Everyone thought I was crazy for even attempting this. No one thought it could be done. Too long, too difficult, too big, too heavy, too grand in scale and epic in scope; impossible to condense, impossible to adapt, impossible to do it justice in a camp production. I heard it all.

After Jesus Christ Superstar, the bar had been raised. A new standard had been established. Not only had that show been a huge success despite some absurd and needless controversy over its content, it put to rest any doubts about what could and could not be accomplished on the Pontiac stage (or at least it should have…), and established a new tradition of the third show being performed by staff and campers together, and becoming a major culminating event of the summer before Color War. How could Jesus Christ Superstar be topped?

As with Andrew Lloyd Webber's aforementioned masterpiece, the greatness of Les Misérables, the musical itself, cannot be overstated. It combines a wonderfully melodic and memorable musical score with a grand, epic story, rich and remarkable characters, profound depth and beauty virtually unmatched by any other musical from any era. It's really no wonder people might have been intimidated by the idea of doing this in camp, where we have only two weeks' rehearsal time and the show needs to be condensed down to about an hour. That was probably the most challenging part of the whole process; there are so many wonderful songs that had to be cut for time (such as "Red and Black," "One Day More" and "Bring Him Home") and the story has so many intersecting and parallel subplots that the full scope of the play would indeed be impossible to render given our limitations. However, it was certainly possible to achieve the essence of the story, focusing on the main plot of Valjean's exploits, his conflict with Javert, the romance between Cosette and Marius, and the plight of the revolutionaries, while simplifying, condensing or eliminating some of the less-important subplots. Even with all the cuts and simplifications, the script still wound up being 22 pages long, slightly longer than Jesus Christ Superstar, which had run a little over an hour.

However, many factors combined to make the show's length manageable, not the least of which being the wide assortment of both individual and ensemble roles, aided by the large cast (about 50; half staff, half campers), meaning that each individual performer didn't have to learn more than two or three numbers. Indeed, the way the adaptation is structured, Act I (1815 and 1823, from the opening chain gang scene up through Valjean taking Cosette away from the Thénardiers) would be performed mostly by the adults in the cast (Valjean, Javert, Fantine, the Thénardiers, and the ensemble of prisoners, guards, townspeople, factory workers and inn patrons), while Act II (1832; from "Look Down" onward) would be mostly campers (Cosette, Marius, Enjolras, Éponine, with ensembles of students, Parisian poor and other revolutionaries). In that sense, it was essentially two shows in one; a staff show (Act I) and a camper show (Act II), though there were obviously exceptions in each act. Campers would rehearse during the day, staff at night. Then at the end, all the pieces would be assembled into a single epic show.

One of the things that made Jesus Christ Superstar so successful was the caliber of performances we got from the adults. All but one of the featured roles in that show were played by staff members; while I certainly don't mean to malign any of our many wonderful camper performances over the years, having staff in the show really took things to a higher level. What I think made Les Misérables even more remarkable was the fact that we were able to have great featured performances from both staff and campers, thanks to the aforementioned two-shows-in-one concept.

Among the staff in the show, Joel Perez, who worked in the Dance department that summer, was cast as Javert, while Cara Farris, my fifth co-director in as many years, took the role of Fantine. Shannon Crockett was cast in yet another perfect role for him, the slimy innkeeper Thénardier. Casting his wife, however, proved to be an adventure; we cast one of the group leaders, who really seemed excited to do it, but ultimately couldn't because of her busy schedule. Failing that, one of the nurses volunteered for the role, had great enthusiasm and would have been perfect for it, but she had to leave camp early, a few days before the show. I left it to Cara to re-cast the part and it went to Nicola ("Nicky") Leadley, a New Zealander who was in the ensemble. Nicky worked with Shannon to learn the part quickly, and provided a very interesting and unique take on the character.

Michael Virga returned to the stage one more time to play the small but critical role of the Bishop of Digne; it was a distinct pleasure, after having directed him in so many key roles in so many shows, to be able to perform together with him on stage in Les Misérables' prologue. Greg Sarafan, who came on board in 2001 as a crew member in West Side Story, and later performed as an Apostle in Jesus Christ Superstar, had a great audition and was cast as Marius, while fellow subbie and Pontiac stage veteran Perry Livingston secured his most prominent role yet, that of revolutionary leader Enjolras.

Out of nowhere on this show came Mark Hartenstein, an inter who had not been in Grease but who had seen how much fun his friends had doing that show and wanted to give it a try. Even though he had never been in a play before, he had an incredible audition, a great voice and great enthusiasm, and he was perfect for the part of Gavroche. Of course, his fellow inter boys came on board as revolutionaries, including Michael Warren, Brian Leigh, and Brandon Lerner, and when junior Brandon Dinetz decided not to do this show and concentrate instead on the climbing team, I was able to coax theatre veteran Corey Elan, now a senior, into one more performance.

Casting the girls was an adventure here as well, and not for reasons one might like. Shortly after the cast list was published, it got back to me that the two girls we cast as Cosette and Éponine, both subbies (Grease had been inters and juniors only), who didn't show up for the first few rehearsals, had never actually intended to be in the play; they had only auditioned to see what parts they'd get. Naturally I wasn't too happy about this, but as is usually the case in camp, the girls themselves did not speak to me directly but rather communicated through intermediaries. In any case, recasting the parts wasn't too difficult, as we had many talented girls and theatre veterans in the ensemble; Michelle Kremer played Cosette (as an adult; Ashley Greenwald played her as a child), and Lori Davidson, fresh off her performance in Grease, took the part of Éponine and, as one might expect, nearly stole the show with her marvelous voice.

As for me, I played Jean Valjean in this show, which is probably the only role in all of musical theatre that's harder to sing than that of Judas Iscariot in Jesus Christ Superstar. In what was fast becoming a rather unfortunate tradition, I injured myself severely a couple of days before the performance, tearing up my ankle while horsing around on the tumble track in the Pavilion (where we had moved rehearsals from the theatre to make way for the Dance Pageant that night). This was a painful injury and I thought I might have to perform on crutches, but fortunately I managed to keep on my feet thanks to an air cast and a lot of Advil. Viewers of the video will notice the limp, but only if they're told about it.

I could go on and on about this show, the challenges and the accomplishments, but I just don't have the space. Les Misérables is a grand, epic show, and the tale of its production and performance at Camp Pontiac in the summer of 2002 is just as epic. As I watch the finale, where the curtain opens and the entire cast is revealed, performing the final reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" it still gives me chills and moves me to tears more than two years later. From the main characters to the bit players to the ensembles, everyone involved made a significant contribution, and the achievement by all was nothing short of remarkable. There has never been a camp show quite like this, at Pontiac or anywhere else, and I don't suppose there ever will be again. This, like its source, was one for the ages.
_____