Interview: Nick Cartell Says LES MISERABLES at Wharton Center is a Rich Story With a Cinematic Feel

The ever-iconic musical Les Misérables is making its way back to Wharton Center this week only, October 8th to 13th. Based on the novel by the same name written by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables tells the story of fugitive Jean Valjean and his redemption journey in 19th century Paris. One of the most famous and renowned musicals of the last 40 years, Les Misérables premiered in Paris in 1980 before moving to London in 1985 and Broadway in 1987. 

BroadwayWorld Michigan had the pleasure of speaking with Nick Cartell, who plays Jean Valjean in the current national tour of Les Misérables. Read our conversation below!

BroadwayWorld Michigan: Can you start off by telling me a bit about yourself and your theatre career?

Nick Cartell: I grew up in Arizona but I’m originally from Michigan. I was born just outside of Detroit and all of my wife’s family is actually there. Coming back to [Michigan] is like coming home in a way. I grew up singing in choir before transitioning into theatre once I saw Cinderella on a field trip in sixth grade. I was kind of bit by the acting bug then. I started performing in youth theatre and doing professional theatre in the Valley before going to Tokyo and working for Mickey Mouse on and off for about three years, which is where I met my wife. Then, we moved to New York and I’ve been there ever since. Now, I’m playing Jean Valjean across the country in Les Misérables. 

Was Jean Valjean always a dream role for you? 

It was a dream role, it just wasn't a dream role that I was expecting when it happened. When I first was introduced to Les Mis, my dream role was Marius because I was a student and I was watching these students on screen and I was like, “that’s who I want to be.” I was very fortunate [to play] Marius in a production at Phoenix Theatre in 2008. When Les Mis came around again, I heard they were looking for Valjean, so I asked my agent if they could see me. Five callbacks later, I ended up booking the role. It definitely has been a journey with this show. I’ve learned a lot and I still learn a lot every time I step out on that stage. It definitely is one of the most iconic roles for a man in musical theatre. 

On that note, great art always makes you feel something different every time you experience it. Do you still uncover new revelations about your character or the show every night?

100%. I think that’s what keeps me coming back to the show after years of doing it. We just had new company members join, so now I’m exploring a new show with a new Javert and a new Fantine, and they bring something fresh and new to the show. I’m looking at it in a different way than I have the last couple of years. That’s what makes it exciting and interesting; every time you step on that stage and every time you see the show, you can see something different. For me, it’s the way I interact with members of our ensemble, or the way I look at Cosette differently during a scene or I catch her doing something differently. It adds a whole new spin for me. 

Is there any other role in the show you’d like to play? 

I would love to take a crack at Javert. To be in those shoes and to see how it’s so black and white in his world…there is no deviation from what he thinks is right. I think it would be fun to play the other side to this partnership that we have going on stage. 

You’ve played this role over 1,000 times. How do you keep this story fresh for audiences who haven’t seen it before? 

It’s a testament to the story itself. It's so rich. We have this opportunity to give audiences this show, be it the first time they’ve seen it or the hundredth time they’ve seen it. But, you do look for new things every time you come in. It’s exciting when you have a group of performers that are doing this show [and continuing] to find fresh and interesting ways to play these roles. They may sing a line a little differently, or emphasize a different word. That can change the whole meaning behind what that line is, or it can change the way you look at that line. Those are things that I do to keep this story fresh for me along with our audiences.

You’ve performed with this company all over the country, including Wharton Center five years ago. Does playing a college town [like East Lansing] feel different than playing a regular city like Detroit or Chicago? 

I don’t think that it feels different because our audiences change and are different in every city. What I think is the most exciting thing about playing all the different places that we do, especially in college towns, is that we do have the Les Mis fans who saw the show when they were students, and they connected with the characters like Marius and Cosette and Enjolras and Eponine. A lot of those folks are now parents, so they’re bringing their children to see Les Mis for the first time. Their journey has shifted and now they’re connecting with Fantine and Valjean. It is so cool to see that we are now inspiring a new generation of students that are coming to see this production that has been running on and off for 40 years. 

What is something about Les Mis that general audiences may not know?

Our directors really hearken back to the book. They wanted to make sure we were doing justice to the source material, what Victor Hugo wrote. Also, our composers are still very active in this production, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil. They were both there when we kicked off this tour in 2017 and they [came] back when we kicked it off in 2022. 

Also, this production has such a cinematic feel. There’s never really a true blackout; everything moves into the next scene. With the beautiful projections we have on the back wall, you feel like you’re marching down the streets of Paris and you’re in the sewers with Valjean. All of those [backgrounds] are actually based on Hugo’s artwork. Not only was Hugo the author of Les Mis and an incredible writer, but he was also an accomplished artist. When the audience walks into the theatre, they’re going to see a drop in front of them. And on that drop is a watercolor picture of his version of what Paris looked like. If you look at the bottom right corner, it’s actually Hugo’s signature. So we use his artwork within our production at different moments in the show, and we use other artwork that is based on his drawings to help create a place and time. Hugo’s stamp is all over this piece. 

What has been the most rewarding aspect about playing this role for the amount of time that you have? 

It’s the fact that I’ve been able to come back to it with a different perspective. When I left this show originally right before the pandemic in 2019, one of the reasons I left was because my wife and I were having a baby. When we were at Wharton Center, we actually recorded a gender reveal and that’s where we found out we were having a little girl. Now, coming back to this show, actually being a parent and knowing the sacrifices that Valjean makes for Cosette, and knowing the sacrifices I would make for my own daughter, it just helps to deepen this story for me. I think all of us feel this immense joy and responsibility bringing this show back post-pandemic and inviting audiences back into the theatre. 

Do you have any social media accounts that people can follow?

You can follow me on Instagram (@nickcartell) and TikTok (@nickcartell). I also have a YouTube account (@Nick_Cartell). 

On Thursday nights, I do what I call ThNOT (Thursday Night On Tour). I use my Thursday night lives on YouTube as an educational series. There’s so many aspects of this show and what it takes to put on a show like Les Misérables. I use it as a platform to interview all the different creatives within our show, to give audiences a peek behind the curtain and show what it takes to put on a production of this scale.

On Saturday nights, I go live on my Instagram. It’s lovingly referred to as SNOT (Saturday Night On Tour). It’s a way I can invite our audiences and our fans to see what it’s like before a show. Also, it allows audiences to see that, although we are doing this heavy musical for three hours, this very emotional journey, we are friends and family backstage, and we try to keep it light and have some fun. 

Do you travel around with your wife and daughter?

Yep, they are on the road with me full time. It’s very exciting and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve been able to watch our daughter grow up on the road. It's really exciting to see her blossom and change from when we started this. She was two and a half and really shy, a true pandemic baby. And now, she walks in that stage door, she says hello to everybody, she knows everybody’s name. Slowly but surely she’s trying to figure out a way to get herself in the show. She loves singing backstage, loves all the songs, so we might have a little Cosette in our future. 

Tickets for Les Misérables are on sale now at Wharton Center's official ticketing outlets: online at whartoncenter.com, at the official Wharton Center Ticket
Office, or by calling 1-800-WHARTON.

To keep updated with Les Misérables, visit their website at us-tour.lesmis.com, and follow them on Twitter at @LesMizUS, on Instagram at @lesmizUS, and on Facebook at facebook.com/LesMizUS.

Note: This interview has been edited for conciseness.