Father Knows Best

The fatherhood story of “Les Miserables” has a special resonance for actress new to touring.

Actress Addie Morales describes a childhood where most extracurricular activities didn’t hold her interest. When she was 12 years old, her dad had a suggestion.

“He just kind of noticed that I had a nice voice and he asked, ‘what do you think about voice lessons?’” recalls Morales. “I said, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’ He asked me every single day for months, not in an abrasive way, just straightforward. Finally I agreed to take one voice lesson.”

You know where this is going: more than a decade since that first fateful voice lesson, with credits in more than a dozen professional productions under her belt, Morales will be coming to Richmond in the touring production of “Les Miserables,” starring as Cosette. The production will run at the Altria Theater for eight performances starting March 22nd.

The epic sweep of “Les Mis,” adapted from the sprawling 1862 novel by Victor Hugo, encompasses questions of good and evil, redemption and revolution, hope and despair. But it is the story of Jean Valjean as adoptive father, who saves young Cosette from squalor after he inadvertently contributes to her mother’s death, that speaks most distinctly to Morales.

“Cosette’s story really calls to me specifically because of that special relationship with her father figure,” Morales says. “Jean Valjean truly becomes her dad and her source of home and comfort.”

The current tour of “Les Mis” kicked off last October and will visit 31 cities through June of 2024. While she’s traveled to different cities to star in shows in the past, this production is Morales’s first national tour and a sense of comfort is on her mind more than ever.

“I’m a little bit of a homebody and I love settling somewhere, making a cozy space, and there’s not time for that on tour,” she explains. “It’s been difficult, but I’m learning a lot from people who have toured before.”

Raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Morales started showing up regularly in productions at regional theater Casa Mañana while still a teenager, starring in “Sweeney Todd” and “The Buddy Holly Story.” She’s portrayed the lovestruck Maria in “West Side Story” a total of three times at different theaters.

Morales notes how the whirlwind romance between Maria and Tony parallels the relationship between Cosette and Marius in “Les Mis.” “I tend to sit really comfortably in that love-at-first sight giddiness,” she says. “I think it’s a natural part of my personality. Fun, excited, bubbly is kind of where I sit in real life so it’s easy for me to generate that on stage.”

“Les Mis” has been a perennial favorite in Richmond, with touring shows appearing here six times since 1990, the last production coming through in 2018. Even those familiar with the show may find some surprises in the diversity of this cast. In addition to Morales, who is Latina, the cast features Black actors portraying Fantine and Marius (Haley Dortch and Gregory Lee Rodriguez) and Korean-American actor Christine Heesun Hwang playing Eponine.

“A lot of my resume is made up of shows with specifically Latino casts,” says Morales. “What’s new for me is appearing in a show that is not traditionally cast diversely. I think it is really exciting and also why our production is special.”

She is an enthusiastic booster of the show’s Marius. “I can’t wait for people to hear [Gregory’s] version of the character, both for his emotional depth and just the sweet timbre of his voice; it is really unique,” Morales says.

But for Morales the most emotional moment of the tour so far happened late last year. “The first time my parents could come see the show was around Christmas in Detroit,” she remembers. “I could barely keep it together having my actual dad in the audience. Nick Cartell, who plays Valjean, was awesome; I was crying all over him that night.”

“Les Miserables” will play for eight performances, Mar. 22-26, at the Altria Theater. Tickets available at BroadwayInRichmond.com.

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