Photo by Ariel Vogel

Boobs everywhere. Suggestive winks. Flirty smiles. Loud singing.
In other words, the Les Miserables prostitutes.

These eleven girls have to sing, flirt, and be sexy to make their role beleviable. Their choreography includes a lot of leaning forward, crawling, and slinking around . Some of the prostitutes are still learning to cope with their seductive characters.

“[It’s hard] to do something you never would do in real life, like the movements. To not be too shy; to just do it without thinking to much,” junior Marie von Setten said.
Senior Amber Carter agrees and adds that it’s weird with the boys.

“Mocking these really sensual scenes with guys I have no feelings towards is definitely a challenge,” Carter said.
Awkwardness is not limited to the ladies. A few of the men have a hard time getting used to picking up the “prostitutes.”

“It’s really awkward because a lot of them are my friends and I’ve never thought of them as pieces of meat,” sophomore Evan Yoder said.

In order to play these characters, the actors have to prepare themselves. “Getting into character is the hardest part.It’s really odd,” freshman Rachel Cavato said.

Senior Dylan Norquest, who plays the pimp, has a very strange ritual for getting himself into the zone. “I get really grimy, and I make weird faces,” he explained.

As a pimp, Norquest said he likes the fact that there are girls crawling into his lap at all times. “They also give me back rubs during some of the scenes, so that’s nice.”

As for von Setten’s favorite part, she said it’s hard to say.
“I like the costumes so far; they’re really cool.” The costumes consist of corsets and fluffy skirts. “The corsets are really tight and the skirts are cool. They’re long but pinned up so you can see the legs,’ said von Setten.

All the girls adore the costumes so far. “They’re pretty raunchy,” said junior Lydia Hatfield. “Some are questionable, but still fun.”
Carter agreed wholeheartedly. “Everyone has got to love a lace corset; you can’t go wrong with those.”

For some of the more theater-oriented families, hearing that they’re daughter was a whore was no big deal, as they’d seen the show or knew the basic storyline.

“[For my parents] it was no big deal. They’re pretty familiar with the show,” explained Carter.
For others, casting came as a shock. von Stetten, who is a German exchange student, had to explain her role to her family back home.

“I Skyped with my parents, and I told them I was in the musical. They were all congratulating me when I told them I was a whore. Then they were like ‘what?!’ My mom really freaked out! I explained the storyline to them, though, so they calmed down,” von Setten laughed.

In Cavato’s case, her parents already knew the storyline, so she got no interesting reactions there. The conversations her mother had on Facebook, though, got a little ridiculous. “[When the cast list went up] Mia’s mom put, ‘Never thought I’d be so proud of my little whore.’

That was funny and all, and then Andy Perrine commented, ‘At least she’s not a drunk whore!’” Cavato’s mom, being the mother of the drunk whore, defended her daughter. “‘Hey, that’s my daughter you’re talking about!’”

Through all the parent drama and crazy costumes, you can tell the whores are having fun and making the most of their “slutty roles.” The choreography is out of comfort zones all over the place, but they are taking it and running with it.
As Mikala Wolter said, “[Being a whore] is a hard life.”

Ian Richard provides musical accompaniment for actors on stage. Photo by Mia Karr

Richard started piano lessons in third grade. He went on to play tuba in his high school band, and then came to James Madison University as a piano and tuba major. He was the drum major for the marching band, played in a variety of other bands such as symphonic and concert band, and sang with the men’s chorus. He also dabbled in a variety of instruments such as the flute, clarinet, and saxophone. The year before last he was a student teacher at HHS.

“HHS is awesome!” Richard said. “I had a really great teaching experience. I have a really great time working with Ms. Houff and Mr. Snow and Mr. Nesmith.” He also enjoys working with the musical, as it gives him a rare chance to play piano, but admits the show is not without it’s challenges.
“[The hardest part of the show is] making sure that all the little moving parts are working together,” Richard said. In addition to playing piano, he also rehearses vocals for the cast. His previous musical theater experience includes being director of a non-profit musical theater summer camp in Northern Virginia called “The Growing Stage.” If he were performing in Les Mis instead of playing the piano, he would want to play the show’s villain, Javert.

“[Javert’s] character is so conflicted. I find the internal conflict  very interesting,” Richard said. His favorite song in the show to play is “Stars”, one of Javert’s solos.

