The “Les Misérables” cast rehearses a scene.
By: K. Michelle Moran | Grosse Pointe Times | Published April 7, 2026
GROSSE POINTE WOODS — With its stirring themes of love, redemption and revolution, the drama “Les Misérables” has become one of the most popular musicals of the modern era.
So, there’s a great deal of buzz in the community with Grosse Pointe South High School mounting a production of the school version of “Les Misérables,” which will be staged at 7 p.m. April 23 and 24, and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 25, at the Christian A. Fenton Performing Arts Center at Grosse Pointe North High School in Grosse Pointe Woods.
Based on the acclaimed Victor Hugo novel of the same name, “Les Misérables” is set in France in the 1800s. It tells the story of a freed prisoner, Jean Valjean, trying to evade the clutches of the merciless Inspector Javert while he builds a new life for himself and takes in the daughter — Cosette — of a doomed factory worker, Fantine. As a young woman, Cosette falls in love with a dashing young revolutionary, Marius, but knows little about Valjean, the man who cared for her.
For aspiring songwriter Violet King, 17, of Grosse Pointe Farms, being in this show is a dream come true.
“I saw this show for the first time when I was in fourth grade,” said King, a senior, who plays Cosette. “Ever since I saw it, I’ve always wanted to be in it. … I used to always joke, if I had one show I could do my senior year, it would be this one. To be able to do my favorite show with my favorite people — it’s a bittersweet way to end the year.”
The show’s director, South English teacher Dan DeMarco, said the school last performed “Les Misérables” around 2008, so it’s been a generation since students have had the chance to do it.
Zach Neme, 18, of Grosse Pointe Farms, originally hoped to play Javert but was cast as Jean Valjean. He’s pleased with how things turned out in the end, though.
“I’m very happy with my role,” said Neme, a senior and aspiring premed student. “It’s certainly been a challenge, but it’s helping me grow into a better singer, a better actor, a better performer.”
On a recent afternoon, when they weren’t rehearsing onstage, cast members could be found scattered outside the auditorium doing homework. The cast has been rehearsing until about 8 p.m. each day, so keeping up with schoolwork is how the students spend every precious spare minute.
“We’re all very passionate about this show as well,” Neme said. “We dig into our characters and ask, ‘Why are we singing this song and why are we taking this action?’”
Phoebe Caine, 17, of Grosse Pointe Farms, is playing Eponine, who is secretly in love with Marius. The junior said she had done shows with Grosse Pointe Theatre’s Youth on Stage program, but this is her first performance with South.
“I did not know I was going to audition until three days before (auditions were held),” said Caine, who said her parents encouraged her to try out. She said she had never seen the show.
“We’re putting a lot of work into it,” Caine said. “It’s going to be an amazing show.”
Students have had to learn to hit their marks even though the stage isn’t always stationary.
“We’ve got a motorized working turntable,” DeMarco said. “That’s going to really enable us to do a lot with scene changes and transitions.”
Although this is the school version, DeMarco said the elements audiences know and love are all there; it has just been tightened up a bit — such as by removing a song verse here and there — to rein in the running time to less than two and a half hours.
There are about 100 students in the cast and crew, including roughly 15 middle schoolers, some of whom are the siblings of high school cast members. It’s a great opportunity for the younger students to hone their acting chops alongside the more experienced high schoolers, and show producer Kendra Caralis — a South social studies teacher — said the older students have really stepped up to mentor their younger peers.
Neme encouraged incoming South students and those who haven’t participated in the shows before to not be afraid to try out for a show.
“This has been a really wonderful experience,” Neme said. “I’ve made a lot of good friends. … We have open arms to everybody. A good deal of our ensemble just walked in and auditioned.”
For younger performers who find themselves getting nervous before they get on stage, Neme recommended a trick he uses: He said he reframes that anxiety as excitement.
DeMarco isn’t surprised people still flock to “Les Misérables.”
“Even though it’s a story of France in the 1800s, it’s just as relevant today, (with its) themes of wealth and poverty and injustice and people redeeming themselves,” DeMarco said. “I think every song has something a person can reflect on.”
Although people can purchase tickets at the door, DeMarco said they might be sold out by then, given the popularity of this show.
“I would buy them as soon as you can,” DeMarco said.
For tickets or more information, visit gpsouthchoir.org.