“Les Miserables,” opening on Friday, may be the most ambitious show tried in five years of summer theater at the Prizery in South Boston.
“Les Miz is a major musical I have always wanted to do,” remarks Chris Jones, the artistic director of the Prizery and the driving force behind the summer stock shows. With striking solos and harmonic choruses, Les Mis is about as close as the musical theater comes to grand opera.
“Les Miz is a sing-through musical, with music throughout the performance,” Jones says. He said he wanted to get the rights for local performances before they are possibly withdrawn when the show returns to Broadway.
In the starring role of Jean Valjean is Jacob Brian Waid, a vocal performance major at the University of Kentucky who is an excellent opera-trained tenor. Javert, the detective, is played by Fergie Philippe-Auguste, a student at Elon University in North Carolina, who has also appeared in “1776,” “Ragtime,” and other musicals.
Oh, and the priest is played by our own Mike, who has a solo and several other parts as a thief and beggar.
LES MISERABLES – July 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19 at 7:30 p.m. – July 13, 16, 20 at 2:30 p.m.
Details and tickets at: www.prizery.com.