Actress Jenny Latimer, from Orem, has much to look forward to when the national tour of "Les Miserables" sets up shop in Salt Lake City.
"I miss the mountains," Latimer said. "I just miss the scenery. I miss Cafe Rio!" I miss nature — Central Park's not the same."
Latimer plays the love-struck Cosette in the iconic musical and is excited to show her castmates all that Salt Lake City has to offer. "We'll probably hike Timpanogos. They want to hike and bike, get out in nature. But mostly, I'm excited to just be home. And I get to stay with my family.
"They weren't big theater people," she said about her family. "I had never seen a professional production of 'Les Mis.' But I've always loved the music."
She caught the acting bug in fourth grade. "My elementary school did a fourth-grade play every year; it was kind of a big to-do," she said. "They did 'Cinderella' my year, and they cast me as Cinderella, and I've loved it ever since."
She would perform in high school and later received a scholarship to BYU's theater program.
Theatergoers along the Wasatch Front know that Latimer is no stranger to playing young, French ingenues. She has starred as Belle in "Beauty and the Beast," Marguerite in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and Christine in Maury Yeston's "Phantom," directed by John Sweeney, at Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley City.
"Her acting is so impeccable," Sweeney said of her audition for "Phantom."
"I was in 'Phantom' with Kristin Chenoweth, years ago. But with Jenny's talent, it was so easy to picture her in the role. She is someone who could not only perform as Cosette in 'Les Mis,' but could turn around and play Ophelia in 'Hamlet.' "
Latimer would often call Sweeney from New York to get some insight and advice on upcoming auditions. "She was offered a part on a cruise line," he said. "And I told her, 'Don't do it — you're better than that. You're going to get something big. If you're out of the country for six months, you won't be able to audition. Stay in New York, and keep working at it.'
"It didn't take that long," Sweeney added. "I'm not at all surprised."
In less than a year after moving to New York, Latimer landed an audition for the 25th anniversary tour of the Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil musical.
"I was lucky enough to get an agent through the BYU showcase that we did out there, and I just started hitting the pavement and auditioning, getting up at 6 in the morning. I heard these auditions were coming up, and my agent submitted me for them."
After only one audition in front of the casting director, Latimer found herself at callbacks, standing in front of the show's creators: Schonberg, Boublil and producer Cameron Mackintosh.
"It was really overwhelming. I was petrified, but they were so lovely."
That was on a Friday. By Monday, she heard she was cast in the part. "The audition just went so well. It was one of those serendipitous moments, where you feel like it's meant to be."
Latimer and the rest of the cast were assigned to read the unabridged version of the large Victor Hugo classic tale of love, redemption and forgiveness set during the French June Rebellion.
A long-time favorite of theatergoers, especially in Salt Lake City, this version of Les Mis will be a bit different than you one you likely fell in love with.
"It's been received really well," she said. "But there is no turntable, and Cosette doesn't wear the black dress," she says with a chuckle. "Many people don't know that Victor Hugo was also a painter. We're using projections of his paintings. It's really beautiful; it's more vibrant.
"People ask me what I did to prepare for the role," she said. "And I fell in love during that time; that's as close as you can get to research. That's why I'm here in Scotland: I'm visiting him."
But Latimer will be back with the tour when the curtain opens at the Capitol Theatre. "I've had so many moments where it just feel so big," she said. "One minute, I'm performing in Orem, and now Schonberg and Mackintosh are having sessions with me. I just feel to grateful and overwhelmed and really blessed to be here.
"And I can't wait to come back to Utah and see all the people who have supported me, and I get to perform on my birthday."
If you go...
What: "Les Miserables," national tour
When: Wednesday-June 5
Where: Capitol Theatre
How much: $35-$67.50
Phone: 801-355-2787
Web: www.arttix.org
Email: ehansen@desnews.com