Actor Geoffrey Belliston grew up in North Phoenix and attended Desert Sage Elementary School, Hillcrest Middle School and Mountain Ridge High School. He now performs all over the country and has done voice-over work, but he often returns to Arizona to do shows. This time, he is getting a chance to play Inspector Javert in the Phoenix Theatre Company\u2019s production of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Phoenix Theatre Company will produce the award-winning musical through Sunday, Oct. 18.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is one of the first stagings of the show following the closing of the national tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The acclaimed musical, which was crafted by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Sch\u00f6nberg, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer, has been seen by more than 130 million people around the world and produced in 22 languages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The original production opened on Broadway in March 1987 and ran for over 6,000 performances. It also won eight Tony Awards. The 2012 movie adaptation, which starred Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman, won three Academy Awards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The playwrights drew from Victor Hugo\u2019s 1862 novel for the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The show follows Jean Valjean, a convict who escapes his bonds and tries to build a new life. He takes in Cosette, the daughter of Fatine, a single mother, factory worker and prostitute. Valjean is pursued for decades by Inspector Javert.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story takes place in 19th-century France and highlights events of the June Rebellion, during which time people in France tried to rise up against the monarchy of Louis Philippe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The show highlights themes such as hope, resilience and redemption. The score features recognizable songs such as \u201cI Dreamed a Dream,\u201d \u201cOn My Own,\u201d \u201cBring Him Home\u201d and \u201cDo You Hear the People Sing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Carmi\u00f1a Monserrat as Cosette in Phoenix Theatre Company\u2019s production of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Brennen Russell\/Submitted)<\/p>\n
The show has been directed and choreographed by Brendan Stackhouse, who served as resident director for the North American tour of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with Belliston, the show stars Ethan Rogers as Jean Valjean, Monet Sabel as Fantine, Carmi\u00f1a Monserrat as Cosette, Tre Moore as Cosette\u2019s love interest Marius, Toby Yatso and Terey Summers as the greedy innkeepers the Th\u00e9nardiers, Hahnna Christianson as the Th\u00e9nardiers\u2019 oldest daughter \u00c9ponine and Josh Pike as revolution leader Enjolras.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rogers has done the national tours of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d and \u201cBack to the Future: The Musical.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston has performed for local companies such as Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Broadway Theatre and Phoenix Theatre Company in shows such as \u201cScrooge!,\u201d \u201cAn American in Paris,\u201d \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show,\u201d \u201cOliver!,\u201d \u201cJesus Christ Superstar,\u201d \u201cA Christmas Carol,\u201d \u201cShrek the Musical\u201d and \u201cSingin\u2019 in the Rain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He has also done a European tour of \u201cHair\u201d and an off-Broadway show called \u201cFoolerie the Musical\u201d at the New York Musical Festival.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston first became interested in acting in fifth grade after doing a show called \u201cThe Granny Awards,\u201d in which he played the Big Bad Wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all the fairy tale characters, and everybody got awards except for the Big Bad Wolf. I wore this big, baggy costume my grandma and my mom made. The whole show, I got to improvise and try to steal these awards \u2026 I remember feeling that connection between the audience and us because I would move my hand, and you could see 500 people watching my hand move,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was very involved in theater in high school, doing school productions and serving as drama president and head tech. He also had a chance to direct and help in other areas. For \u201cThe Wizard of Oz,\u201d he assisted with costuming.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was me, an aspiring stand-up comic at 17 playing the Cowardly Lion, in the back room with all the moms just serging. I end up serging like 200 poppies that we used in the show,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The actor was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He turned down acting scholarships to go on a two-year mission to Des Moines, Iowa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Belliston graduated high school, he worked road construction in Washington state before doing his mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following his mission, he moved back to Arizona and got his first professional contract with Phoenix Theatre\u2019s Cookie Company, a children\u2019s theater.\u00a0He did a residency at Arizona Broadway Theatre, where he did over 30 shows, before moving to New York in 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe joke is you move to New York to learn how to sublet. We move to New York, and we\u2019re auditioning for everything around the world. The auditions are out of New York. You get there to book something to leave again,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston has always enjoyed playing complicated villain roles like Javert. He said it is important to find the human side to these characters so that audiences can empathize with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Audiences get to see Javert and Jean Valjean\u2019s relationship evolve over a 20-year period.