, Andrew Brevik, Davis Karran, and Cameron Leonard.

Eden Hall students in the production include: Jake Pedersen (Gavroche), Brianna Kutchko (Young Cosette) and Lucy Hess (Young Eponine).

The musical will be performed again next weekend at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 25, and at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m on Saturday, March 26.

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