Camden Hills aims high with ‘Les Miserables’

ROCKPORT – Planning for this year’s Camden Hills Regional High School musical production began last spring, Brandon Koons remembers.

Auditions were held the second day of school in September, and a week later, rehearsals were in full swing.

Koons, 16, a senior from Camden, is helping shepherd the school’s production of “Les Miserables” through the home stretch. For the last four or five weeks, he has found himself in the school’s Strom Auditorium from the moment classes end in the afternoon until 10 p.m.

Just like a sports team that wins a state title, a quality musical drama production requires a tremendous commitment of time and energy from students. And if the Camden Hills production of “Les Mis” were a championship soccer team, Koons is the goaltender who preserves the win by backing up everyone else.

“Brandon is the man,” said Colin Stone, a 16-year-old junior from Rockport who plays the romantic lead. The praise is quickly seconded by a dozen other student actors, who have gathered at the 800-seat auditorium on Tuesday, a rare day off from rehearsal.

The play opened Nov. 7, and continues Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

“I’ve been doing this for three years now,” Koons said, referring to his work on the technical side of the school’s top-notch drama productions. And “Les Mis” is the most demanding yet.

“It’s really pushed the limits,” he said.

Though Koons is modest about his role, technical theater teacher Rick Ash is quick to give him his due. Koons designed the lighting, developed the poster and program, engineered the sound – and balances 13 wireless microphones used by the cast – and helped design and build the 32-foot diameter rotating stage that is the set’s centerpiece.

“It’s definitely key,” Koons said of the rotating stage, explaining that it is typically used with “Les Mis.”

Ash, Koons and others began discussing whether they would tackle the moving stage and the moving barricades – also key to the production – at the end of the last school year.

A bulletin board in the hallway outside the auditorium displays the genesis of the stage design, from rough sketches on a piece of scrap paper, through three different drafts, and finally to a blueprint developed by local engineer Randy Scamfer.

The turntable is a testament to engineering and fine woodworking. Balanced on a bearing that can carry 5,000 pounds are 16, tripled-up 2-by-8’s. Sixteen castors, each able to handle 2,000 pounds, keep it turning smoothly, and within an 8-inch tolerance.

And driving the contraption is an electric windlass – the motor used for hauling anchors on a boat. The motor is bolted to the stage floor, and a car tire acts as the gear, turning against the giant circle that is the turntable stage.

Ash and Koons said early on that the tire would squeal when the stage started turning. This was remedied by attaching wooden slats vertically to the side of the moving stage to give the wheel traction.

That problem – and dozens of others – are what demands Koons’ attention in the weeks leading up to the production, and on performance nights.

“When nothing falls apart in the middle of a performance, it’s a great feeling,” he said.

Though Koons may be the unsung hero, “Les Mis” has its share of singing heroes. In fact, everyone on stage – some 60-plus – sings. From 10-year-old fifth-graders, to high school seniors who are veterans of other plays, “Les Mis” is very much a team effort.

And the actors also have made a huge commitment.

“You’d lose track of the days,” said Leah Shrier, a 17-year-old senior from Lincolnville. “We all lived here,” as rehearsals followed day after day.

Halfway through its run, Hannah Batley, a 16-year-old junior who transferred from Thomaston, finds herself and others “sinking into their roles.”

The music is very complex, but James Cummons, 16, a sophomore from Lincolnville, said it is easier to remember lines when they are sung.

And singing and acting on a moving stage also poses its challenges.

Maddie Chilton, a 10-year-old from Rockport who attends fifth-grade at Camden-Rockport Middle School, said she has learned to brace herself to keep from falling when the stage stops moving.

For more information about tickets, call 236-7800.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY TOM GROENINGBrandon Koons sits near the wheel that drives the 32-foot radius rotating stage for Camden Hills Regional High School’s production of “Les Miserables.”