STELLAR CAST ANNOUNCED

St James Theatre, Wellington
19 August – 4 September 2022

Seen by more than 130 million people worldwide and for the first time in Wellington city in over 20 years, the world’s most popular musical Les Misérables is on its way this August

The Capital Theatre Trust and G & T Productions are thrilled to announce the stellar cast for the Wellington season of LES MISÉRABLES - the first major musical theatre production at the St James since its $37 million restoration.

New Zealand’s much-loved star of musical theatre, Chris Crowe will play the villain, Inspector Javert. Chris has received critical acclaim as The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, a role he had the pleasure of performing across New Zealand, and more recently as Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Other credits include: Enjolras (Les Miserables), John (Miss Saigon), Judas/Pontias Pilate (Jesus Christ Superstar), Anatoly (Chess), Peron (Evita) and Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) for the Australian Opera Studio in Perth.

Taking the role of Jean Valjean is Hayden Lawrence whose credits include Jekyll & Hyde, the New Zealand premier of Miss Saigon, and Sweeney Todd. Hayden has also had lead roles in Paris as Paris, Chess as the Russian Anatoly Sergievsky, Jesus Christ Superstar as Judas Iscariot and most recently Chess again as the American Freddie Trumper. While in London, he auditioned with 4000 hopefuls for ITV’s Superstar, making it to the final 100 and performing in front of a panel consisting of Sporty Spice Melanie Chisholm, actor/singer Jason Donovan and Andrew Lloyd Weber’s casting director David Grindrod.

Joining Hayden and Chris are two of New York’s finest musical theatre stars, Nick Lerew and Maya Handa Naff. Nick will reprise his character Marius, a role he’s performed professionally more than a hundred times, while Maya will be Eponine, a character she has also brought to life many times during her extraordinary career which includes performing, directing, and teaching across the United States. Having trained in New York City, Maya’s career highlights include Miss Saigon (Kim), The Importance of Being Earnest (Cecily Cardew), Cabaret (Sally Bowles) and Avenue Q (Christmas Eve) while Nick can boast roles in some of the world’s biggest shows, including Miss Saigon (Chris), South Pacific (Lt. Joseph Cable), Into the Woods (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf), and Legally Blonde (Emmett).

Twenty years after making her big stage debut as Cosette, Gemma Hoskins will play Fantine. Since then, Gemma has appeared in multiple Wellington productions including Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, Beauty & The Beast, and Miss Saigon.

As the youngest member of the cast, Flora Dryburgh’s age belies her experience on stage. Having brought to life characters including Wednesday Addams in the Addams Family Musical and

Alison Vernon Williams in the New Zealand premiere of Cry-Baby The Musical, Flora brings to life the principal role of orphan Cosette. Her other credits include Jesus Christ Superstar (2020) and touring with the Capital E National Theatre for Children in Seasons by the late Peter Wilson.

Playing the outrageous innkeepers, The Thénardiers are Sandy Leadbeater and Tania Dreaver. Sandy has most recently been seen in Coasters 2021 production of Mary Poppins playing Mr Banks and is a regular performer in Porirua Little Theatre productions. No stranger to LES Misérables, Sandy has performed as Javert in the Wellington and Palmerston North seasons back in 2002. Tania is relishing the challenge of playing the villainous Madame Thénardier, having recently brought to life two other strong female characters in Miss Andrews in Mary Poppins, and the imposing Mother Abbess in PLT’s production of The Sound of Music.

Like his character Enjolras who fights for the rights of the people, Joe Mara is a lawyer by day and performer by night. Classically trained in piano, Joe is also the former president of Vocal FX, a men's barbershop chorus which competed internationally, and has been involved in a variety of theatre shows from Sweaty Eddie in Wellington Musical Theatre's Sister Act to Dr Flake in Gilbert and Sullivan Society's light opera, Die Fledermaus.

This extraordinary line-up of Wellington-based talent joins a 29-strong ensemble cast for the production that runs from 19 August to 4 September.

Produced by the same team that brought Wellington the critically acclaimed season of Jersey Boys last year, in association with the recently formed Capital Theatre Trust, tickets start at just $50 and are available from Ticketmaster.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption – a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit.

Featuring one of the greatest scores of all time, with thrilling and beloved songs including I Dreamed A Dream, On My Own, Stars, Bring Him Home, One Day More, Do You Hear the People Sing and many more, this epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history.

Les Misérables originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on October 8, 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on December 4, 1985, and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on April 3, 2004, where it continues to play to packed houses and is the only version of the original production left in the world.

The original Broadway production of Les Misérables opened at the Broadway Theatre on March 12, 1987, and transferred to the Imperial Theatre on October 17, 1990, running for 6,680 performances. The original U.S. National Tour began in November 1987 and visited over 150 cities before closing in St. Louis, MO in 2006. Broadway audiences welcomed Les Misérables back to New York on November 9, 2006, where the show played at the Broadhurst Theatre until its final performance on January 6, 2008.

