Les Miserables comes to Rossendale.
Pupils and staff at Bacup
and Rawtenstall Grammar School are working hard
as they put the finishing touches to their November production
of Les Miserables (Student Edition), Boublil and Schonberg’s
adaptation of Victor Hugo’s outstanding novel.
“I had to sit down very quickly
when I found out we had decided to stage Les
Miserables” said Hannah
Strickland, one of the production team. “It’s
such a big musical, far more ambitious than anything
we’d ever done before”.
Auditions began last June, and all
concerns were dispelled immediately. Jo
Matthews, head of Music, said “Some
of the auditions were so powerful and the pupils sang
with such passion; even then we were moved to tears at
the beauty of the performances”.
Directing the show is a fairly new
member of staff at the Grammar school- Martin
Neve, who comes with a strong theatrical
pedigree. Prior to teaching, Martin spent a number of
years performing in the West End theatres of London,
and he comes to the show with a very clear directorial
vision. “I learned very early on that the best
performances come when you inhabit the character you
are playing. I’m pushing our students, just as
I was pushed in the West End, to ‘live’ the
part. Our students are amazing – they respond so
quickly and follow my direction so well.”
“We are in an unusual situation
at BRGS”, said Susan
Kennedy, also on the production team. “We
don’t have any specific performance area – our
school hall has 10 classrooms off it, and it is used
daily for assemblies and for pupils to congregate during
breaks. The head has been great in allowing us to transform
it for the show – we’re importing tiered
seating and draping the entire hall to turn it into a
theatre. It will cause a disruption to normal school
life, but I’m sure staff and pupils will put up
with it for the sake of the show.”
Rehearsals have been taking place
until 6 pm each evening after school, with a number of
weekend rehearsals slotted in over the next few weeks. Steve
Mercer, a music teacher at BRGS says, “I
think my fingers know which piano keys to hit even before
I read the music. School days seem to be very long these
days – but the enthusiasm of our students keeps
us all going.”
Les Miserables runs
for four nights at BRGS,
opening on Wednesday
28th November until
Saturday, 1st
December.
Showtime is 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £8 for adults, £6
for concessions and go on sale on November 1st. Tickets
may be obtained
from Michelle Owen at the BRGS Box
Office, Glen Road, Waterfoot.
(if purchasing, please
make cheques payable to BRGS).
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