Cosette is having trouble getting through the door. It’s not the first time she’s worn her 19th century dress, complete with hoop skirt and corset. But the steps and seats of the York High School Performing Arts Center in Elmhurst are presenting a challenge.
Luckily Cosette, who by day is really junior Hanna Kikos, has had experience with maneuvering in strange costumes. She played the Ladybug in “James and the Giant Peach” last year.
“That got me ready for this,” she says, noting that her corset was forcing her to stand up very straight, but it was also helping her get into character.
Kikos is one of two actors playing a well-known role in York’s production of “Les Miserables,” being performed April 14 to 17. First debuting in London in 1985, “Les Miserables” is the longest-running musical in London and the second-longest running in the world. The story focuses on the Paris uprising of 1832 and the redemption of Jean Valjean, imprisoned for years for stealing bread for his starving family.
Perhaps this musical’s unflagging popularity is one reason why York is facing a situation more common to Broadway than high school theater — all four shows are sold out. But there are undoubtedly other reasons as well.
First of all, says show director Rebecca Marianetti, the York community loves theater. During a recent dress rehearsal, she points to a few sibling combinations as proof that families are supportive of theatrical ambitions. And the three York alumni who have returned to assistant direct this show are also evidence, according to Kikos, “how strong of a community we have.”
The show’s student director, senior Chris Knudsen, has been taking acting classes and studying technique, and so he has been helping performers find their character motivations. Knudsen describes how he staged the death of street urchin Gavroche, working with everyone in the scene to clarify how their characters view the development.
“I think of myself as an acting coach,” he said.
Marianetti has appreciated Knudsen’s contribution.
“He has a knack for directing his peers,” she said.
But Knudsen, who will be studying musical theater at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, is also acting in the production as well, playing Inspector Javert, the gendarme who pursues Jean Valjean.
To help transform themselves, the students were able to take advantage of Marianetti’s connections to the professional theater world, and are wearing costumes from a road production of the show. One of Marianetti’s friends played Epinene on Broadway, which has proven helpful for the two students portraying her this month in Elmhurst.
And Marianetti’s professional friends who have seen the student performances so far, via video, send raves back. Erik Martenson’s performance as Jean Valjean has received an enthusiastic thumbs-up from another of Marianetti’s professional colleagues.
But it’s not just the talented main cast members who will make this a memorable version of “Les Mis” for the audience. Marianetti praises her strong ensemble, down to the lowliest street beggar, who gave their characters names and backstories.
As dress rehearsal progresses, the actors return to the auditorium seats when they are not on stage. They watch their peers transform from teenagers into revolutionaries on the barricades. Strong voices soar through songs about love, loss and longing, and are greeted with wild applause.
Carol Morency is a freelancer reporter for Pioneer Press.