{"id":102406,"date":"2015-05-28T09:08:18","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T13:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=102406"},"modified":"2015-06-08T13:20:44","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T17:20:44","slug":"broadway-veteran-terrence-mann-stars-in-les-miserables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/05\/broadway-veteran-terrence-mann-stars-in-les-miserables\/","title":{"rendered":"Broadway Veteran Terrence Mann Stars In Les Mis\u00e9rables"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Terrence<\/a>
Terrence Mann (Inspector Javert), right, and\u00a0Luke Hamilton (Ensemble) in ‘Les Mis\u00e9rables: A Musical Celebration,’ onstage at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre. (Gerry Goodstein for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a list of acting credits that numbers 22 films and 19 stage productions, including starring roles in three of Broadway\u2019s longest-running musicals, Terrence Mann is one of the nation\u2019s most prominent actors, as well as a distinguished professor in musical theatre at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C.<\/p>\n

So when he is asked during a break in rehearsals for \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d why he has returned for the third time in recent years to the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Mann says simply:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds me of why I do what I do. I\u2019m a theater rat; it\u2019s where I\u2019ve always felt the best and feel at home. I come up here and it\u2019s that summer stock feeling. Everybody\u2019s here for that same reason. We have a ball. We feel like we\u2019re 18 or 20 years old. You always try to grab back that good feeling and the stuff you like to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Terrence<\/a>
Terrence Mann stars as Inspector Javert and directs the CRT production of ‘Les Mis\u00e9rables.’ (Gerry Goodstein for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mann is directing the production and reprising the role he originated on Broadway as Inspector Javert, for which he received his first Tony Award nomination. The CRT Nutmeg Summer Series production, which opens May 28 and runs through June 7 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, also includes Broadway veterans David Harris, Ariana DeBose, Philip Hoffman, and Liz Larsen.<\/p>\n

The production in Storrs takes the form of the popular \u201cEncores!\u201d series that focuses on the musical scores in what Mann describes as \u201ca reimagining\u201d of the Victor Hugo novel about a French peasant who breaks parole after serving a prison sentence for stealing a loaf of bread and is doggedly pursued by a police inspector.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s people singing at a microphone, but at any given moment we change the set to the inn, to Paris, creating the humanity in that moment,\u201d Mann says. \u201cWe\u2019re using projections to give the atmosphere of Paris. Everyone is dressed in black and wearing boots. We\u2019ll add a piece of clothing to suggest the period. I\u2019m trying to keep it at the edge so that you\u2019re having enough visual storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mann first came to prominence on Broadway as Rum Tum Tugger in the 1982 Andrew Lloyd Webber show \u201cCats,\u201d then originated the role of Javert in \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d in 1987, and earned another Tony Award nomination for his starring role in \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d in 1994. The shows are three of the top 10 longest-running Broadway productions. His film and television roles include \u201cA Chorus Line,\u201d \u201cThe 10 Million Dollar Getaway,\u201d \u201cA Circle on the Cross,\u201d \u201c30 Rock,\u201d and the current Netflix series \u201cSense8.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a long career as a performer, Mann often is asked by students in the master classes he teaches how they can find success for themselves. He says there is no great secret; primarily it is a combination of work and a bit of good fortune: \u201cIt\u2019s got to be a combination of being prepared, talent, being in the right place at the right time, and being lucky and taking advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He illustrates his statement with examples from his own career: \u201cI was given a break on Broadway by Joe Layton [for \u2018Cats\u2019]. I had to go to London and talk my way into an audition for \u2018Cats.\u2019 For \u2018Les Mis\u2019 they didn\u2019t want to see me. They said come for Valjean. I got Javert. Stuff happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>
David Harris (Jean Valjean), left, and Terrence Mann (Inspector Javert) in ‘Les Mis\u00e9rables.’ (Gerry Goodstein for UConn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CRT audiences know Mann from his roles in recent years in \u201cMy Fair Lady,\u201d \u201cMan of LaMancha,\u201d and directing \u201cPirates of Penzance.\u201d In addition to directing and acting in \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables,\u201d this summer he will play Captain Hook in the CRT production of \u201cPeter Pan.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2013 interview with Broadway.com about his various stage performances, Mann described playing Henry Higgins in the 2011 CRT production of \u201cMy Fair Lady\u201d as one of his most surprising experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had done it when I was in high school,\u201d he says. \u201cIt reminded me of how good musicals of that generation are, because you are swept up and carried along. You don\u2019t have to work that hard, you just have to be the vessel for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says the role he found the most fun to play was Frank \u2018N\u2019 Furter in the 2001 Broadway production of \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that made it so special \u2013 apart from the music and wackiness of it, and trying to emulate Tim Curry \u2013 is you have all those one-liners that people [in the audience] throw back at you in the moment,\u201d Mann says. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly improvising with the audience. Every time you walk out there you\u2019re going to hear something new, and you constantly have to be on your toes. Every performance was just electric because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d is part of the 2015 Nutmeg Summer Series of the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. For more information go to the CRT website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mann is directing the CRT production and reprising the role he originated on Broadway as Inspector Javert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":102536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-102406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 19:23:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102406"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102544,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102406\/revisions\/102544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/102536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102406"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=102406"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=102406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}