so, i’m in a production of les mis: school edition with my local community theatre (playing jean provauire/jehan) we open 2 weeks from today. here are some of my favorite stories/random things from rehearsal (so far!)
– my friend (playing cosette) is a lesbian. my other friend (playing marius) is gay. “a heart full of love” is pretty funny because they have NO chemistry aT ALL
– during the wedding scene, my friend said that marius and cosette aren’t good together because “he’s a lesbian, she’s gay” and now everyone says that
– we didn’t have choreography for the wedding scene so everyone did fortnite dances
– the barricade boys (myself included) stood in a circle t-posing during one of the battles
– our Javert has a very unique voice. its very low and he doesn’t enunciate that well so it kinda sounds like he has a cold all the time. (when i first saw him in a production of little shop I thought it was an accent) the cast likes to sing the entirety of “one day more” in this voice a lot
– one time marius came on late during “red and black” he said he was backstage but someone misheard him and said “you came from cosette’s hoT TUB????”
– this is now a cast joke
– out of the barricade boys, there are only three actual boys. enjolras is played by a girl who’s 5’9
– my friend and I made up a subplot where our characters are gay lovers and die holding hands on the barricade
– my friend (same friend who I’m gay lovers with) and I both have a crush on the girl playing cosette
– we both lowkey wanted to be Marius
– one time the whole cast started singing “sincerely me” and our music director said “THIS IS LES MIS, YOU SING LES MIS”
– we don’t have the set yet, and we won’t till the day before the show. this is very fun during the barricade scenes
– we also don’t have props (other than chairs and music stands) during “master of the house” i’m supposed to fall asleep on a table, but i had to use a music stand which promptly collapsed when i put my head on it.
– our Valjean has a crush on fantine and eVERYBODY knows about it. she doesn’t like him back which makes things kinda awkward
– also: cosette hates Valjean and she tries not to touch him during their scenes together, which… complicates things
– at least half the cast is gay
– everyone lowkey thinks our marius sucks and doesn’t sing with emotion. during “empty chairs at empty tables” i was backstage bitching about him with at least a third of the cast
i’ll update y’all as the show gets closer! more shenanigans are sure to come
Tag: theatre
Every Musical To Win The Tony For Best Musical
The Bands Visit Dear Evan Hansen Hamilton Fun Home
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder Kinky Boots Once
The Book of Mormon Memphis Billy Elliot In the Heights
Spring Awakening Jersey Boys Monty Python’s Spamalot
Avenue Q Hairspray Thoroughly Modern Millie The Producers
Contact Fosse The Lion King Titanic Rent Sunset Boulevard
Passion Kiss of the Spider Woman Crazy for You The Will Rogers Follies
City of Angels Jerome Robbins’ Broadway The Phantom of the Opera
Les Miserables The Mystery of Edwin Drood Big River La Cage aux Folles
Cats Nine 42nd Street Evita Sweeney Todd Ain’t Misbehavin’ Annie
A Chorus Line The Wiz Raisin A Little Night Music
Two Gentlemen of Verona Company Applause 1776 Hallelujah, Baby!
Cabaret Man of La Mancha Fiddler on the Roof Hello, Dolly!
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
How to Succeed in the Business Without Really Trying Bye Bye Birdie!
(tie) The Sound of Music; Fiorello! Redhead The Music Man My Fair Lady
Damn Yankees The Pajama Game Kismet Wonderful Town The King and I
Guys and Dolls South Pacific Kiss Me Kate
Rb with how many you’ve listened to!
broadway set design
matilda // hamilton // she loves me // wicked // les miserables // phantom of the opera // newsies // fiddler on the roof // pippin
Things Said At Les Mis Rehearsals, Part 2: Tech Week
THE LAW:
“The Law” is now a euphemism for Javert’s dick. We didn’t decide, It just is.
Valjean: “I KNOW THE MEANING OF THOSE NINETEEN YEARS A SLAVE OF THE LAW……guys why are you laughing. guys. please.”
Joly: “So, why do are you chasing Valjean?”
Javert: “He broke the law. Many times. Many, many times. I mean, it was 20 years with no women. Come on, Joly.”
Director: “So by now, Valjean is running from the law..” (stifled laughter from Enjolras) […] and the law is coming after him (maniacal giggles) Enj do you need to go outside?”
