When the national touring company of "Les Miserables" first came to Salt Lake City six years ago, a former Brigham Young University homecoming queen - Candese Marchese - had the featured role of Eponine.
Since then "Les Miz" has become Utah's most popular Broadway touring musical, seen by more than 150,000 patrons and running more than nine weeks during its first three stopovers (two weeks in 1989, four in 1991 and three more weeks in 1992).Another 64,000 people will see it during another three-week run, Wednesday, Aug. 16, through Sept. 10 at the Capitol Theatre - and a former BYU student, Christeena Michelle Riggs, will be joining the cast toward the end of the run as part of the ensemble and understudy for the roles of Eponine and Cosette.
Two associated events set this fourth "Les Miz" stopover from the others:
- Auditions for adults and children for both the Broadway and national touring companies of the show.
- "Beyond the Barricade," a variety show, auction and AIDS benefit featuring cast members on Sunday evening, Aug. 27, at 8 p.m. at the Off Broadway Theatre, 272 S. Main.
(One of the previous companies did have an AIDS benefit, but due to time constraints, it was held following a regular "Les Miz" performance. It didn't begin until about midnight and was billed as "The Show After the Show.")
This year's benefit will be at a much earlier - and more accessible - hour.
Richard Jay-Alexander, who is the associate director and executive producer for both the Broadway and North American pro-ductions of "Les Miserables," will be in Salt Lake City to supervise the auditions and co-host the benefit (with casting director Ron LaRosa).
The last time Jay-Alexander visited Salt Lake City was about 20 years ago when he drove through after graduating from school.
"I've wanted to come back for a million reasons," he said during a telephone interview this week from his office at Cameron Mackintosh Inc. in New York City.
One of those reasons is the overwhelming response that Salt Lake theatergoers have whenever tickets for "Les Miserables" go on sale.
"The show sells out faster in Salt Lake than any other city," Jay-Alexander noted.
Another reason, of course, is the auditions.
"We've done auditions in every major city and it will be interesting to see the talent available in Salt Lake," he said, emphasizing that "these auditions are for real. I am very aware that many times people have dreams of becoming Broadway performers, but the adventure and the commitment of going to New York or Los Angeles is too risky. By holding auditions in various areas, we have an opportunity to help launch careers and help people get that validation that they actually have talent."
Few if any other productions are able to take their auditions "on the road" - mostly because few musicals have the incredible longevity that "Les Miserables" has enjoyed. Most touring shows run for a couple of years, then peter out. But "Les Miz" just seems to go on and on with no end in sight.
And, with both the Broadway company and one national touring troupe still going strong, Jay-Alexander is faced with replenishing talent in the large casts. He also likes to catch performances on the road and do some extra rehearsing when the show needs freshening up.
"Christeena was interesting," JayAlexander said, describing the former Utah actress's auditioning experience.
"She had been performing in a musical revue in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and came to Nashville for the auditions. She was one of the most talented girls I have seen in the past 10 years. Then she had to stay overnight for a callback, and she got in trouble (with the Myrtle Beach show) for that.
"I saw her pacing up and down in the hallway, and she didn't want to be unprofessional, but she took a risk, and it's hard to do that because our parents have always taught us to grow up to be secure and do the right thing."
During an interview about half an hour earlier with Riggs, the actress noted that she did, indeed, have trouble with the producers of the show in Myrtle Beach.
Because the auditions ran long and her callback audition, she missed her flight - and two performances. She called her producers and explained her predicament, but she was suspended for three days without pay and also had her salary docked. On top of that, her roommate kicked her out of their apartment, and she had to find another place to live.
She sang "On My Own" and some other selections from the show.
Then, on July 27, she got a telephone call from the company's offices in New York with a firm job offer.
One concession she'll have to make in joining the "Les Miserables" ensemble is that the currently blond actress will have to dye her hair brown. There are no blondes in "Les Miserables."
"But I'm still very elated," Riggs said. "It has always been a dream of mine to be in a wonderful touring company. I waited for the contract to arrive in the mail. I signed it, mailed it back and turned in my resignation that same day."
Riggs had one piece of advice for those planning to audition in Salt Lake.
Be confident. Don't be afraid.
"Have the confidence to be what you want to be, then follow that dream," she said. "I wasn't nervous, and I gave it all that I had."
Jay-Alexander will be in Salt Lake City in time to rehearse new cast members on Aug. 22, and Riggs will have her first performance with the company on Sept. 5.
"I've worked for Cameron Mackintosh for 11 years, and `Les Miz' is in its ninth year on Broadway. I do other things, but the big turn-on is feeding new talent into the show.
"The power of the show is very enduring," Jay-Alexander said. "It's a powerful piece, and when the history books are written this will go down as being the greatest musical of all time. It's always fascinating to watch. The music is bone-chilling, and it's just a great story with lots of wonderful characters."
"Salt Lake is the place where we get the most mail. People there seem to be very sensitive to the prostitution scenes or anything that might be slightly profane, and I don't take it lightly nor do I make fun of it.
"But I do answer all those letters and explain that, look, this is a slice of life. You can't have one side without the other. I don't promote anything in particular. What I do is promote the ultimate message of the piece.
"There is a downward spiral in the food chain of that piece and in the way people see it. If you were to discuss the show religiously, it becomes very, very clear that Javert has sort of an Old Testament, unforgiving, punishing, black-and-white god kind of belief, but Jean Valjean is much more New Testament - you know, changing and forgiving. And the Thenardiers are basically . . . atheists who don't believe in anything except what they can see and touch and sell.
"Trevor and John (co-directors/adapters Trevor Nunn and John Caird) never wanted to be offensive with the piece, and they wanted to avoid the issue of religion altogether, but you can't - it's on every page of the novel. And that's the beauty of the piece."
- IN SHORT SUPPLY - A very limited number of tickets remain for the 32-performance run of "Les Miserables," opening Wednesday evening, Aug. 16, at the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, and continuing through Sunday, Sept. 10.
Curtain is 7:30 each evening, with no performances on Mondays and no evening shows on Aug. 27 and Sept. 3 and 10.
Matinees are at 2 p.m. on Aug. 17, 19, 20 and 25-27 and Sept. 1-3 and 8-10. To check on ticket availability, call the Captiol Theatre's ArtTix box office at 355-2787.