• the217
• Stage
• Students run the show

This weekend, the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company, a non-profit community theater organization, will present Les Misérables Student Edition in its fourth annual all-student production. The student edition, available to casts younger than 19 years of age, is essentially the same as the original production, with a few minor edits for length and unsuitable content.

I paid a visit to the Busey Center in Urbana, where the cast has been rehearsing four nights a week for the past six weeks. The CUTC office was bustling with managers and producers, many of whom have full-time jobs during the week and volunteer for the company out of a love for theater. After catching a peek at the cast rehearsal in the adjacent room, I sat down with production assistant Becky Wauthier.

When the CUTC first began its student productions four years ago, Les Misérables was performed. “From a student’s perspective, they love it,” Wauthier explained. “There are so many chorus numbers, and we can get so many students involved. And when you listen to the music, it just kind of carries you away.” Although most of the participants are in high school, there are cast members of all ages, some as young as eight years old.

The cast is comprised of 82 members from 31 area schools. Around 180 students came out during auditions. “It’s just amazing, the (audition) process. We have to make sure that we match up good partners because it’s not just pure talent, it’s getting a mix of the right cast so that it melds really well,” Wauthier said. The students have been getting involved in the production as well, helping out with props and set design. “We focus one production on students in the summer to help them learn the business and professionalism,” Wauthier explained.

John Tilford, director of the production, is also impressed with all that the students have been learning. “Educational theater is important to me, and what these young people have accomplished since May deserves to be recognized and applauded,” Tilford said. Tilford encourages people in the community to support programs such as CUTC’s student production and similar performing arts programs in local schools.

Les Misérables will be at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Virginia Theatre Box Office.