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re younger when you first see us and hungrier \u2026 With Javert, literally his whole thing is chasing Jean Valjean. He was a prisoner from the chain gang. He lets him go. He breaks his parole. He thinks he\u2019s gone for 10 years. He\u2019s worked his way up. He gets to be the top cop in Paris. He\u2019s Inspector Javert \u2026 Through random hijinks, he gets back onto the chase,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston has been studying human behavior since he was young, when he and his grandma would go to the airport and people watch. He said that this has helped to inform his performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His experiences on his mission have also shaped how he views his character.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran into quite a few people that I\u2019ve been able to base Javert off of. In one of the songs, you hear, \u2018I was born inside a jail. I was born with scum like you. I am from the gutter too!\u2019 You come to find out that Javert\u2019s mom was actually an old fortune teller, and his dad was a convict. They must have met in prison because Javert was born inside a prison cell. He then goes the exact 180-degree opposite of that and becomes a religious militant\u2026. There\u2019s a Mormon scripture that I\u2019ve based it off of. It\u2019s in \u2018Doctrine and Covenants,\u2019 which is one of those scriptures that Joseph Smith wrote. He said, \u2018We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they gain a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.\u2019 That\u2019s exactly what Javert has done\u2026 In the end, he can\u2019t handle that a convict is better than him, has a better moral background or a moral backbone,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston said that Javert is very much concerned with following laws as they are written.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The actor sings a song in the show called \u201cStars,\u201d which is about Javert\u2019s stringent beliefs in order and the law. For Belliston, who lost his sister 10 years ago and recently lost his last grandparent, the song has a different meaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce somebody passes, they\u2019re with you in a different way, and I completely feel that. That\u2019s one of my favorite parts of the show is getting to be able to connect with all of the people who have gone before,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the production, many of Javert\u2019s songs are during intense moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very militant, so whenever he comes in, it is keeping order. Somebody did something. There\u2019s some fight going on. He\u2019s a bit of a jerk\u2026One of my favorites is called \u2018The Confrontation.\u2019 It\u2019s Javert versus Jean Valjean. It\u2019s our first time seeing each other in years. There\u2019s blood in the water. It\u2019s two guys just going at it\u2026. It\u2019s like a fugue. We\u2019re singing two different things but at the same time. It\u2019s a round with the two of us,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are a number of scenes with fight choreography in the show. To prepare, actors had to do fight calls during rehearsals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many physically aggressive moments. We had a full-time fight choreographer come on the team with us, helping us figure all this stuff out. \u2018Les Mis\u2019 is very gritty, and the physicality is connected with that,\u201d Belliston said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t done fight choreography onstage in many, many years. This whole role, it\u2019s pushing me in such a beautiful way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston previously had to do broadsword fighting for a production of \u201cRomeo and Juliet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d is both physically and emotionally taxing for the actors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really big push for me as an artist to go to these places with him, to go to the darkness with him. In this religious way, I very much have. The LDS mission is a two-year military boot camp. It is very intense, 6:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. I left the church a few years after coming home from that mission. It wasn\u2019t right for me. There\u2019s still a lot of that moral foundation and that discipline that I still hold onto and cherish very much \u2026 Everything that happens in your life, the death, the happiness, the sadness, it all gets put into your brain and then regurgitated back out on stage,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Belliston said when doing a show that is so intense, it is important to have a cast and creative team that is close-knit and is there for each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody told me years ago that when you\u2019re doing a very dramatic show, the cast usually tends to be quite goofy and really fun offstage\u2026. We have found that with \u2018Les Mis\u2019 because we often have to go to some really intense places. There\u2019s a vulnerability and a trust that is there and has been built\u2026We\u2019ve had a very collaborative, supportive team. From day one, they set that up,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During rehearsals Belliston suffered contusions and cracks in his ribs. His understudy stood in while he was in recovery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOther than the injuries, it\u2019s been phenomenal. \u2018Les Mis\u2019 is one of the absolute dream shows\u2026 Most of us know the staged concert readings they had for the 10th anniversary and the 20th. It\u2019s Colm Wilkinson and Philip Quast, who played Javert, up there at the microphones \u2026 You start rehearsing it, and it\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s a whole different show \u2026 I don\u2019t use the word \u2018epic\u2019 often, but for \u2018Les Mis,\u2019 absolutely,\u201d Belliston said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Phoenix Theatre Company\u2019s production of \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d<\/p>\n
WHEN: Through Sunday, Oct. 18, ASL\/audio describe night Thursday, Aug. 6\u00a0<\/p>\n
WHERE: Dr. Stacie J. and Richard J. Stephenson Theatre, Phoenix Theatre Company, 1825 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix\u00a0<\/p>\n
COST: Tickets start at $59\u00a0<\/p>\n