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Producer Jordan Spiro, left, with performers Mitch Master and Nick Sheehan
at rehearsal for a production of Les Miserables running June 30-July 3 at
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Production of Les Mis is a dream-
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Ronelle Grier

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LOWER SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE

for Preschool through Grade 5

Tuesday, July 9, 9am
Bloomfield Hills Campus

THE ROEPER SCHOOL IS AN EQUAL-OPPORTUNITY INSTITUTION

56

June 27 • 2013

JN

sanlon

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loomfield Hills native Justin
Spiro will realize a childhood
dream when the multi-award
winning musical Les Miserables opens
June 30 at Meadow Brook Theatre in
Rochester Hills. The show, which runs
for five performances through July 3,
is the creation of his company, Spiro
Productions, and the Other Mirror, a
theater company out of New York.
"I've loved musicals since I was 12:'
said Spiro, 26, a Cranbrook Schools
and Michigan State University alum-
nus who attends the John Marshall
Law School in Chicago and is a part-
owner, with his father, of an assisted
living facility in St. Clair Shores. "I
am a huge Les Mis fan and decided to
look into the possibility of producing
it locally:'
Spiro, who is not Jewish, first
contacted director Katherine Carter,
founder and artistic director of the
Other Mirror and a close friend of
his wife, Lynn, a Les Mis co-producer
who also will appear onstage. Carter
was enthusiastic about the project and
readily agreed to come to Michigan
and lend her talent to the production.
"I was lucky to have a brilliant direc-
tor in my social circle said Spiro, who,
with Carter, quickly assembled a pro-
duction team comprising local theater
professionals and a cast selected from
a pool of talented local actors.
Jewish cast members include Mitch
Master, director of the Performing and
Visual Arts Department at Frankel
Jewish Academy, as the nefarious
innkeeper Thenardier; and ensemble
member Nicholas (Nick) Sheehan, a

2013 Cranbrook Schools graduate.
When Master, who also is co-
director of the Roeper Summer Stock
Theatre Program in Birmingham, was
contacted by Carter, his former Roeper
theater student, he immediately agreed
to audition. The prolific stage per-
former and director of more than 70
musical youth-theater productions is
thrilled to be cast as the greedy and
devious Thenardier.
"I've always wanted to play a villain
but never got a chance said Master,
who also spent two years in Los
Angeles gaining film and television
experience. "It's a blast to play that
dark character; he's a bit of a devil — a
wolf in sheep's clothing:'
Master said the idea of doing a show
consisting entirely of singing was
somewhat daunting, but he soon over-
came his doubts and realized he was
up to the challenge. He continues to be
impressed by the professionalism and
talent of the cast and crew.
"I feel I'm part of something so
special and so quality:' he said, "and
it's mind-blowing to have a former
student at a high level of directing
— directing me — and doing it with
such passion. How thrilling that is for
a teacher:'
Master, 45, especially enjoys per-
forming the popular musical number
"Master of the House which provides
much-needed comic relief in a show
rife with angst and tragedy. That song
is a stark contrast to his other major
number, "Dog Eats Doe which he
sings while looting the bodies of fallen
revolutionaries in the sewers of Paris.
"That song is very intense he said,
"and it's challenging to use only lyrics,

Les Mis on page 59

