Torrey Pines Players wraps up successful ‘Les Misérables’ production, two more shows planned for spring

By Karen Billing

Principal players for 2010 production of Les Miserables: Julieanne Manalo as Cosette, Michael Hwang as Marius, Ling Jing as Fantine, Chang Young (Kevin) Kim as Jean Valjean, Edwin Kwon as Thenardier, Hana Pak as Eponine, Olivia Chomas as Madame Thenandier, Tucker Chambers as Thenandier. In back, Eric Hayes as Javert.

Torrey Pines High School theater teacher Marinee Payne decided that 2010 would be the year the Torrey Pines Players would perform her favorite shows— in the fall they presented “Arabian Nights” and this May they will do “Noises Off” and Neil Simons’ “Rumors.” But for the last few weeks, the school’s intimate black box theater was converted to revolutionary France for a production of one of her favorites, the classic musical “Les Misérables.”
“Some people thought that it was way too ambitious a project for the black box,” said Payne. “But we really tried to focus on the storyline of the characters.”
The production, which ran Feb. 17-27 and sold out every show in its last week, had no giant rotating barricades like the large-scale productions of “Les Mis,” but it had strong vocal performances and an 18-piece student orchestra on stage.
Payne doesn’t select shows knowing whether she has the students needed to pull it off, she picks a show and “opens the door to see who falls in.”
This year, a large crop of debut performers came in and impressed her.
“They’re magnificent,” she said of her cast. “They were so good I fell out of my chair in the tech booth. They’re so good that even during rehearsals, when they sang, I would cry.”
The play starred some actors who have been with Payne for four years, such as Eric Hayes, who convincingly plays the villain Javert, with his imposingly tall frame. But her cast was also comprised of several newbies in lead roles, such as senior Kevin Kim as Valjean.
Payne had seen him before when he played percussion in the orchestra on a past show, but she had no idea he could sing.
Kevin said he enjoyed the opportunity to sing on stage and be a part of the theater “family.”
“The songs have become my favorite musical numbers,” Kevin said of the “Les Mis” score.
Payne said another debut performer, junior Ling Jing as Fantine, was very quiet and unassuming until she heard her sing in her audition.
“I could not get over how phenomenal she was,” Payne said.
Ling, who takes voice lessons, had never been in a play before. She had fun playing Fantine, whose songs are filled with passion and emotion.
“Her emotions are really extreme so I really had to challenge myself to see how expressive I could be in telling her story,” Ling said.
As Cosette, Julianne Manalo also had to project emotion on stage. Off stage, she has had a great time working with her talented classmates.
“The whole cast is really close and it’s cool to be around people who have the same interest,” Julianne said.
No adults were involved in the creation of this play.
Students do everything, from lighting design (Chasen Sanford) to costume design (Katherine Ingersoll). Senior musical director Michael Dashefsky conducted an orchestra for his first time; Lexi Rivetti applied the makeup to make Olivia Chomus’ Madame Thenardier look as gaudy as possible.
Many students wore several hats on the tech crew, such as Maya Pilevesky, who was the videographer, painted scenery and was also on the costume crew.
“Our goal here in the visual and performing arts department is for everything to be student generated,” Payne said. “We (the teachers) are merely facilitators. Everything you see here is done by a kid and that’s what’s so cool.”
For more information about Torrey Pines Players and upcoming productions, visit www.tpplayers.com.