Big story, small stage

Briane Green and Henry McNulty, foreground, and Sara Miller and J.R. Haynie in Lake City Playhouse’s “Les Misérables.”

Putting on a production of “Les Misérables” is a huge risk, for a lot of reasons.

First of all, it’s been performed countless times in various capacities, and most of us can recite the beats of its story by heart. And the scope of that story is immense, stretching the course of several decades in 19th-century France. It’s almost entirely sung-through, and most of the numbers are notoriously difficult. It requires many elaborate sets and costumes, and you need a huge cast to pull it off.

But George Green, executive artistic director at Coeur d’Alene’s Lake City Playhouse, says that’s all part of the show’s appeal. He’s also directing LCP’s interpretation of “Les Mis,” which opens the theater’s 54th season with a blast of cannon fire. Nathan Weinbender, SR

We were wowed by Spokane Civic Theatre’s production of Le Miz last year. Quite an ambitious undertaking for Lake City Playhouse. Have you eve seen Le Miz? Do you plan to?