Note: This was an assignment written in 2018, to explore the character I would be playing in the Musical Theatre course production of Les Miserables.
Angelina Almanza
AMT4M1-01
Ms. Furios
December 29, 2018
Creating characters
Answers to questions from three categories in the Character Checklist
Deep breathe in.
Deep breathe out.
A puff of air leaves my lips, and I watch as it turns to a cloud of fog.
Deep breathe in.
Deep breathe out.
The wind chills me, cutting through my thick mauve coat while it blows. Strand of my hair attempt to fly free. I pay them no mind though, and sort the ammo. My mind is on much more pressing matters; the people we fight for.
How could god let these people freeze?
How could people let these people freeze?
Will we survive?
I shake my head.
There will be a life for us after the barricades; one complete with wine, my very own doctors clinic, and a change in our society. All people will have food and shelter from the nightly cold; not just us on the ‘upper crust’. We stand strong upon our wall, and we stand tall.
We will make a difference.
June 5, 1832. In a month from now, I will hold a birthday ball. My younger sister and her husband will dance. My Father will still be stiff about our battle, but will come as is expected. Enjolras will finally relax and let wine go to his head. Grantaire shall drink liquor aged in our private cellar. Marius shall come with his ghost of a love, whom we’re all eager to meet.
My body movements are automatic; I finish the ammo and climb up the ladder rung to our barricade; then I perch myself along the upper platform.
After this, little Gavroche shall live no more on the streets. He will live with me; help in the clinic I will run. He shall have cakes for breakfast and cold drinks whenever he chooses. All the toys he could ever want at his disposal. He’ll have a private tutor, will learn to read and write, and will attend a college of his choosing. We will all see to that once this is over.
Perhaps I will settle down with Musichetta as well, and stop having her as a mistress. Instead, I’d have her lovely green eyes beside my when I wake every morning. I’d be able to cradle her hands and kiss every spot across her face. I’d caress her lovely brown hair as she knits socks or threads embroidery. She could have the loveliest dresses around, and no longer have to work hard at all. Mayhaps we would have little ones of our own, amd they’d listen to Gavroche as he tells the tale of our stand against society. The stand where the people were heard.
People will sing of our glorious victory.
Eponine, the sly fox, will have a ballad of her own. One telling of her journeys throughout the streets to send messages to our loved ones. Telling of how she sacrificed her happiness for Marius’.
There, out in the darkness of the alley, I can see our foes finally approaching.
And suddenly this all feels real.
“They’re getting ready to attack!” I call, voice rushed and higher than it usually is.
We all rush to places and prep our guns. Our rebel army finally about to go against a royal one.
“Platoon of Sappers advancing towards the front line!”
“Troops behind them, fifty men or more!”
Now we all ready. Marius is on my right, his own eyes narrowed in concentration and fear.
Gavroche, whom I can barely see to Marius’ right, shows no fear as his small hands holds his gun.
Fear must not be a words where he comes from.
“Hold!” Enjolras cries. His hair is damp with sweat, his hands shiver.
Deep breathe in.
We aim.
Deep breathe out.
“Fire!”
And we charge.
Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth
Within the musical, Les Miserables, multiple lines are juxtaposed and nuanced to create different effects; however, one line is repeated time and time again; “One Day More”. Valjean says it first, saying how its just one day more in his life, with all his struggles and the risks he takes just by being near Cosette; the students say it meaning one day more till they fight and the people are free; Javert says it because to him, it’s one day more till he rights the wrong that is the people fighting against the law. Each character says it for a different reason, and the fact that three words can be nuanced in countless different ways proves their significance in itself. One day more.
Within our times of the musical Les Miserables, multiple lines and scenes were pulled apart and put back together in order to create a version of the musical that would touch the hearts of our audiences. One of the scenes that stood out to me however, was that of “Turning”. I believe this song stands out to me so much because the lyrics can represent modern day society; how we trouble and toil, and yet it feels like we are getting nowhere. We fight for peace and equal rights, yet we still haven’t achieved it. It’s the same wars and battles being repeated over and over again with different people in different places; and I dare say they are getting worst. It’s insanity told in a gentle song, and the overlapping round represents the blurs between the past and present; as well as the blurs between reality.
My analysis has allowed me to learn a new fact that I did not know before; Joly is a doctor, he shares a mistress, and is a ball full of anxiety just like me. As such, I can use my own anxieties to force a panic attack upon myself during Gavroche's death and be in character; however, I need to be careful not to let my own mind slip and fall into having a real, severe panic attack on stage - as I am forcing myself to remember the deaths of two of my loved ones and on the fact that my father is absent.
Facts!
Joly cares about Gavroche
Joly is friends with Grantaire, Marius, and Enjolras
Joly is jolly
He is also having an existential crisis
Joly is in charge of the ammo, but was trained to be a doctor
Questions!
Why was Joly sharing a mistress?
Did being a medical student cause him to have a paranoia of getting diseases?
My character was almost 30 - isn’t that like, really old during the 1800’s?
What was Joly’s last name?
Did he have a aids/an std from sharing a mistress?
Works Cited
Les Miserables. By N/A, directed by Cathy Clarke, December 7, Richmond Hill Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond Hill, On. Performance.