During a serious College Options presentation during school:
Teacher: “So Law is a very large subject – (all the Les Mis kids snort)”
The Cast Has Officially Lost It:
The Pimp, staring off into the distance: “No matter how good of a pimp I am, I’ll never have as many hookers as Victor Hugo. (sigh)”
The makeup artist gave Enjolras raccoon eyeliner. Imagine that. Raccoon eyeliner. On Enjolras. He was not impressed.
^cue him, tying the french flag around his head: GRANTAIRE; WHY IS THE RUM ALWAYS GONE?????? GRANTAIRE?????
Courfeyrac: “Who else thinks Javert would look amazing as a drag queen?”
Grantaire: So, can we all have one collective panic attack? Right now? Please?
Bamatabois, being tied up and gagged backstage: “You guys always do this to me. Always. (defeated sigh) Please just don’t stab me this time.”
Marius broke one of the guns, left the revolution early and keeps stumbling around. Truly perfect casting.
The Tales Of The Shitty Sound Engineer And The Mics People Never Turn Off:
Enj: “You’ve been chasing this guy across France for two decades, the only place you want to handcuff him to is your bed!” (mic was on, headmaster was walking by. )
(The Confrontation is going on, JVJ and Javert are fighting with the chain) Joly: That’s some kinky shit right there….. (Realizes his mic was on max volume and is blasting from the speakers onstage)……that was Grantaire.
Things said at Les Mis rehearsals:
Choreographer: “Great, see? if everyone put as much energy into their solos as Javert does into killing himself, we’d be on the West End.”
All the prostitutes agreed that our Bamatabois was the World’s Most Polite Molester. We made him a certificate. He blushed.
Enjolras sashayed onto the stage for One Day More like he was on Drag Race.
Grantaire and Enjolras plotting for twenty minutes on how to make their scenes as gay as possible. The directors are very supportive.
Valjean: (mixes up lyrics ONCE)
Everyone for the rest of eternity: “MY NAME IS LOAF OF BREAD”
Marius is disliked by the revolutionaries because he’s the only hetero. that is our official Amis-approved reason.
*eponine dies* Enjolras: (goes into La Vie Boheme) DEARLY BELOVED WE ARE GATHERED HERE TO SAAAAY OUR GOODBYES, HERE SHE LIIIIIIIES.
Marius jumped up to the tech booth, fought his way past the sound engineer and a bunch of stagehands just to blast the YTP of Look Down on the speakers.
Enjolras: Break a leg, Javert! And an arm! And your spine!
Choreographer: Everyone thank the director for accompanying us, especially since he’s sick today, so he isn’t feeling okay.
Director (slumped over the piano keyboard) : Oh, I’m never okay. *stares off into the distance*
Let’s play guess which of these lyrics is from a musical!
A: I can’t believe Jesus called me a dick.
B: What if she never tortures me anymore?
C: That’d be a miracle of Judaism.
Answer: they all are
Musical Theater Aesthetics: The Basics
Hamilton:
The mingling of dust and sweat, hefty textbooks, that one college sweatshirt, high school girlfriends, red pen on 12pt Times New Roman, Red Bull fueled all nighters, falling asleep on your term paper, bloody noses from fistfights, all consuming hunger, that poem you can’t name but cannot forget, hero worshipDear Evan Hansen:
Crying silently, sleeping through alarms, the school nurse’s office, back row at the talent show, checking your phone for alarms that won’t come, looking through photo albums of your childhood, keeping safe distances, board games, the smell of clean linen, the yearning for the oceanHeathers:
Fucking up your eyeliner, accidentally flipping off your mom, eating fruit while you do math homework, scanning lists for your name, scratchy jackets, sweaty handholding, kicking rocks, acne cream that doesn’t work, cherry popsicles on a spring afternoon, graffiti in the girl’s bathroom, curly pencil handwriting on loose leaf paper, the sound of music from someone else’s car as it passes by you on the road, shellshocked faces, faded red lipstickLes Misérables:
Marble that is past its prime, thin white dresses, stepping on cracked cobblestone, petal-soft kisses, mother’s necklace, hearing screaming through your rickety walls, cold sweat clinging to your forehead, biting into a peach that’s a day too ripe, rain hitting the dirt, going to church despite the painBe More Chill:
Cracked phone screens, stealing bits of your friend’s lunch, playing truth or dare, incomprehensible inside jokes, weeds that look like flowers, sneaking out of the house, dancing to music coming from a phone speaker, platonic kissing, pink carnival tickets, dry-erase markers, cassettes, teachers that make weed jokesSpring Awakening:
“Am I gay” quizzes at 3am, the tight air of a local drugstore, staring up at your bedroom ceiling, posters of celebrities, piercing your own ears, kisses under the bleachers, failing tests, pink shag carpets, singing into your hairbrush, starting books but never finishing them, awkward family dinnersWicked:
Inscriptions on the inside of your yearbook, crying happy tears, slick black trench-coats, the screams of protest, staring at pictures in newspapers, eating lunches alone, laughter that drops off quickly, forgetting your own name, being willing to kill for your best friend, being willing to die for your best friend, dancing in celebration, refusing to show emotionPhantom of the Opera:
Intricate lace, voices echoing in cavernous spaces, footprints in freshly fallen snow, blood soaking through black suits, winding cursive on parchment, biting the locket your father gave you, the feeling of being in an inescapable trance, smelling roses but not knowing where they are, candles that have burned outRent:
Screaming and not being heard, wearing clothes despite the holes, clutching the arms of the guy you think you might love, the feeling of weakness overtaking you, going to parties for the free food, reclining on a ratty couch and laughing until you cry, being able to speak three languages and barely using one, knowing someone who knows someone who knows someone
For the 75th anniversary production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, she loves her and he loves him!
