Amateur Budget, Professional Attitude At Franklin Theatre Company's 'Les Miz'

In early 1990, my parents forced 11-year-old me, kicking and screaming,  to go see Les Miserables at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco.  It was no small feat on their part.

Later that same year, 12-year-old me forced my parents to take me to go see Les Miserables at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco.  There was no kicking and screaming this time around.

Just to be clear, I was not the least bit musically inclined, nor was I of the dramatic persuasion (the last time I acted was a forgettable performance as Eeyore in a second-grade production of House at Pooh Corner), but Lez Miz captured my imagination.

I recently was moved to the brink of tears when I happened to stumble upon the 25th anniversary production playing on PBS.  (But if you tell anybody I'll deny it.)

In my mind, there are two kinds of musicals: Les Miz and everything else.

So it was with great interest that I headed over to Franklin High School on Tuesday afternoon to look in on one of Franklin Theatre Company's final dress rehearsals before opening night of their production of, you guessed it, Les Miserables School Edition.

How would a high-school theater company be able to pull off such a huge undertaking? 

The Broadway production of Les Miz has 101 cast and crew involved in every performance, entailing 392 costumes, 1,782 items of clothing and 31 wigs.

The Franklin Theatre Company production is not far behind, on all counts.

Led by co-directors Lisa Sandoval (28 years teaching, including directing more than 70 shows) and Caitlin Keskeys (FTC alum and student teacher), the production has a staff of more than two dozen and a huge crew backing them up.

Sandoval fell in love with the Victor Hugo novel in high school, saw the musical three times on Broadway and has been hoping to tackle it herself ever since catching the Woodcreek High version in 2002.  She said of the endeavor, "It's been more challenging than you can possibly imagine."

The stars of the show are the 48 student actors and actresses, most of whom are in high school, with a handful of junior-high-schoolers mixed in and even a fourth-grader, Kate Brugger, playing young Cosette.

Said vocal director Colleen Hogge, "The amazing thing is having this much vocal talent in one school."

Keskeys echoed the sentiment a moment later: "It's been really great. This is the most talented group of high-school students that I've ever worked with."

I was privy to part of a dress rehearsal of the second act, and I concur. The students have an inordinate amount of talent. 

Krizzia Manlangit, as Eponine, was particularly stunning.  Her "On My Own" solo gave me goose bumps. Though—full disclosure—that song always gets me.

This being a rehearsal, there were some missteps and missed notes, but not nearly as many as you might expect.  And none of the mistakes were as glaring as the "Nick Jonas as Marius" gaffe in the 25th anniversary Broadway production. 

Also of note is the set. It is extremely professional, with the barricade fantastically reminiscent of the one I remember from the Curran those many years ago, just on a smaller scale.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the full orchestra, which provides the framework for the young vocalists. Music Director Matthew Mackey has been challenged as he prepares his students to have the endurance for a two-hour show of constant singing. He says they're ready.  

"People can expect a first-class production," he said. "They can expect to be blown away by the high level of acting, singing and music."

I certainly was, and it was only a Tuesday night dress rehearsal.

The Franklin Theatre Company presents Les Miserables School Edition at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and March 24-26, with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturday and March 26, in the Franklin High School Black Box Theatre, 6400 Whitelock Parkway. Tickets are $10 for evening performances and $7 for matinees.