Goals in
the spotlightSPECIATHE

Eileen Tepper plays multiple roles in
"Les Miserables" and in her acting career.

lthough Eileen Tepper's fami-
ly is from New York, they will
be having a reunion in Michi-
gan during the Dec. 14-Jan.
run of Les Miserables at
the Fisher Theatre.
Ms. Tepper's stepsister,
Stacy LaVictoire, lives in
Ann Arbor with her hus-
band and 2-year-old son, and
the actress will be staying with
them.
"My father is married to her
mother, and they'll come out so
that everybody can see every-
body else at the same time,"
said Ms. Tepper, 30, who takes

A8

Eileen Tepper

on several roles in the touring
musical — a factory worker, two
different prostitutes, a drinker
at an inn, a homeless person
and a revolutionary fighter.
As one of two understudies
for the role of Fantine, Ms. Tep-
per has had to leave some of her
ensemble characters to others
on the 11 occasions she had to
fill in for the regular performer.
"For the most part, every-
body in this show plays an as-
sortment of characters,"
explained Ms. Tepper, who has
been in the production for 10
months. "Most of the principals
still have some ensemble
work, and it really isn't a
tough thing to do.
"Pretty much in every
scene we play somebody
else. We change costumes,
and the costumes are pret-
ty indicative of what the
characters are like. We're
all changing characters to-
gether, and that is helpful.
"We create a feeling and
ambience for the show."
Based on Victor Hugo's
classic novel, Les Miserables
is the story of fugitive Jean
Valjean's struggle to evade
capture by the cruel and
self-righteous Inspector
Javert in 19th-century
France.
"I saw the show nine
times before I was hired,"
said the actress, who per-
formed in Detroit four years
ago as a backstage singer in
Starlight Express, a musi-
cal featuring a cast on roller
skates.
"I wanted to do Les Mis-
erables since I heard the
recording.. The story is mag-
nificent, and the characters
are wonderful. It's easy to
fall in love with every sin-
gle person whose story is
heard in the show.
"We're really so lucky to
be bringing this to people.
It's a pretty incredible feel-

ing to look out into the audi-
ence, see people wiping their
eyes and know we've struck a
chord. I remember how I felt
when I saw the play for the first
time.
"It's very uplifting, and I
think most people walk out of
the theater feeling very good."
Ms. Tepper felt very good
about a theater career since she
was a youngster.
"I saw children my age on
TV, and I wanted to be them,"
she revealed. "I did shows in
high school, and I went to Syra-
cuse University as an acting
major. I graduated not really
knowing what to do and start-
ed auditioning.

"I have had some
great theater jobs,
and I have had to do
other things to
support myself in
between — waiting
tables and doing
word processing."

Eileen Tepper

"I have been a very typical,
struggling, New York actress. I
work some of the time, and
some of the time, I don't.
"I have had some great the-
ater jobs, and I have had to do
other things to support myself
in between — waiting tables
and doing word processing.
"Last summer I went to Italy
with a show called Encounter
500, which was about Christo-
pher Columbus, and I've always
felt that every job I had was a
step up."
Along the way, Ms. Tepper
continued with lessons. One
year after college, she began
voice studies, using the teacher

JEWISH NEWS

recommended by a colleague
she admired. Four years ago
she resumed dance classes,
which she had enjoyed since her
preteen years but stopped for a
while.
Ms. Tepper's first profes-
sional job was playing Dorothy
in The Wizard of Oz at a Long
Island theater. She went on to
play Li7zie in a New Jersey pro-
duction of Baby.
Particularly exciting for her
were performances with Shelly
Berman in La Cage Aux Folles
and Bonnie Franklin in Annie
Get Your Gun.
"One of my favorite roles was
playing Edwin in The Mystery
of Edwin Drood," she said about
being cast as a male. "Original-
ly on Broadway, Edwin was
played by Betty Buckley.
"The show is a play within a
play, so I actually was playing
a woman who was playing Ed-
win Drood. It was a little com-
plicated, a challenge and a lot
of fun."
Ms. Tepper's character was
in keeping with the bygone
practice of casting women as
young boys.
Grateful that most of the
roles she has done are ones that
she really wanted to do, Ms.
Tepper, who is single, keeps to
her professional objectives.
"One of the biggest goals I've
had was doing Les Miserables,
and I'm doing it," she said. "I've
never done a strictly Jewish
musical as much as I would love
to do that. I celebrate every
Jewish holiday and would love
to do Fiddler on the Roof.
"My goals keep changing as
I meet a lot of them. I'm sup-
porting myself as an actress,
and that was a big goal. I'd re-
ally like to work in New York,
and that's my next goal."
"Les Miserable? is being per-
formed Dec. 14 - Jan. 8 at the
Fisher Theatre. For information,
call the theater, 872-1000. ❑

