The national touring company of "Les Miserables" has become a Utah theater phenomenon. Each day during this opening week, the Deseret News will take a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of producing the well-loved musical while managing personal lives.
A computer sitting just out of view on the stage of "Les Miserables" controls the massive turntable that is the heart of the show's unique staging effects. Cast members know when the computer is down because the turntable's starts and stops are not as smooth as when it is being controlled electronically.Off stage, technology has a big impact on the traveling company members as well.
"Everybody in the orchestra has a cell phone and a laptop," said Bountiful native Craig Casper, who plays keyboards in the orchestra. A pre-show ritual for orchestra members is making sure their phone ringers are turned off when they enter the orchestra pit.
People calling Casper at his New York apartment are automatically forwarded to his cell phone. "A lot of the time they have no idea I'm not in New York." He uses his laptop to swap computer files with his desktop PC at home and does all of his banking, bill paying and taxes online.
The Broadway touring company, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in December, can spend six months in one place, but more frequently moves from city to city every few weeks. Company managers scout out accommodations for the cast and crew, but many in the company prefer the "on-my-own" plan, using the Internet to find their own hotels, apartments and other lifestyle amenities.
"I like to find my own accommodations," Casper said. "I use the Net to find out about a city. When I get there, I don't have to spend a lot of time finding out what's there." In smaller communities, Casper shops online if he needs something he can't buy in town. He recently used the Web to place an overnight-delivery order for cheesecake from a favorite New York deli "because I was a little homesick -- and just because I could."
Imagining the daily routine without his electronic assistants is unsavory. "The thought reminds me of when our first microwave broke and we had to figure out how to boil water."
The on-stage performers have similar technology essentials.
"My cell phone is my link to my mom and my family, my friends back home," said Georgia native Trent Blanton, who plays the roles of Bamatabois and Grantaire. "I use e-mail, but I prefer the phone." He bought a laptop when he joined the tour in July, but it hasn't yet become a portal to the virtual world. "It's diversionary. Most of the time it is a very expensive toy."
The fact that laptops are so pervasive in the company's social culture makes it easy to keep the technology functional on the road. "Everybody is helpful," Blanton said. There are plenty of technology smarts among the company in the event a computer breaks down or has a software problem. "We have our computer consultants in the show, and there are a couple of computer majors on board."
Technology is often the focus of conversation on buses that shuttle the cast between hotels and the theater. If somebody's cell phone isn't working, chances are good somebody else on the bus has already dealt with the problem and knows how to take care of it.
"The Les Mis company could actually be a spokesman for Nokia and AT&T, we have so many 1400-minute plans," said Kevin Early, who plays Enjolras and pulled off a wedding last month -- his own -- by making many of the arrangements while he was traveling. Julie Ann Emery, his wife, did a lot of the legwork in the planning. "I made a lot of the phone calls, because that was the thing I could do on the road."
Even the four children in the cast and their tutor, Chris Collins, rely on laptops to expand their access to educational materials. Collins also packs a digital camera with him and builds online scrapbooks of his experience.
Fans of the show can get tour information and sign up for e-mail lists at the official company Web site, http://www.lesmis.com, where producers also post schedule and ticket information, audition notices and, of course, a gift shop for show memorabilia.
Unofficial Les Mis fan sites abound. "Ensemble members deserve special recognition, in my opinion," said high school senior Ami McCain. "I had ideas of what I would have liked to see more of, so I decided to create my own page."
Heather Alina named her site "Cosette's Cafe" after the trademark character in the show. She sometimes regrets the name when e-mail sent to her begins with "Dear Cosette . . . ."