by Alec Brown. @brownta3.
Lincoln, NE - Scandal has plagued the halls of Lincoln North Star High this week as Stephanie Abrams, drama club President and lead in the school musical three years running, was cast as Factory Girl #5 in the fall production of Les Misérables, while sophomore Lindsay Withers was cast as Fantine - a move which left many students crying conspiracy.
“Everyone knows that I should have been Fantine,” said Abrams. “Honestly, this is [drama club director] Mr. Robinson trying to sabotage my future. I’m auditioning for Julliard with the fallbacks of CCM and U-M. I need the perfect resume. He obviously scouted Lindsay and convinced her family to move to this school district just to make sure I wouldn’t have it. He’s had it out for me since that article in the school paper quoted me saying his direction of A Christmas Story was ‘drab and unimaginative.’ I guess this is payback.”
Withers unexpectedly transferred to North Star over the winter holiday, quickly stealing the eye of director Mr. Robinson. His decision to cast Withers over Abrams left North Star theatre goers and Drama Club members speechless - representing a corruption of power previously unheard of in this small Nebraska town. Robinson, however, had a few choice words for those who cry traitor.
“What?”retorted Mr. Robinson. “That makes no sense. I knew that Stephanie would be busy with college auditions. I cast her in a smaller role so she could focus on those. I’m not trying to get back at her - I’m her teacher and she is a literal child. I’m not gonna sabotage her future because she had an opinion about my direction, albeit she was kind of mean and aggressive.”
Abrams was able to find a silver lining to her roll.
“Factory Girl #5 is practically the life blood of the show. When she takes that letter from Fantine, the real plot of the show begins. I had the privilege of creating her back story. Making the decision of if she is really sleeping with the Forman helped me create a fully realized and complex character. It has been so fulfilling to create Celeste out of nothing. Oh, I named her Celeste. It felt right.”
Les Miserables has moved its performance weekend to April 4-7th at Mr. Robinson’s request, a highly controversial move as this is the exact weekend of Abrams Juilliard audition. Protests are expected to continue outside of Mr. Robinson’s office for a 4th straight day.