IVINS, UT—Casting is now complete for the eighth regional staging of Boublil and Schönberg’s Les Misérables. Veteran Broadway actor Timothy Warmen leads the cast as Jean Valjean in the production scheduled to begin performances June 10 at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in the popular southern Utah resort area of Ivins, near St. George.
The ever-popular Les Misérables will play in repertory with The Sound of Music as part of the outdoor venue’s summer “Broadway in the Desert” series. Both shows play in repertory Monday through Saturday, June 13 – August 18. Les Misérables has continued performance dates through October 18, alternating with Big River.
Warmen leads a company of forty-seven actors as the aforementioned Valjean in the Boublil & Schönberg musical. He also plays the role of Captain von Trapp in a production of The Sound of Music that substitutes the Swiss Alps for the red rock hills of southern Utah. The actor’s numerous Broadway credits include The Who’s Tommy, Steel Pier, Side Show, Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll & Hyde, and Dance of the Vampires.
Asked about the opportunity to play these two very demanding and “meaty” roles, Warmen says these characters mirror some of the challenges he’s faced in his own life. “I think everybody can relate to making a big change in their lives for the better,” he says. “Valjean is very angry at the lack of humanity in the world. When he gets out of jail he’s angry, but when he receives kindness it awakens him and forces him to reassess himself.”
Mindy Smoot Robbins, a veteran of the Les Misérables national tour, returns to Tuacahn after playing Eliza Doolittle in last year’s production of My Fair Lady—albeit to play the role of Maria in The Sound of Music. She and Warmen will be joined on stage by James Zannelli as Thenardier (Les Miz)/Max Detweiler (The Sound of Music), Heidi Anderson as Mme. Thenardier/The Mother Abbess, and Harold Barnard II as Inspector Javert/Herr Zeller.
Other members of the cast include Stacie Bono (Fantine), Melinda Lockwood DeBirk (Cosette), Tess Ferrell (Liesl), Kevin Goertzen (Enjolras), Emily Perucca (Eponine), and John Preator (Marius/Rolf).
The ensemble and children include Andrew Ainsworth, Ryan Anderson, Ben Atkin, J Michael Bailey, Crystal Bates, Matthew Flynn Bellows, Clotile Bonner, Cameron Bronson, Dane Camp, Elizabeth Charles, Aubree Christensen, Conor Christensen, Emeline Christensen, Avynlee Dahl, Alex DeBirk, Lauren Doxey, Tamari Dunbar, Jan Broberg Felt, Tess Ferrell, Ali Fisher, Vanessa Goertzen, Katie Hinton, Jamie Lee Holm, Janika Jensen, Rick Jensen, Cynthia Klumpp, Caroline Labrum, Tazia Murie, Shawn Perucca, Brodie Perry, Katie Powell, Eddy Schumacher, Ellie Smith, Guy Smith, Kyle Turman, Bradin Wilhelmsen, and Luke Yellin.
Scott S. Anderson, Tuacahn’s Artistic Director helms Les Misérables and Rodger Sorensen, chair of the Dept. of Theatre and Media Arts at Brigham Young University helms The Sound of Music. Derryl Yeager, a veteran of the Broadway national tours of Cats, Dreamgirls, and A Chorus Line serves as co-director of Les Misérables and provides musical staging for both productions.
The design team includes Doug Ellis (scenery), John Titensor and Wilma Mickler-Sears (costumes), Joseph L. Eddy (lights), Chris Diamontides (wigs), David Swenson (sound), Jeff Martin (Associate Producer), and Monica Dickhens (PSM).
For more information and tickets call (800) 746-9882 or visit www.tuacahn.org.
