Allen takes the stage in Les Mis

By Dalton Roberts Jay Allen was cast as Fantine in Les Miserables as a sophomore. Allen first became interested in theater when she was 7 and saw her sister perform in a summer camp. “I’ve been homeschooled for a while and this is my first school show, but it has been very fun!” Allen said. Allen’s dream role is Peter Pan who she says “I think would be exciting to play and similar to my personality.” Students auditioned for Les Miserables by singing songs. Allen auditioned by singing “I dreamed a dream” and “Madame Thenardiers song.”

After getting cast, Allen was happy to have something to do during COVID.

“I really liked being on the show because I’ve made a lot of new finds and the director Mr. Hastings is really great to work with,” Allen said. When she got the cast she said “I was happy to have something to do during covid where I could actually interact with other people.” Allen enjoyed meeting new people throughout the show. “Jimmy, who plays Thenardier, he does really funny little improvisations,” Allen said. For Allen the hardest part of the show was making sure she knew her music and the words. “Because if you forget it will be very humiliating and will take away from the reality of the show,” Allen said. Despite how much Allen has enjoyed working on the show she also learned a very valuable lesson. “The hardest part of the show was learning to be proud of yourself, even if you make mistakes,” Allen said During an average week Allen spends about 10 hours at rehearsal and 2-3 hours rehearsing at home. “Practicing at home is pretty simple, we have access to versions of our music so we can practice our vocal parts,” Allen said.

Photo by Anna Palacio Jay Allen, Carter Stelting, and Rowan Farha sing the “Epilogue” during a dress rehearsal for Les Miserables. Despite the pandemic, theatre students produced a modified “concert style” performance of the show March 4-6.

Allen really likes the maternal side of her character. “A majority of her actions are driven by her desire to give her child a good life and I admire that,” Allen said. “Her emotions are so extreme that you don’t really need to hold back at all.” Allen even connected to their character in spare time. “Whenever I’m not doing theatre I enjoy babysitting my 10 month old nephew, he was actually a very good inspiration for the maternal side of my character,” Allen said.