At LES MIS, Best Seats Are Orchestra Center, Premium Gold (A Reserve)-Technical Director

Co-written by Jared Echevarria

Manila, Philippines--When it comes to the best seat in the house at LES MISERABLES (LES MIS), which currently plays The Theatre at Solaire, Solaire Resort and Casino, Technical Director Cameron Flint ("Wicked," "Once") says all the seats in the house are the best seats because the stage design was built for the appreciation of the audience from all angles. However, personally, Mr Flint will sit in the front row or middle rows of the Orchestra Center (VIP) or in the center of the Premium Gold (A Reserve) section.

He adds, "The Theatre at Solaire is a good venue to see the legendary musical because the facility can hold the whole set, the same thing the viewers saw during LES MIS's Australian tour months back."

The production's set pieces arrived in 16 containers from Australia and took 150 people across all departments--lighting, sound, and rigging, among others, to assemble all the elements. The technical director also notes that they brought in 80 people to put up the stage and the rest were sourced locally.

"It was actually the theatre's large basement that made it possible for the large set elements to be assembled and mounted on schedule...this [theatre] is a good state-of-the-art venue," he says. "It took us three days to finish the mounting of all the designs; we were able to conduct a dry technical rehearsal, where we tested all the mechanisms of the set without the performers on it."

In LES MIS, there are more or less 50 set changes.

By the way, it's Mr Flint's second time to work in Manila; he was also the technical director of the blockbuster "Wicked," which played the Cultural Center of the Philippines two years ago.

Sound-wise, The Theatre at Solaire is the first venue in the Philippines to use the Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system, which combines both architectural and electronic acoustics--creating an optimized acoustical environment for any type of performance. The international touring productions of "Chicago," Broadway's longest-running American musical, "Singin' In the Rain," and "Saturday Night Fever" recently played The Theatre at Solaire.

Set against the backdrop of the 19th-century revolutionary France, LES MIS, based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo, has been seen by over 70 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 22 languages. It tells the epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit, which boasts a much-beloved score including "I Dreamed A Dream," "On My Own," "Stars," "Bring Him Home," "Do You Hear the People Sing?" "One Day More," "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables," and "Master of the House."

LES MIS, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Mr Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel. Adapted by Trevor Nunn and John Caird, it has additional material by James Fenton. The reimagined production, which is the version currently playing in Manila, is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powel, and Christopher Key, and designed by Matt Kinley and David Harris. Original costume design is by Andreane Neofitou, additional costume design by Christine Rowland, lighting design by Paule Constable, Simon Sheriff, and Richard Pacholski, and sound design by Mick Potter and Paule Gatehouse. Michael Cassel is the executive producer of the Asian tour/international production.

LES MIS plays The Theatre at Solaire until Sunday, April 24. Tickets are available at (632) 891-9999 or visit TicketWorld.com.ph.

The Theatre at Solaire's seating chart

Photos: Jory Rivera: (1) Cameron Flint, technical director, and (2) Building the set of LES MISERABLES at The Theatre at Solaire

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