‘Au Revoir’ To Broadway History—

NHS Senior Joins ‘Les Misérables’ Cast For Production Finalé

By Shannon Hicks

When Les Misérables opened on March 12, 1987, at The Broadway Theater in London, Brett Boles was in kindergarten.

When New York City celebrated the conclusion of one of Broadway’s longest-running productions with the grand finalé of Les Misérables last weekend (where the production was being presented at The Imperial Theatre), Mr Boles, now a Newtown High School senior, was right in the thick of the celebration. Mr Boles was not just watching the show during its final weekend, either; he was right up on stage with the show’s final cast, alumni, friends, a number of original cast members, the show’s producer, and even the show’s composer.

Mr Boles was one of 41 high school students selected by audition in April to participate in May 18’s closing night performance of the second-longest running production in Broadway history. The musical version of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece had its final public performance on May 17, and a special performance for friends, family, and alumni of the production followed on Sunday.

Following the final number of the show’s current (now final) cast on Sunday, producer Cameron Mackintosh introduced the student cast, who did a performance that then merged into work with hundreds of cast alumni and the current ensemble. The full ensemble began singing “The End of the Day,” and then soloists took over for performances of “I Dream A Dream,” “Stars,” “On My Own,” and “Bring Him Home.”

As the full cast returned to the stage everyone began performing “One Day More,” which was the big close.

“That was it –– there were balloons, streamers, confetti, cannons firing… it was huge,” Mr Boles said this week. “It was absolutely amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Students from 33 schools in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania attended auditions on April 26. Those students had each being selected by the directors of their own schools’ productions of Music Theatre International’s Les Misérables School Edition, the official and authorized school version of the Broadway musical. Newtown High School has not done Les Misérables School Edition, but Mr Boles’s participation in Shelton Youth Connection’s production qualified him for the auditions.

He traveled into New York City last month with five castmates from the Shelton production, and of that group only Mr Boles and Ana Faulkner were accepted into the production. Surprisingly the auditions were followed by immediate announcements of who was accepted.

“I was very surprised that I made it,” Mr Boles said last week. “There were 180 kids there and everybody was good.”

Three-hour rehearsals were held on the next three Saturdays at an off-site location. The first rehearsals, says Mr Boles, “was pretty uneventful,” but the following weekend, Randy Graff –– the original Fantine on Broadway –– stopped by.

(Ms Graff was not the only person in town for the big show. Producer Cameron Mackintosh, the show’s writer Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schönberg, English lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, directors Trevor Nunn and John Caird, costume designer Andreane Neofitou and set designer John Napier were all in town for Sunday’ finalé.)

After Ms Graff’s appearance, the students were floored the following weekend when they got to meet and sit down with John Caird on May 17.

“That was great. He just sat there and let us ask him all these questions,” recalled Mr Boles, “and then, out of nowhere in walks Claude-Michel Schönberg, the composer of the show!

“He looked around and said [as Mr Boles injects a French accent to his story] ‘You are going to sing my music? That is wonderful… don’t disappoint me,’ but he was smiling when he said that.”

After that rehearsal the student cast watched the show’s final public performance Saturday night, and then returned for Sunday’s final rehearsal at The Imperial Theatre. Mr Boles stayed in New York after Sunday evening’s performance, returning to Newtown on Monday.

Theater is hardly new to Mr Boles, who was in his first production when he was in eighth grade. That year he participated in The Music Man at Sacred Heart University, and “it’s pretty much been nonstop since then,” he said. He has been in every musical and most of the dramas at Newtown High School while he has been a student there.

He wrote his first show two years ago, when he was a sophomore at NHS. That show, called Austin’s Bridge and co-written by Bill C. Davis, will be produced this summer.

Mr Boles is also set to participate in Summer Theater Connection at the high school this summer as well as performing in Blood Brothers in July at the high school. In the fall he is off to Ithaca College to study musical composition with a focus on musical theater. Obviously he has already had quite an introduction to the theater.

“Sunday was even better than I could have hoped,” Mr Boles said this week. “The original cast, all of the alumni, everyone was so supportive of our participation.

“It was an unbelievable sound,” he said of the finalé. “I really don’t think it could have been any better.”