One of the world's most famous musicals is set to light up the MAC Belfast this summer as NI theatre students are given the opportunity of a lifetime.
The Belfast School of Performing Arts has announced that the senior summer Youth project for 2023 will be a production of Les Misérables after securing the rights to the Victor Hugo classic.
The show will be directed by Peter Corry, Artistic Director at BSPA, who played the lead role of Inspector Javert on the West End for three years.
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Les Misérables is considered one of the world’s most loved musicals of all time and is an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit with the show featuring some of the most memorable scores of all time.
Tina McVeigh, Managing Director of the Belfast School of Performing Arts is excited to be able to provide the students with such an incredible insight into what it takes to deliver such an amazing show.
She said: "The licence for the youth production of Les Misérables has been unavailable to youth groups for a number of years now, but as soon as it was re-released this week we knew we had to jump at the chance to produce this show with Peter in the Directors chair.
"Not only has he got first-hand knowledge of playing inspector Javert on the West End but he also delivered an amazing concert in the SSE Arena by special permission of Sir Cameron Macintosh himself.
"The concert was the biggest of its kind anywhere in the world at the time and had over 1000 performers on stage. I think it’s fair to say Peter has a wealth of experience our students can really learn from as they take part in this year’s summer youth project."
Each year BSPA presents two summer youth projects and the production of Les Miserables will be open to anyone aged 12-18.
Les Misérables will commence on the July 31 and conclude on the August 18 in the MAC Belfast.
Peter Corry added: "Our summer youth projects are absolutely one of my favourite projects in the year, I love the intensity putting on a show in such a short space of time and I love working with the young people and seeing their confidence soar as the days progress but I have to say, of this particular production I am even more excited!
"Les Miserables is a challenging show with a powerful storyline and epic scores and I know the students will love every minute of rising to the challenge. We’re releasing the opportunity to sign up now as we believe there will be a lot of interest in this project."
To sign up for the BSPA Summer Youth Project, email info@thebspa.co.uk. For more information on joining one of the BSPA schools, see here
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