There is a line from “Les Miserables” that brings Grace McCune to tears every time she hears it: “To love another person is to see the face of God.”
She is bringing that passion to Orcas Center this week with a concert version of “Les Mis” performed by her adult and youth choirs.
“When I first heard the music of ‘Les Miserables’ at age 21, it captivated me,” McCune said. “It is a piece of work that is my absolute favorite in musical theatre. When the movie came out, I used that as an inspiration to teach the music to my choirs.”
It’s a labor of love for everyone involved in the show. Piano accompanist Ron Myers says it is his favorite musical of all time and soloist Jake Perrine wrote many college papers on the production.
“In college, I used to have ‘Les Mis offs’ – you start at the beginning of the play, sing the songs for as long as you can and if you mess up then someone else takes over. I challenged Grace and I think I’ve intimidated her with my knowledge,” Perrine said with a laugh. “My whole life changed after I first saw a ‘Les Mis’ production in Boston in high school. It changed my view of the art form of the musical … I am kind of obsessed.”
McCune’s “Musical Theater Youth Troupe” and “Rock on the Rock Singers” will perform 18 songs from the play on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m. on the main stage. Admission is free.
The choirs have been meeting since February to pull together a knock-out performance. The concert is packed with huge choral numbers and choreography by Rene Hunt. In addition to Perrine, soloists include Cali Bagby, Erin Hickey, Stormy Hildreth, Tammy Grantham, Bill Griswold, Dave Lutz, Frank Michels, Nastashja and Ricardo Milan and Erika Murray.
“I took a chance with doing it because we usually do the rock and roll thing and we haven’t done musical theatre before,” McCune said. “It ended up drawing a whole bunch of new people. This is the strongest choir yet. We’ve put together quite a show.”
Some of the words she uses to describe the music: dynamic, difficult, gripping, heart-wrenching and hopeful.
“Les Mis has got everything in it: redemption, morality, staying true to ideals even in the face of your own demise and of course the class warfare issues that are timely right now,” Perrine said.
McCune let her soloists choose their own songs. Perrine is singing “Red and Black,” “Bring Him Home,” and “What Have I Done” as well as “A Heart Full of Love” with McCune and Bagby. He is also a member of the Orcas Choral Society and performed “Mozart’s Requiem” this past April.
“I’ve been trying to keep myself out of performances for a while because I am so busy, but this is like crack for me,” he laughed. “Grace offers people a chance to do something that is outside their comfort zone and there isn’t a lot of pressure or pretense – it’s about having a good time. Singing with Ron playing the piano has been the most fun I’ve had singing in 20 years.”
McCune has been conducting the choirs since 2009. Their performances started out as an offering for friends and family, but have grown into a community event. The last three concerts on the main stage have been packed.
“From my perspective, this is the best thing that Grace has put on,” Myers said. “It’s a marvelous show … folks are going to be in for a big surprise.”