When Richard is not consumed with music for his job, he prefers to listen to Indie music. Other hobbies include motorcycling, being outdoors, hiking and camping.

“Music takes up a lot of my life,” Richard said. His advice to those who also want to pursue music as a career is simply to practice. “I’ve never felt that talented, I just had to put in a lot of time.” He will continue to live by that mantra until opening night.

ESL teacher Hunter Rush instructs students about the fifty states. He is a first year teacher at Smithland Elementary School. Photo by Kavya Beheraj

Some say that the rewards of teaching greatly outweigh the time, effort, and energy that it takes to achieve success with the students. ESL teachers across Harrisonburg City Public Schools, such as Smithland Elementary ESL teacher Hunter Rush, know this well.
“Teaching is an extremely difficult, yet rewarding job,” Rush said. “I am fortunate to be able to work with so many different students, but it’s tough figuring out each child’s learning styles and personal interests.”
The job of being an ESL teacher differs from regular teaching jobs because of the nature of the students involved. Some have newly immigrated to the United States and may not be proficient in English. In addition, “many students [have been] dealing with problems that students who grow up in the U.S. never [had] to confront, i.e., living in war zones,” said HHS ESL teacher Ruth Davis. Davis has been teaching for twelve years.
Finding effective ways to teach these students is one of the challenges ESL teachers have to face. Rush has found that the strategies are highly individualized.
“The one-size-fits-all approach does not apply to any well-managed, engaged classroom,” Rush said. “Teaching is about individual students and figuring out what works for them. There is no real formula to reaching every child other than [to] be willing to try.”
Another difficulty faced by ESL teachers is students who do not wish to co-operate. HHS ESL teacher Rachel Hershberger, who has been teaching for sixteen years, believes that a bad attitude can affect the entire classroom.
“[My job is most difficult] when I have a student who is very negative and hateful towards me and the other students in the class,” Hershberger said. “It’s amazing how one person’s negative attitude can change the atmosphere of a class.”
In addition, the preparation involved for teaching a class is also heavy, going far beyond the standard 9 to 5, forty hours a week.
“You do take your work home with you, and you will likely put in more than 60 hours a week when all is said and done. You’ll love just about every minute of it too as long as you are prepared,” Rush said.
Davis didn’t anticipate a few aspects of the job before she began teaching.
“I didn’t expect all the paperwork, bell schedules, and heavy emphasis on test scores,” Davis said.
However, aspiring ESL teachers should not give up hope. According to the teachers, focusing on the good while moving on from the bad is one of the keys to teaching and enjoying the job.
“Don’t sweat the little stuff. Tomorrow is a new day!” Hershberger said.
Rush also emphasizes the importance of establishing a personal connection with each student, a part of teaching that he greatly enjoys.
“I work with students whose first language is not English. I greet them and their parents in their first language to show them that I care, they are important and that I appreciate their culture,” Rush said. “I hope to achieve the respect of each of my students and earn the honor of calling myself their teacher.”
Teaching in any field has its own rewards and surprises that make every day unique. Davis recalls a memory of a few of her former students, who were still grasping conversational English.
“Some of my more interesting memories have to do with some very studious Chinese students who told me (very proudly) that they were learning more about American pronunciation and conversational styles by watching movies,” Davis said.
Davis said that the students became proficient at repeating dialogue from the movies. However, the movies that the students watched were about street criminals.

“It took some time before they realized that this was NOT the English language they should be learning,” Davis said.

Rush offers some advice to ESL teachers new in the field – a position he knows very well, since this is his first year of teaching.

“Ask questions. Don’t be ashamed of your inexperience,” Rush said. “Smile. Don’t take anything personally. Kids are honest and sometimes it hurts when you hear that a student is bored or that you have coffee breath. They keep you on your toes. Embrace that.”

In the end, the reward for many ESL teachers, especially in high school, is to see a student be successful in their class, whether it leads to a diploma or a greater mastery of reading.
“[The most rewarding part of my job is] the relationship I have with my students. Also it is very rewarding to run into students who have graduated and are now productive members of society!” Hershberger said.
Davis agrees.
“The most rewarding thing for me is to see my former students cross the stage with a diploma in hand,” Davis said.
According to Rush, teaching is a valuable and ultimately very rewarding job, however high the workload may be.
“What is most rewarding is the opportunity to make learning fun and exciting,” Rush said. “I get to make a difference every day – a palpable difference that makes the 60+ hours a week all worth it.”