A bit of Broadway in Boardman
By Denise Dick
The summer stock theater is open to any actors age 19 or under.
BOARDMAN — Broadway returns to the Boardman Performing Arts Center stage this week.
Boardman Community Theatre’s summer stock will stage “Les Miserables” Thursday through Saturday at the center at the high school on Glenwood Avenue.
The production involves about 80 people including cast, orchestra and stage crew from eight different school districts. This marks the third year for summer stock.
“We have such a nice facility here and we wanted to extend it to the whole community,” said David Mullane II, a Boardman High School teacher and the show’s director.
Work to build the set, including retrofitting a 24-foot revolving stage, and rehearsals for the show started at the end of May.
“We have four weeks to rehearse, but we go all day,” Mullane said.
Rehearsals run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The voices of Tim Welsh, Brittany Myhal and Max Hanni, who portray Jean Valjean, Fantine and Javert, respectively, rang through the school building at a morning rehearsal last week.
“‘Les Miserables’ is really a redemption story,” said Tim, who will be a junior at Boardman next school year.
Jean Valjean, Tim’s character and the lead, is a petty thief who is released from prison and violates his parole. But he transforms from a greedy, selfish person to a person of loyalty and service, Tim said.
When Fantine, a factory worker, dies, Valjean vows to find and look after her daughter, Cosette. Javert, a police inspector and Hanni’s character, doggedly pursues him, Tim said.
“Javert is a very complex character,” said Hanni, a Youngstown State University student and 2007 Canfield High School graduate. “He’s a cop who’s following Jean Valjean.”
Some people may view Javert as a bad guy of the story, but Hanni understands him differently.
“He’s just the type of person who just does his job,” Hanni said. “He sees things as right or wrong, in black and white.”
Myhal, a 2007 Canfield graduate, and Hanni both performed in that school’s “Les Miserables” production a few years ago.
“I just love the show,” Myhal said.
The summer stock version, though, allows her something that her high school performance didn’t — the chance to perform with her younger sister.
“I’m four years older, so we weren’t in high school at the same time,” Myhal said. “It’s exciting to be able to work with my sister.”
Her sister, Amanda, who will be a sophomore at Canfield next school year, plays Eponine.
Participants in the summer stock productions may be no older than 19, and many are involved in other community theater work too. That includes the Youngstown Playhouse, Salem Community Theater, Victoria Players and the Oakland Theatre.
All those theater groups and Boardman Community Theater work together, Mullane said.
The play also features scenes depicting an insurrection mounted by young Parisian people who build barricades to fend off the military.
That meant construction of a barricade made of chairs, wooden wheels, tables and other furniture all stacked together.
“There’s about $40 worth of screws on there,” Mullane said.
“Les Miserables” was tapped as this year’s summer production because it’s a favorite of both Mullane and Jeannine Hodge, co-director.
Corporate sponsors include Phantom Fireworks, WFMJ and Mix 98.9, with additional support provided by Michael and Becky Myhal of Canfield.
The production includes the work of Glenn Sivak, construction director; Nick Opritza, technical director; Errol Kehrberg, musical director; Courtney Crossen, associate director; and Matt Liptak, design director.
“We always say we’re bringing Broadway to Boardman,” the director said. “We try to make it as close to it as we can.”
He believes some of the cast are ready for the big time.
“Brittany [Myhal] could go to New York right now,” Mullane said. “In this area, there is so much talent.”