Musical theatre star Peter Cousens said for a long time he didn't want to revisit Les Miserables. He played the student revolutionary Marius in more than 1500 performances of the original Australian production of the musical nearly 30 years ago, opposite Rob Guest as Jean Valjean. Later, he played 1500 performances as Raoul opposite Guest in the title role of The Phantom of the Opera.
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"I was very close to him," he said.
After Guest's sudden death in 2008, Cousens steered clear of Les Miserables. It was only in the past couple of years he began to sing the show's Bring Him Home in concert and when the last professional production was mounted he auditioned for Jean Valjean. The role was cast younger, so when Canberra's Free-Rain Productions approached him with an offer to play Jean Valjean in its upcoming Les Miserables he jumped at the chance.
"It's my first pro-am opportunity. I think it's a very healthy way to contribute to the theatre life of communities," he said.
He said he hoped to mentor members of the production formally and informally, drawing on his long years of experience in the industry.
Cousens said the musical Les Miserables - adapted from the novel by Victor Hugo - had been a huge international success because of its heart and its themes of hope and redemption as well as its tuneful score.
Les Miserables, which will open at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre in April, had its official launch at Teatro Vivaldi on Wednesday. Cousens and fellow performers Sam Ward (playing Marius), Stephanie MacLaine (Cosette) and Kirrah Amosa (Eponine) sang songs from the show accompanied by musical director Nicholas Griffin. The production will be directed by Cate Clelland and conducted by Ian McLean.
Ward, 23, graduated last year from the Victorian College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre. This was his first professional job since graduation and he was excited to land a lead role so quickly.
"Unless you're really lucky they often don't pop up for five or 10 years - it's good to be given the opportunity so soon out of university."
Ward said he heard about the production because his housemate in Melbourne, was in the same course and was from Queanbeyan.
"Free-Rain called him and asked him to audition and I was sitting next to him at the time and asked, 'Do you reckon I could submit a tape too?'"
Les Miserables is on at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre from April 4 to 22. Bookings: theq,net.au or 62856290.
