As the Harrison High School Footlight Players prepare for their opening night of Les Misérables, cast, crew, and pit alike are working harder than ever to put on a spectacular show. While the past few months and final weeks of rehearsals before the spring musical are nothing out of the ordinary, there are two very special cast members whose role in the show is far from ordinary.
Ruby Dowsley and Ben DelPizzo, 6th graders from Louis M. Klein Middle School, join the cast to fulfill the role of Gavroche, a spunky and rebellious young boy caught in the midst of a violent revolution in France. Gavroche as a character provides the show with some excitement and comic relief in the beginning, before his arc becomes much more serious in the show’s second act.
He shows that the fight for change and what is right starts young, and when young people are involved in the fight for freedom, there can be deadly consequences, as death doesn’t discriminate by age. His story teaches audiences that true bravery and courage can be found in the smallest of people and that as a society we must listen to the voices of children as they are the future of the world. Halle Mastroberardino, the director of Les Misérables, describes Gavroche’s character as “a source of levity in the show,” as well as someone, “who is able to bring in elements of joy to the material itself.”
In real life, Ben and Ruby are cheerful additions to the cast and add the levity to the rehearsal process that Mastroberardino says Gavroche adds to the show. Junior Audrey Cheung commented, “It’s so fun having cast members from outside of the high school in our production, because they’re being added on to our family and having fun with us. I think it’s a really good experience for us as upperclassmen to mentor them, and for them to gain that experience in theater.” Mastroberardino reiterated that statement, saying, “Having Ben and Ruby around sets a positive example for the rest of the cast, reminding everyone that while the content of the show can be strong, the musical is still a place to have fun.”
While the rehearsal process is fun, being in a musical of this caliber is incredibly hard work, especially for such young actors. However, they have risen to the occasion time and time again. Cheung shares, “Both of them are phenomenal onstage, they both have amazing stage presence. They know what they’re doing. They don’t need that much instruction or anything, they have all of their parts down and they understand the responsibility of being in a show like this.” When asked what specifically drew the directors towards Ben and Ruby, Mastroberardino answered, “They both have that fire in them that Gavroche has to have, and I’m so excited to continue developing that with them.” As for the hard work the two incredible actors have put in, Mastroberardino commented, “On day one, they were already ready to go, and got thrown in looking like they had already practiced at home.” She then added, “Not only has it been impressive and inspiring for me to see, but it’s been keeping me accountable and helping me make sure that I am also on top of my game. I think it’s done that for everybody in the cast as well.”
One thing that has stood out throughout this process is the level of collaboration between the students. While Ben will be performing as Gavroche during the show weekend, Ruby has been working just as hard understudying the role so that she is ready to go on at a moment’s notice. Additionally, Ruby will be performing the role on Thursday, March 5th when the LMK Drama Club comes to watch the final dress rehearsal. In addition to understudying the role of Gavroche, Ruby has also understudied the role of Young Eponine played by freshman Leighton Cozzali, and is a member of the ensemble participating in full cast numbers. DelPizzo commented, “Working together as a team, we’ve been helping each other in parts where we have struggled. For example, I helped Ruby during the Beggars scene and the second verse of the solo because we needed some extra practice with it.”
Dowsley backed up the statement, sharing, “My favorite part about working with Ben is that we’ve known each other for a while and we’re best friends, and our relationship grows together, so that’s really good.”
Come see Ben and Ruby perform in The Footlight Players production of Les Misérables, on Friday March 6th and Saturday March 7th at 7 PM, or Sunday March 8th at 2 PM! Tickets are available for purchase exclusively online and can be found at the following page of the Harrison Central School District website.
https://hhs.harrisoncsd.org/arts/hhs-footlight-players