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma! was revived by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with LGBT+ Casting. “This revival made the musical’s primary romantic couple, Laurey and Curly, lesbians. It made the comic sidekick couple, Will Parker and Ado Annie, gay men (with “Annie” renamed “Andy”). It’s not just the two romantic couples in the show who have been reimagined. Laurey’s starchy yet sometimes playful Aunt Eller will be a transgender woman (portrayed by a transgender female performer). Ali Hakim will be a bisexual man who has a great fling with Ado Andy, but winds up married to a young bi woman named Gertie Cummings (who also fell in love with Curly). The director, Bill Rauch, felt Jud needed to stay a troubled straight man who, with no changes to the book, is angry that Laurey prefers a woman instead of him. “We wanted also to make sure that the world was not just LGBTQ-inclusive, but that it was clear that this was a community that was thriving, because there are straight allies. They are choosing in this small rural corner of Oklahoma to make a community that is inclusive and that is loving.””
Major changes to a show must be approved by the copyright holder. "Ted Chapin protects the catalog of Rodgers and Hammerstein with great ferocity, and at the same time, he understands the way great classics remain relevant is through thoughtful expansion and reinvention and experiment. So, I was really, really honored — not only to get the permission in general, but the fact that this is the 75th anniversary of ‘Oklahoma!‘
The story of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning Oklahoma! centers around Laurey and Curly, who are in love but are too stubborn to admit it to one another. A troubled farmhand, Jud, will do everything in his power to make Laurey fall in love with him instead. "I think this casting really excels in the love song ‘People Will Say We’re In Love,’ a beautiful love song that Laurey and Curly share, but their fear that people will say we’re in love takes on a completely different resonance and a completely different depth when it’s sung by two women, and the courage that it takes for these two people then, you know, finally when they sing, ‘Let people say we’re in love.’ The audience just cries and cheers, because it’s an affirmation in a completely different way.
Sources: x / x / x ll Official Production Page
The amis as theatre kids
Courfeyrac: The cute funny guy that gets most of the leads and everyone has had a crush on at some point
Grantaire: he likes to act but always ends up on tech because no one is as good as him and the drama teacher totally depends on his tech skill
Marius: only signed up because his friends made him but ended up really liking it
Feuilly: thinks acting is really cool but doesn’t have enough time because of all his jobs so he always asks to be a small part
Bahorel: wanted to join since forever but always chose sports over theatre, but decided to finally do a show senior year
Combeferre: The best stage manager anyone could ask for. The cast will circle him and chant “combeferre’s in charge” before every performance and write #combeferreisincharge on everything
Bossuet: always gets the character roles and needs extra supervision with his props because he will probably break them
Joly: hes the kid who always has tea and cough drops and he makes sure everyone is drinking lots of water
Jehan: plans the cast parties and also helps out with costumes
Enjolras: turns out to be an amazing dancer and is dance captain and helps out the teacher with choreo. At first everyone thinks he’s full of himself and then they realize nope he’s just confident- he really is better than all of us
Cosette: has the voice of an angel and gets most of the lead roles but she’s so nice that no one can be too jealous
Eponine: started doing tech because of grantaire, stayed because she has a huge crush on cosette
Musichetta: does all the hair and makeup designs
Musicals to help you with history class!
So I’m back at it with a text post you didn’t know you needed!
