Les Miserables – School Edition @ the Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey

by Damien Murray

Set in France, this is the journey of compassionate petty criminal, Jean Valjean, and his search for redemption while being pursued by the relentless policeman, Javert, who believes in taking his responsibilities to the limit.

Valjean’s story of survival and persecution is presented here in a minimalist style using lighting, projection and simple props (apart from the famous barricade scene), which allows the players to relate the sung-through piece on the strength of their collective performance.

Not only is this achieved to a surprisingly high standard by such a young and relatively inexperienced cast, but also in an amazingly short two-week rehearsal period, which would have been enough to have put even the most professional of performers under pressure.

Having performed as Javert both in the West End and on national tours with Les Miserables, there is nobody better than Peter Corry to direct this School Edition of the show performed entirely by students from the Theatre At The Mill Summer Youth Group.

Celebrating the hit musical’s 25th birthday, this new local production may, by necessity of performing rights, be the more simplistic and condensed version of the famous musical with some shorter songs at times, but – in terms of performances, choreography, musicality, staging and direction – it looses none of the key elements of the story.

Indeed, this most successful of musicals boasts a large cast with many principals and, as an ensemble piece, the talented young performers (all under 19 years old) rise to the challenge, staging it to a high level of quality, despite both strict and restrictive licencing controls.

Corry’s experience with this piece provides him and his young charges with a better insight of the nuances of each individual character on stage and, together with co-director, Fleur Mellor’s choreographic movements, rather than dance steps for this show, ensures an accurate and slick production of this intense, moving and emotional story.

Although light relief is offered in this gripping production by the hammed-up humour and opportunistic antics of Ruaidhri Maguire’s Thenardier and Megan Mooney as his wife, this show relies heavily on the social injustice and poverty of the day and on strong elements of revolution and love.

While performances are all good, Jeff Anderson (Jean Valjean) and Turlough Convery (Javert) really stand out along with Gemma McMeel (Fantine) and Amy Blair (Eponine).

Under Wilson Shields’ musical direction of his 15-piece orchestra, there are too many highlights to mention, but most memorable songs include: the ensemble piece, At The End Of The Day; the raunchy, Lovely Ladies; the rousing and passionate anthem, Do You Hear The People Sing?; the comic, Master Of The House; Stars; On My Own; and Act One finale, One More Day.

However, as they each bring something new to classic songs, the show-stoppers for me are Anderson’s moving version of Bring Him Home and McMeel superbly natural rendition of I Dreamed A Dream.

There is no doubt that all of these youngsters really are living their dream by being a part of this impressive production.