Seamus Gillis plays Valjean in Les Miserables. Photo by Jennifer Clark
The Sentinel talked with six of the student actors in Les Miserables, which the Honeoye Falls-Lima High School presents as its musical this week, during a rehearsal a week ago. Following is an edited version of interviews with Seamus Gillis (who plays Jean Valjean), Will Tomaszewski (Javert), Sydney Kreidler (Fantine), Molly Connors (Cosette), Aidan Goold (Enjolras) and Kendall Towner (Madame Thenardier). All six are seniors.
The show is Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday March 19 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the District Auditorium at the HF-L Middle School on Quaker Meeting House Road.
Seamus Gillis (Valjean)
How does this role differ from your role in The Addams Family, particularly in terms of preparation?
Gillis: Freshman year, Lucas Beineke the character I played in The Addams Family, was very immature. He was around the same age that I am now and he was lovestruck. It was a very fun role for me because I didn’t have too many songs where I had to solo. I was really able to have fun and it was a very loose performance and I was able to have a wider range of emotions. For Valjean, I have to have the same amount of emotions but in a much more mature setting. Valjean has been a prisoner for 19 years and he’s seen a lot of bad stuff. It’s a lot more vocally intense; there’s a lot more songs and a lot harder songs. It’s a lot more difficult. Preparation-wise, I’ve definitely had to focus on my singing more than my acting but the acting comes from the singing. I find with this music, because it is just so intense and so difficult that when the singing comes, it’s impossible to get it just perfect without the acting.
What have you liked about the three different roles you have had since you were Willie Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in eighth grade, Lucas Beineke in Addams Family as a freshman and this role?
Gillis: I’ll start with Willie Wonka. Willie Wonka was a very fun performance for me. I got to let go on stage. It was very fun, I felt like I really fit with the character. I loved the story; I’ve been watching Charlie and Chocolate Factory since I was a little kid so that was very fun, very energetic and an all around great show for me.
Lucas Beineke, that was pretty terrifying because I was a freshman and I got a huge role in the school musical. But, one thing that was really helpful for me was the other performers. They were all very kind, very welcoming, very supportive and that was really nice. I have been watching The Addams Family since I was a little kid.
For Jean Valjean, I am least familiar with Les Mis compared with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Addams Family but I did take French for a few years so I know a little bit about the French Revolution. We watched Les Mis in French class. I really enjoy Jean Valjean just because of how challenging, how emotional and how much story there is in this musical. It’s very, very heartfelt, very sad but it’s a very good story.
What was it about Valjean that drew you to wanting to portray this character?
Gillis: Part of what I like about Valjean is his ability to change and I find that I lack that. I’m a very steadfast person, I don’t like change. It’s not part of who I am. But, for Valjean that’s his entire character. The entire premise of Les Mis is that Valjean can change. That’s the entire reason for the story, so that was pretty interesting for me. I was like, ‘hey, this is something I’m not; what happens if I try to take that on. That was one of the main focuses for me as well as the vocally challenging part of Valjean.
Will Tomaszewski (Javert)
Tell us about the role of Javert and how you approached it as opposed to your roles in other shows?
Tomaszewski: The main point of Javert is pretty much chasing down Jean Valjean. Most of his interaction is with him and he has a little with Enjolras. I think it’s a lot different than the one role that comes to my mind the most, which is my favorite, Grandpa Joe. Grandpa Joe is more caring for Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Javert pretty much stays true to himself the whole time and has a goal in mind to be constantly after this guy. He’s kind of portrayed as being mean, but I think in reality, he’s just staying true to his job, to his task and what he thinks is right.
How do you view the character of Javert?
Tomaszewski: I think he’s really strong and true to himself. I guess ‘mean’ would be one way to put it, but it’s not exactly mean. I think he’s a product of his time. I think I feel sympathy for both Javert and Valjean because of their perspective of what’s happened to them. I think in the movie, the role is a little bit darker. I’m trying to make it more like combating Jean Valjean, almost like rivaling him.
Your passion for music, both instrumentally and vocally, is that something you’re thinking of pursuing beyond high school?
Tomaszewski: I was inspired by my parents and my brothers. I have a very musical family; I’m very fortunate. I’m planning on majoring in music in college and minoring in statistics. I definitely want to keep music as part of my life because it’s been pretty much all my extracurricular activities for high school and I just love it.
