SHELTON — Kyle Watkins of Newtown will appear in the Youth CONNection’s upcoming production of Les Miserables under the direction of Gary Scarpa.

Watkins, who will be a senior at Newtown High School in the fall, said, “Les Miserables is a beautiful show that I have dreamed of being in ever since I first saw it. Getting to relive these lives and lessons on stage every day during rehearsals has been magical. I can hardly imagine how much more powerful it will be in front of a crowd. Working with this company has been an honor and all of these wonderful people I have met have only added to the magic.”

Performances will be in the Percy Kingsley Auditorium at Shelton High School, 120 Meadow Street, July 25 to August 2.

Curtain is Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, and also 2 pm Saturday, August 2. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students.

Les Miserables is the winner of over 100 international awards and has become a global success on stage and screen, sweeping audiences through an epic tale of broken dreams, passion and redemption, against the backdrop of a nation seething with revolution.

“Kyle is an enormously talented young man, and a welcome new addition to our company,” said Gary Scarpa.

The Youth CONNection Players was founded in 1983 by Gary and Francesca Scarpa as a community theater group for high school and college students. It operates under the Center Stage Theatre umbrella.

Each summer for thirty years, the Youth CONNection group has performed classic musicals like Annie, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man, The King and I, Oklahoma!, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Legally Blonde, among others.

Members of the company given benefit performances for civic organizations and worthy causes throughout the state, including Juvenile Diabetes, American Cancer Society, Hospice, The Ronald McDonald House, and AIDS Project New Haven.

In 2005, the Scarpas also founded Center Stage Theatre, Inc., a non-profit community theatre devoted to bringing high-quality theatre to the Lower Naugatuck Valley at an affordable price. Since then, Youth CONNection productions have kicked off the theatre’s new season each year.

“The Youth CONNection has given thousands of young men and women the opportunity to hone their skills as performers and grow as people. Working with high school and college students in theatre as been our life’s mission, and a very rewarding one at that,” said Mr Scarpa.

For tickets and more information for Les Miserables call 203-225-6079 or visit www.centerstageshelton.com.