Les Misérables, June 1223 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver. Tickets available at ticketmaster.ca or 1-866-542-7469.
EVEN after 1,000 performances, Jason Forbach still gets emotional when he belts out the last note of the Les Misérables hit "One Day More."
Nearly the entire cast of the popular musical comes together on stage to sing the iconic song at the end of Act I.
"You're facing the audience head on and you see them erupt in front of you as soon as the song hits that final note and it's such a thrill, it's such a reinforcing positive thought as to why we do what we do," Forbach says. "That's my favourite moment."
The 32-year-old baritone plays Enjolras, the charismatic leader of the revolutionary student group, in Cameron Mackintosh's 25th anniversary North American touring production of Les Misérables. The musical kicks off the Western Canadian leg of its tour at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre June 12 to 23.
Forbach, a Kansas native, has been travelling with the production since it premiered in 2010. Originally a member of the ensemble, he took over the role of Enjolras a year and a half ago.
"He's an incredibly focused, passionate character who is dynamic and charismatic and convinces all of these people to rise up against the state of their government," Forbach says of Enjolras.
"It's a thrill to sing," he adds. "The music is so iconic and powerful and everyone knows these melodies."
The 25th anniversary production celebrates a quarter century since the English-language version of Les Misérables premiered in London in 1985. Based on the French novel by Victor Hugo, the Boublil and Schönberg musical follows Jean Valjean, a man condemned to 19 years of hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread. He breaks parole and attempts to start a new life in the years leading up to the Paris Uprising of 1832.
Directors James Powell and Laurence Connor have re-imagined this silver anniversary production.
"It's darker, it's grittier, it's more emotionally palpable than what I think people have grown to expect over the years," Forbach explains. "Diehard fans will have all the elements in place that they've grown to love over the years, but they will have moments that are new and fresh. It's more cinematic in scope."
Vancouver audiences will not see the turntable set associated with the original London production. Instead, this show features projected scenery inspired by Hugo's paintings.
"It's kind of like this three-dimensional living, moving art that happens on stage. It's stunningly beautiful," Forbach explains, adding that the story's famous makeshift barricade still plays a starring role on set.
"No matter where we are as a cast, it seems like the barricade every night brings us together."
Forbach fondly remembers the day his mother took him to see Les Misérables for the first time. Six months ago, he performed the show in the very same Kansas theatre where he first watched it as a boy. He is quick to reply when asked what gives the musical such staying power.
"It is the perfect combination of beautiful music, melodies that are inescapable, a story that is essentially about redemption and love and hope. And I think everyone can relate to that, young and old."
Forbach says there is renewed interest in the musical thanks to the success of the 2012 film adaptation starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway. The younger generation is also paying closer attention to Broadway, Forbach says - a trend he attributes to the popularity of the show-choir-based TV series Glee.
"Young people are becoming just as passionate about theatre as people that have been watching the show and have seen it over the past 27 years now."
Forbach received a master's degree in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass., and after years of opera training he moved to New York City to pursue a career in musical theatre. Being part of a touring theatre production is a fabulous way to see the continent and meet new people, he says, but it can also be exhausting.
"It's easy to just feel fatigued from travel on top of the show, but I liken it to boot camp. We are all kind of honed athletes at this point and we give our all."
For Forbach, adapting to a semi-nomadic lifestyle is a small price to pay for the opportunity to be in the cast of Les Misérables.
"It's been a dream come true for me in every sense of the word," he says of his job. "This piece is bigger than any of us and to be a part of something that touches people in the audience so deeply, we feel a great sense of responsibility to this material."
