In theater, pathos refers to the actors ability to appeal to the emotions of the audience — and in the upcoming Actors Training Center Repertory Company production of “Les Miserables” at the Wilmette Theatre, the audience will find themselves transported to the streets of 19th century France, swept into a tale of love, humanity, and redemption. The story is based on the original literary masterpiece by Victor Hugo, which follows Jean Valjean as he is pursued by the implacable Inspector Javert, through some of the most tumultuous years in French history.
At ATC, they pride themselves in challenging their acting students — in providing professional training to young actors who seriously aspire to “a life in the arts.”
“You will see a company made up of talented young actors ranging from ages 11 to 18, performing on a postage stamp-sized stage, with hardly the advantages of facility, finances or years of training of the Broadway stages,” said ATC Musical Theater Director Janet Louer. “Yet the demands to come up to the level of the material is placed on these young artists, just the same.”
This is exemplified in the portrayal of Jean Valjean, (the repentant prisoner), by Willson Oppedahl of Libertyville, who continuously reveals the character’s conscious struggle to do good, layering this with pristine gentleness and desperation, while his foil, Javert, (the relentless police inspector), played by Connor Carlin of Evanston, conjures all the necessary gruffness borne of self-righteousness, without losing his vulnerability.
“In the transformation scene, Valjean makes the conscious decision to become the man he wants to be,” Oppedahl said. “Valjean is not a good man, but he is a man who spends the rest of his life working to become a good person. The kind acts and self-sacrifice that we grow to love in Valjean, are a choice, and not natural for him, and that makes me respect him all the more.”
Underlying the main plot theme, the dueling between Valjean and Javert, lies the love story between Cosette (played by Cameron Wise of Wilmette) and Marius (Logan Scofield).
“This production focuses on the innate sense of hope that human beings are capable of maintaining against all odds,” Wise said.
This much-loved massive musical with its multiplicity of complex characters and back stories, will be the last show of the ATC season.
“These actors have poured their heart and soul’s into personalizing Hugo’s themes of sin and redemption, injustices of social class, and the fight for the right to be free,” Director Louer says.
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ATC Repertory Company presents ‘Les Miserables’
7 p.m. May 2-3 and 9-10
Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Ave.
847-251-7424; WilmetteTheatre.com