Meet the team behind Les Miserablés!
With the play hitting the theatres this coming October, we spoke to the directors behind the first amateur production of Les Miserablés in Asia.
Jerome De Silva - Director
Why Les Miserablés?
Well, it’s such a fabulous show and something I have wanted to do for a really long time. With Les Miserablés celebrating 25 years, we thought we would apply for the play rights and do the first amateur production in Asia.
You are doing a ‘21st century’ version of the play instead of the old version; why is that?
We went abroad to the States to see the Broadway show of Les Miserablés which was a real learning curve. The 21st century version is very different to the old version – there is no revolving stage. I really loved the old version and it’s something I would have liked to have done but the copyrights and the contract for the play insisted upon it being the 21st century version.
With Les Miserablés being one of the hardest Broadway shows to produce, what’s the most difficult part of directing the play?
Other than the singing (which is quite difficult!) I think the hardest part is getting the emotion of the play. I mean, it’s a risky play – there’s a lot of physical movement so the actors need to be physically fit and toned. And at the same time they need make sure the theatrics, the actions and the emotions are spot on. But I have to say, I have a great resource team as well as some great senior players who makes it quite easy for me.
You have several different actors playing the same role. Is it important that all of them act the same way?
Well, there are certain scenes which require some blocking and positioning to be the same. And there are certain iconic gestures that are vital to the story line. Those I would direct them to do in the exact same way. But other than that, I most definitely encourage my actors to play differently. They all bring in different personalities to the stage and I think that’s important.
Surein Wijeyeratne - Music Director
What’s the set list for Les Miserablés like?
Well, it’s an existing script that has been around for eons. The score for Les Miserablés has probably remained mostly unchanged for around 30 years or so. The music we use for this production is the original music. The score will give you some optional edits you can make but 99% of it remains unchanged. There’s around 15 big song numbers that people will know and the rest are small pieces that doesn’t involve much singing but overall the show will have around 39 songs.
How’s it like to train the cast? Especially to synchronise the singing with the choreography?
It’s pretty challenging. Unlike The Sound of Music or Lion King, there is no dialogue in between. It’s an end to end musical that’s longer than Phantom of the Opera and even Jesus Christ Superstar. Very little dialogue and more music. So when we did the rehearsals, we split it into 3. We rehearse the music 4 weeks before Jerome works on them. So by the time he comes to do the blocking and the positioning they already know the music and the little harmonies. We also rehearse independently – so we’ll do music rehearsals separately and work with the lead actors separately, and then in the weekend we will put it all together.
Did you get to put your own little twist into the score?
Not really. We kept to the original. I would say that the main twist comes from the performer. Each cast member will take the same music and give their own twist to the song. We have some very senior people here with vast experience and you will see them take a song and make even the simplest word magical.
Shanuki De Alwis - Director of Choreography
How did you do the choreography for Les Miserablés?
Actually, the choreography for this is very easy. I have little to do. A lot of the steps we use were taken off of the Broadway because we are trying to keep it as original as we can. So I did a lot of research and reference in 18th century dance. It’s not complicated at all. In fact we just started the choreography last week and the cast just picked it up!
What’s the hardest part of the job?
The hardest part is…. well, it’s usually when the cast doesn’t have much dance experience. It’s pretty hard to get them coordinated. It’s difficult to get the style right. But the best part is that the cast is pretty committed. And the play doesn’t really need trained professional dancers. There’s no need to look perfect. So it’s not as hard.
Interviewed by Panchali Illankoon
Photographs courtesy Andre Perera
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