Sydney Kreidler (Fantine)
What was it about the role that drew you to the role of Fantine in the first place?
Kreidler: I love how misunderstood she is and then how she kind of surprises everyone. She is a factory worker who is just trying to do everything she can to care for her daughter. She’s goes through all of these heartfelt challenges and then she finally finds someone to care for her child when she passes away. It’s just a very heartfelt role that I feel very attached to.
Tell us about your roles in other shows and what does it mean to be on the stage again?
Kreidler: I was not at this school my freshman year. I was in a role in a show that my middle school did. Then I took a break from performing. I moved up here last year and did Broadway Unmasked. I am super excited because I really like to perform and I love to sing. So, I am just excited that COVID finally is going to give us a break and we don’t have to wear masks onstage. It’s just really nice that we can get an actual performance for our last year of high school.
What was student reaction when you found out that the show was going to be Les Mis?
Kreidler: I was actually very excited because, my old school, the year that COVID came, was going to do Les Mis so I was super excited. I think everyone was really excited because there is just so many roles and there’s so much to every character.
Molly Connors (Cosette)
Tell us about your character in this show?
Connors: I play Cosette in Les Miserables and I couldn’t be happier. She’s a really, really fun character to play because Les Mis overall is very sad. She gets a lot of the lovey-dovey songs that are just incredibly beautiful and very meaningful to the show and allow an audience to get attached to the characters. So I feel her role is really important in adding all the other emotions, besides the intensity, to the show.
How did you approach portraying the role of Cosette?
Connors: Cosette is 17 and I am also 17. She is very naïve, has rarely been out of the house. She meets a boy and falls in love. When approaching the role, I have listened to different versions of people portraying her. That’s been helpful. David (Tuller), who plays Marius and I are such good friends that we know each other very well so it was very easy to do.
What does it mean to be back on stage?
Connors: It means everything. I was just thinking the other night about this being my last show and I realized, I am a senior in high school and my last time performing in a musical was freshman year. So out of the around 50 of us in the cast, a total of six or seven of us have actually performed a high school musical which is crazy. The cast excitement, the energy is just; I mean everything is new. Everything’s exciting. It’s really refreshing to be back. It’s exciting that we’re able to take off our masks for the show and share some wonderful music with everyone.
Aidan Goold (Enjolras)
Tell us a little about your character.
Goold: In my opinion, he’s a hero. He actually does have money in his family. He’s not one of the poor people yet he feels so passionate about fighting for freedom for everyone else and about treating people right and humanity that he puts himself at risk. It’s really hard, but fun to bring that courageousness to the show.
How does this differ from your role of Mal in The Addams Family and how you prepared for those other roles?
Goold: It’s definitely different from Mal because Mal was always with Alice who was portrayed by Raelyn Bovenzi. She was an amazing actor and it was really good having a mentor. This year, it’s a little different because I am a senior I have to be more of a leader with the others.
What does it mean to be back on stage as opposed to last year’s Broadway Unmasked?
Goold: Nothing is the same as performing in front of an actual audience so just going out there with the dark lights and having the applause afterward. There’s just a vibe, seeing the parking lot full and when you leave everyone talking about it. When it was online, it was nice to have a video and all, but when everyone goes to see it together, it seems like more like united, a unified thing.
Kendall Towner (Madame Thenardier)
Tell us a little bit about this role of Madame Thenardier and what drew you to the role?
Towner: She is one of the only kind of, like funnier roles, but also kind of a darker character. It’s a bit of a light-hearted part of the show so it’s exciting. Jason (Howard who plays Thenardier) and I practiced a lot on the accents and bringing a lighthearted part of the show into it, but not in a way where it is funny but just ironically funny. She’s not a great mom, she’s an innkeeper’s wife but we viewed them as we have to get a happier part of the show across but not too much.
How do you balance the comic aspect to the role with so much of the heavier emotion of the show?
Towner: We do have some heavy parts in it so it kind of ties it together and we bring it all together in the inn scene.
How different did you find preparing for this role from The Addams Family or Charlie in the Chocolate Factory when you were in eighth grade?
Towner: My Charlie in the Chocolate Factory role was actually very similar to this role, minus the dark part of it. I had a big German accent in that one and in this, I have kind of a mix so the preparation was similar with a loud accented character.
