(Seguin) — For some Seguin High School seniors, there’s not only that final game or final concert. There’s that final time of being on stage under those bright lights.
Four years of working on stage, in tech or backstage comes to a wrap this weekend as this year’s seniors perform in their final production of the year, Les Miserables, the School Edition.
For many, Les Mis has been enjoyed in multiple stage variations not to mention film and even a TV series. But for many of this year’s seniors who pioneered in live streams and YouTube film performances due to COVID, they couldn’t ask for a sweeter finale.
Applauding the entire cast and crew’s ability to master the “not so easy” show is Director Lydia Robles. Robles says this group includes incredible vocal talent. She says it made choosing this production easy.
“It is a completely vocal show. There’s no dialogue. No character just stops and talks to the audience. Everything is sung and the scoring in it of itself is not your typical composition where you can just pick out the melody. There’s a lot of intricate rhythms and it takes a certain talent to be able to pick out their rhythms and their vocal parts and the intricacies that such a show contains. There’s a reason why this is one of the longest running musicals on Broadway. It is a truly gripping and compelling piece story wise but also the music is just gorgeous and when it’s done well, you can’t help but absolutely love it,” said Robles.
Cast with the lead role is Senior Garrett Reinhard. Reinhard describes the show as spectacular.
“My character’s name is Jean Valjean. He was a quote unquote criminal. It started off he stole a loaf of bread to save his family and he was put in prison for 19 years and he goes through this phase of going from a hardened criminal to a kind of soft and sentimental man trying to figure out which decisions to make. He has to take care of a child and he goes to war in the French Revolution and meets his child’s love interest. My character is very complex. For my senior year, I mean this is probably the musical that I’ve wanted to do since I was little. My dad has seen this show and my mom has too so to end it off my senior year with this show is really something special. I’ve been doing theater here at the high school since my freshman year and I would have never thought that I would have gotten the lead in the last musical of my senior year,” said Reinhard.
Also enduring her last role on the high school stage will be Senior Amanda Munoz. Munoz says a lot of hard work also went into filling the shoes of her character.
“I play a character. Her name is Eponine and basically from the moment she enters on stage, there will be a younger version of me, and she has the perfect life. She’s spoiled by her parents but whenever I show up as the character, she is poor. She is dirty. She is having a really hard time. I mean the show is Les Mis so I would be surprised if she wasn’t. My character’s whole thing is she is in love with this guy who is another character in the play. His name is Marius and he’s part of the French Revolution and she’s willing to do anything for her to notice him. I sing a lot of songs and duets and trios with him and his love interests. It’s a really complex character. The music is not easy at all. We’ve worked really hard on it and it’s a really hard character to play I would say for almost everybody in the show but I’m really excited to perform as this character and show you guys what she goes through and convey the story,” said Munoz.
Also sharing in her role is Senior Aly Burns. Burns describes her character as helping the 19th-century ex-convict in France find redemption and grace.
“I play Fantine. I would say Fantine is like the epitome of society takes the most from the people who have the least. She opens the show and she’s getting money and the foreman at the factory that she works with is hitting on her and the girls are all mean to her and she just gets isolated and she has this moment of losing her job and feeling hopeless and she’s at a whole new low and she goes and becomes a prostitute to support her child and it’s really miserable and then she dies and then she comes back at the very end as a ghost to help Jean Valjean on his journey of his death,” said Burns.
Munoz adds that so many hours were dedicated to this particular production. She says seeing it all come together will be a bittersweet moment for all cast members.
“Just know that we all worked super hard on this show. We spent countless hours here basically every day of the week and it’s going to be worth it. We all worked together, and we all know that we have a show to put on this Friday and it’s been a lot but also so much fun like going through a show like this with the people that I spent my whole high school career with. I know myself; I have not stopped working since we got the cast list put out for this show,” said Munoz.
In addition to high school students, several younger kids from across the district were also invited to be a part of the production. According to directors, the children were needed to fully encompass the era and poverty that was part of the story being told.
Burns says the invitation to enjoy what she and her peers have been able to accomplish these last few weeks is open to anyone in the community.
“I think that everyone should come see the show because there is genuinely something for everyone whether you want to come hear vocals, whether you want to come see the acting side, whether you just want to see the sets and the lights. There is genuinely something for everyone to enjoy,” said Burns.
Show times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Seguin High School Performing Arts Center.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students. Online tickets can be purchased at https://our.show/lesmis. The link is also available on the Seguin High School Drama Club & Drama Mamas Facebook page.