Les Miserables

Last Thursday, Hayley and I got the opportunity to go see the production of Les Miserables with our chorus class downtown. New Trier is putting on the show in March, so it was really incredible to be able to see a professional production of it. But while we were watching the show, something really stood out to us. The role of Jean Valjean, who is usually portrayed as a white man, was black in the show. We thought this really corresponded to what we were learning in class, especially with our talks about the civil rights movement.

In the show, Jean Valjean begins as an outcast. He is an ex convict, and though he is trying to get his life together, no one will help him because of his past. It was so interesting to us to see this role played by someone black, because because much like in the civil rights movement, the black character was an outcast and denied of certain freedoms because of his past. In the play, he was denied pay, food, shelter, and so much more simply because of his past in jail. But in the end, he overcomes and becomes very successful. However, he was not the only black actor in the cast. The role of Eponine was also played by an African American woman. This character as well is an outcast, a woman that nobody loves. It was interesting to make the connection that the two characters in the show acted by African American cast members were the two characters that were outcasted the most.