School is coming up and let’s face it, musicals are way more interesting than teachers rambling, power points, note taking, etc. So I’m here to maybe help you with that!
If I forgot any please let me know because most of these I don’t listen to but now that I’m finally taking a history course my junior year I thought I’d help others that are struggling.
1500 // Two men are imprisoned for foreclosing a monastery by the Spanish Inquisition: Man of La Mancha
1590 // French Village Life: Martin Guerre
1776 // The signing of the Declaration of Independence: 1776
1776 // The Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin’s foreign adventure to form an alliance: Ben Franklin in Paris
1789 // The French Monarchs being taken to the guillotine (French Revolution): 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille
1792 // The first 100 years in The White House: A White House Cantata (or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue)
1793 // The French Revolution: Scarlett Pimpernel
1755-1804 // Alexander Hamilton, a determined founding father who never stopped: Hamilton
fun fact: he’s my first cousin eight times removed1804-1806 // The exploration of The Louisiana Purchase: Adventures of Lewis and Clark
1812 // The French Invasion on Russia (this is also based off the novel War and Peace): Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812
1832 // June Rebellion or The Paris Uprising: Les Misérables
1767-1845 // Andrew Jackson, the American “Hitler”: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
1853 // The westernization of Japan: Pacific Overtures
1861-1865 // The American Civil War: The Civil War
1865 // Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Assassins
1871 // This is about the 72 days that workers governed France: Paris Commune
1881 // Assassination of James A. Garfield: Assassins
1893 // This covers the trial of Lizzie Borden, a Massachusetts girl accused of murdering her father and stepmom with an axe: Lizzie the Musical
1893 // New Zealand was the first country to allow women to vote, thanks to Kate Sheppard: That Bloody Woman
1899 // The Newstrike in New York against Joseph Pulitzer and William Hearst: Newsies
1900 // This musical is very informative when it comes to immigration racial tensions at the turn of the 20th century (also includes known historical figures, e.g. Harry Houdini, Booker T. Washington, and Emma Goldman): Ragtime
1904 // A Jewish family in Imperial Russia who faces struggling with their traditions and the Tsar forcing them out of their village: Fiddler on the Roof
1912 // The sinking of the Titanic on it’s first voyage: Titanic
1913 // The KKK and Anti-Defamation League: Parade
1914-1918 // A family and their struggles and triumphs during World War I: Oh! What a Lovely War
1924 // The trials of two women, Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, accused of killing their significant others: Chicago
1925 // Cave explorer, Floyd Collins, and his cave exploring adventures: Floyd Collins
1860-1926 // Annie Oakley, prize-winning sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West: Annie, Get Your Gun
1905 // This musical is about Rasputin and the fall of the Russian Empire: Beardo
1907-1927 // The daughter of many conspiracy theories, and of Tsar Nicholas II, who watched the Russian Empire fall: Anastasia
(the musical itself isn’t very factual, but if you enjoy listening to it, you’ll definitely enjoy the history and hard truths of the Romanov family)
1931 // The Scottsboro Trial, which created two rights for criminal defendents: The Scottsboro Boys
1931 // Night club setting, but gives you an overall Nazi Germany feel, and includes one Jewish character: Cabaret
1867-1932 // The life of Margaret Brown, a brave woman who survived the sinking of the Titanic: The Unsinkable Molly Brown
1932-1934 // Bonnie and Clyde, two criminals that traveled and murdered people during The Great Depression: Bonnie & Clyde
1942 // A Japanese family is removed from their home and are moved to a Japanese-American internment camp: Allegiance
1945 // Following the end of World War II, this musical shows the reality of loss and PTSD that we tend to not talk about: Bandstand
1939-1945 // A story of a Jewish internment camp in Czechoslovakia: Signs of Life
1924-1950 // Tells the story of a Jewish couple (Kurt Weill & Lotte Lenya) as World War II begins: LoveMusik
1946-1952 // First Lady of Argentina, Eva Perón: Evita
1962 // American Civil Rights movement, with talks about segregation in schools and on TV: Hairspray
1963 // Assassination of John F. Kennedy: Assassins
1975 // Racism, colonialism, vietnam war, but is also problematic: Miss Saigon
1979-1981 // A musical that mixes Yiddish Americans and the AID crisis that shows the heavy struggles small families can have: Falsettos
1984-1985 // The coal miner’s strike of England with some mentions of Margaret Thatcher: Billy Elliot
2001 // 9-11 Attacks: Come From Away
Please feel free to message me or comment one I missed and I will gladly edit it!
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