CANFIELD HIGH SCHOOL Students prepare for 'Les Miserables'

The musical director was impressed with the talent level for the production.
THE VINDICATOR
CANFIELD -- The drama students at Canfield High School have been rioting in France -- early 19th-century France, to be exact.
After 10 weeks of rehearsal, the school's production of "Les Miserables" will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. There also is a matinee at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Becky Heikkinen, leader of the musical's directing team, said the production of the Broadway smash was a huge undertaking for the students, staff and members of the Canton Players Guild, who also joined the efforts.
As well as being labor intensive, the production rights, set construction, extra lighting, costumes and other necessities added up to double the cost of a typical production.
"I don't even want to tell you what it cost," Heikkinen said.
Lots of talented students
Despite the enormity of the production, Heikkinen said that the directing team felt it needed to do something special to showcase the talent available in this year's drama program.
"This really is a very special junior/senior class," Heikkinen said. "I don't think we'll see another one like this in my lifetime."
After a competitive audition process, 58 vocally talented students were cast in the musical. Heikkinen said the judges were so impressed by the level of skill shown during auditions, three of the lead female roles were double cast.
Heikkinen said that typically high schools have trouble finding students willing to participate in drama programs. Canfield High, however, has had growing interest, with almost one in 10 students involved.
"We've had a couple of kids who are athletes or involved in other activities around the school that were interested in drama," Heikkinen said. "The other kids saw that it wasn't just 'drama' kids doing it."
The level of student participation at Canfield also has boosted performance attendance. Canfield's 943-seat auditorium has been sold out several times for recent productions and, according to Heikkinen, ticket sales are already "brisk" for "Les Miserables."
Ticket prices
Tickets cost $12 for adults; $8 for students and seniors. Heikkinen said that ticket prices, typically $10 and $5, had to be raised to offset the production costs.
Tickets are still available and will be sold the night of the show, she added.
Although "Les Miserables" is not yet available for professional groups to perform, a student version has been released for community theaters and high schools. Canfield High's production of the play is the first in the Mahoning Valley, Heikkinen said.
For the first time, the CHS drama department used outside designers to design and build the sets, and musicians from the University of Akron are joining Canfield students in the orchestra.