The 2015 film adaptation of Les Misérables introduced the musical to a new generation of audiences who will now be able to see the stage production, live, in Wellington.

Jennifer is highly regarded in theatre circles, having starting out as a wardrobe manager and dresser, then moving into production and stage management.

She was production assistant and dresser for the 2015 Wellington season of Evita (Porirua Little Theatre/Amici Productions), and production manager for are Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Wellington Repertory, 2018), First Date (Wellington Repertory, 2019), Next to Normal (Stagecraft, 2019) and Rock of Ages (Porirua Little Theatre, 2017).

In 2020, Jennifer combined the roles of production and stage manager for Wellington Repertory’s Ladies in Black and stage managed Black Comedy for Wellington Repertory in 2019. She has been a dresser for the World of Wearable Arts since 2006, with this year’s event being 15th year.

Jennifer is excited and thrilled to be part of the team bringing Les Misérables to Wellington.

Sandy is no stranger to the local theatre scene having performed, directed, and written various shows over the past few decades. Being passionate about all aspects of theatre, she firmly believes that through sharing our stories we all gain. 

2018 and 2019 Sandy directed Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and First Date, both of which won Best Musical of the Year at the Wellington NZ Theatre Federation Awards. She also won the Overall Production of the Year in 2009 for I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change which she also directed.

Among other shows Sandy has directed are Ladies In Black, Rock of Ages, Voices From The Front, Disco Inferno, All Shook Up, Motor Camp, 12 Angry Jurors, and more. Sandy has also co-directed Oliver, assistant directed the touring production of Tales of Hoffmann, and worked with AMICI productions (now G&T Productions) to bring Evita to the Wellington Opera House, in 2015.

Sandy creates and directs the student show for the Jane Keller Singing Studio on a bi-annual basis. She also co-wrote Yep, Still Got It,with Jane, which debuted at Circa theatre in 2015.  

2021 saw the launch of the Capital Theatre Trust which Sandy founded and is chairperson of. “This is a fabulously exciting realization of passion for theatre in Wellington and the need to see large scale musical productions back in the capital,” Sandy says. She and her fellow trustees are thrilled to be bringing Les Miserables to the St James in 2022. 

Sandy says that she is looking forward to working with Grant Meese again, whose wealth of knowledge and experience at the pinnacle of New Zealand theatre is unmatched. “I am excited about creating some magical theatrical moments, now and into the future.”

With more than three decades of experience behind him, hundreds of thousands of people have enjoyed his work including the recent, triumphant season of Jersey Boys in Wellington and Auckland.

Grant’s vast involvement with theatre started in Auckland as a youngster and his contribution extends to the full theatrical spectrum. From performer to choreographer, to musical director, director and producer, his work is both creatively and commercially successful, resulting in several of New Zealand’s biggest seasons of musical theatre.

Grant has been involved in many consortium musical theatre projects, which has been a natural extension of his production management work with G & T Productions. He has worked with a range of Auckland and Wellington based groups during the past 14 years to bring some of the larger musicals to the wonderful theatres in both these cities as well as freelance directing around the North Island.

He recently spent three years based in London, developing longer term projects as well as soaking up the plethora of theatre available on the West End. He returned to New Zealand in 2019 to direct the highly acclaimed season of Les Misérables then Jersey Boys.  

Other projects in recent years include working on the Evita and Mamma Mia consortiums, Evita at the Opera House in 2015, Phantom of the Opera in Wellington in 2013 and Auckland in 2016, as well as productions of Cats, The Sound of Music, Miss Saigon, Hairspray, Chicago, 42nd Street and Anything Goes.

Grant is a director of G & T Productions Ltd which is committed to producing quality musical theatre for New Zealand.

Following in the footsteps of her late father Peter – himself an acclaimed musical director --  Kate is an accomplished Musical Director, accompanist and musician having been at the helm of numerous productions and concerts including; Little Shop of Horrors, The Addams Family, Cry Baby, Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, West Side Story, High School Musical, Fame, Hairspray, Cabaret, Little Voice, Demolition of the Century at Circa, Evita for Amici Productions and PLT, and her own Marshall Stack productions of Godspell, Smokey Joe’s Café and On Broadway.

Kate has a BMus in Composition from Victoria University under the tutelage of New Zealand composers Jack Body, Ross Harris, and John Psathas.

Her composition credits include The Merchant of Venice for VUW Summer Shakespeare, Twelfth Night for KAT, and Nictitate performed by the Wellington Symphonia.

Since her appointment in 2016, Kate continues in her role as Lead Tutor for Performing Arts – Musical Theatre, Whitireia at Te Auaha.