Drury Lane Theatre's LES MISERABLES, Starring Ivan Rutherford, to Begin Previews 3/29

In celebration of their 30th Anniversary, Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, will present the legendary musical LES MISERABLES, previewing March 29, opening Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. and running through June 8, 2014.

Directed by multi-Jeff Award winner Rachel Rockwell (Ragtime, The Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd, and Oliver! at Drury Lane Theatre), the cast is led by Ivan Rutherford ("Jean Valjean" in over 2,000 performances of LES MISERABLES on Broadway, as well as in the 20th anniversary Broadway Revival and The National Tour of LES MISERABLES, and Titanic on Broadway); Jeff Award-winner Quentin Earl Darrington as "Javert" (Ragtime on Broadway and at Drury Lane Theatre, Memphis: A New Musical on Broadway and The National Tours of The Lion King, The Color Purple, and Memphis: A New Musical); and Jennie Sophia as "Fantine" (The National Tour of The Lincoln Center's South Pacific and Oliver! and The Sound of Music at Drury Lane Theatre).

The sweeping tale of LES MISERABLES features a book by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, and music by Claude-Michel Schönberg. Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel, LES MISERABLES travels through three turbulent decades of 19th century France. Steeped with romance, passion, suspense and humanity, it is the story of the fugitive Jean Valjean, who is in a lifelong struggle to evade being captured as he is relentlessly pursued by the sanctimonious Inspector Javert. LES MISERABLES is the winner of over 50 international theater awards, including eight 1987 Tony Awards (two of which were for Best Musical and Best Score). The musical has been translated into 21 different languages and has been seen by more than 65 million people worldwide.

LES MISERABLES also stars Jeff Award-winner Mark David Kaplan as "Thenardier" (Ragtime at Drury Lane Theatre and The National Tour of The Lion King), Sharon Sachs as "Madame Thenardier" (Thoroughly Modern Mille at Drury Lane Theatre and A Christmas Carol at Goodman Theatre with recurring roles on Grimm, Weeds and Dexter), Skyler Adams as "Marius" (Next to Normal at Drury Lane Theatre and Hair at Paramount Theatre), Emily Rohm as "Cosette" (Sweeney Todd at Drury Lane Theatre and Beauty and the Beast at Chicago Shakespeare Theater),Christina Nieves as "Eponine" (A Midsummer Night's Dream at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and The Sins of Sor Juana at Goodman Theatre), and Travis Taylor as "Enjolras" (Young Frankenstein at Drury Lane Theatre, The Christmas Schooner at Mercury Theater Chicago and Shrek the Musical at Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Charlie Babbo (The National Tour of A Christmas Story and A Christmas Carol at Drury Lane Theatre) and Matthew Uzarraga (Oliver! at Drury Lane Theatre) star as "Gavroche," Sage Harper (The Christmas Schooner at Mercury Theater Chicago) and Ava Morse star as "Little Cosette" (World Premiere of The Goddess at the Artistic Home/Chicago), and Peyton Shaffer (Annie at Paramount Theatre) stars as "Young Eponine." The ensemble includes Justin Adair, Missy Aguilar, Jennifer Baker, Brandon Chandler, Thomas Forde, Nick Foster, Nathan Gardner, David Girolmo, George Keating, Ann McMann, James Nedrud, Erin Oechsel, Rob Riddle, Emma Rosenthal, David Sajewich, Allison Sill, Will Skrip, Joe Tokarz, and Lauren Villegas.

Jeff Award-winner Roberta Duchak (Sweeney Todd, Miss Saigon, Singin' in the Rain and Ragtime at Drury Lane Theatre, and vocal coach for Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman for the Academy Award-winning film LES MISERABLES) serves as Musical Director. The colossal French Revolution-era set is by Scott Davis (Sunset Boulevard at Drury Lane Theatre and Shrek the Musical at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) with Lighting Design by Greg Hofmann (Oliver! at Drury Lane Theatre) and Projection Design is by Sage Marie Carter (Ragtime at Drury Lane Theatre and For the Boys at Marriott Theatre). Co-Sound Designers are Ray Nardelli (Miss Saigon and Next to Normal at Drury Lane Theatre) and Dan Mead (Buddy Holly at Drury Lane), Properties Design is by Nick Heggestad, Costume Coordinator is Erika Senase with additional costumes designed by Maggie Hofmann. Rick Jarvie serves as Wigs and Makeup Designer, Eva Breneman is the Dialect Coach and Matt Hawkins is the Fight Choreographer (The Wheel and Belleville at Steppenwolf Theatre Company).

For 30 years, Drury Lane Theatre has been a major force on the Chicagoland theater scene. Over that time, 10,208 performances have been staged, 7,683 actors have been employed, and over 9,000,000 people have enjoyed the venue's 308 productions and concerts. Additionally, Drury Lane has hired more than 10,000 musicians, designers, and crew members.

The performance schedule for LES MISERABLES is as follows: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. ($45), Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. ($45) and 8 p.m. ($50), Fridays at 8 p.m. ($60), Saturdays at 5 p.m. ($60), and 8:45 p.m. ($60), and Sundays at 2 p.m. ($60), and 6 p.m. ($55). Lunch and dinner theatre packages are available. Student group tickets start as low as $30 and Senior Citizens start at $40 for matinees and $55 for a matinee luncheon package. For reservations, call the Drury Lane Theatre box office at 630.530.0111, call TicketMaster at 800.745.3000 or visit www.drurylane.com.

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