TALENTED thespians at King’s Ely wowed audiences with their stunning production of riveting French musical Les Misérables.
There were raucous cheers and even the odd tear as more than 1,000 people witnessed the sell-out production in the school’s Hayward Theatre from Thursday, December 8th to Saturday, December 10th.
Over 50 King’s Ely Senior students starred in the production, as well as four King’s Ely Junior pupils who played the parts of Young Eponine and Young Cosette. Les Misérables was the student’s choice of musical and planning started a whole year ago when the title was confirmed in November 2015 and the licence was sought.
Concrete plans to stage the show started hot on the heels of last year’s successful show, Into The Woods, which also attracted more than 1,000 people. Auditions took place in September and the cast squeezed in over 100 hours of rehearsals in just 10 weeks by the time they took to the stage.
As ever, the whole production was run by the students, including the stage management, make-up, lighting and sound. King’s Ely Senior Sixth Form student Eve Noble even designed the barricade for the production for her Extended Project Qualification.
Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables tells the story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Ex-convict Jean Valjean is hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever.
Featuring the songs I Dreamed A Dream, Bring Him Home, One Day More and On My Own, the King’s Ely musical was directed by the school’s Director of Drama and Theatre, Nick Huntington, and musically directed by Director of Music, Jonathan Kingston.
Jean Valjean was played by Oliver Wilkinson and Javert was played by Sebastian Carberry. Elizaveta Denisova starred as Fantine and Indea Cranner played Cosette.
A proud Director of Drama and Theatre at King’s Ely, Nick Huntington, commented: “The response to the show has been utterly overwhelming and there aren’t enough superlatives to describe the brilliant cast and crew. At King’s Ely, we pride ourselves on building our own sets, and the pupils run backstage, the technical elements and assist in makeup and costume. It’s a huge team effort that has certainly paid off. We’re very excited to announce the next two productions, DNA by Dennis Kelly (King’s Ely Senior) and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats (King’s Ely Junior. Both productions are being performed in March 2017.”