CHARACTERS

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Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean is the hero of the show. It is his life journey that we follow. Jean Valjean is supposed to be stronger than other men, and so he should physically appear robust. He should carry himself confidently onstage and come across to the audience as reasonably mature and paternal. Valjean’s capacity for change is his greatest asset throughout the story. The key to his character is his great humanity and compassion. 

Gender: Male
Vocal range top: A4
Vocal range bottom: G#2

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Javert
Javert is the inspector who serves as antagonist to Jean Valjean. Javert is unswerving in his belief that men cannot change for the better. "Once a thief, always a thief" is his mantra. At first glance, Javert might appear to be the villain of the story, but upon closer examination, it is clear that he is not an evil man. He is a dedicated policeman with a profoundly strong sense of duty. Unlike Valjean, Javert's attitudes are rigid and unmovable. He is stern, forbidding, and lacking in compassion. 

Gender: Male
Vocal range top: F#4
Vocal range bottom: F2

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Fantine
Fantine is the beautiful, young girl who, abandoned by her lover, is left to fend for herself and her daughter, Cosette. She is rejected by society and forced through circumstances to sell herself. She is a brave woman defeated by life who clings to her dignity and is sustained by her love for her daughter, sacrificing everything for the young Cosette. The audience witnesses her descent through a series of terrible events leading to poverty, hunger, cold, loneliness, destitution, and death from consumption. 

Gender: Female
Vocal range top: Eb5
Vocal range bottom: F3

 

Eponine
Eponine is the Thénardiers’ daughter. Living hand to mouth, she survives by helping her father in his life of crime. She is a young girl who is streetwise and tough but also sensitive and lonely. This tragic character is hopelessly in love with Marius, knowing that he will never love her. She bravely follows Marius to the barricades in the hope that they will die there together. She sings one of the most famous numbers in the show, “On My Own.”

Gender: Female
Vocal range top: E5
Vocal range bottom: F3

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Enjolras

Enjolras is the student leader. He is handsome, brave, and daring, although youthful. He combines his revolutionary ideals with strong, charismatic leadership. Victor Hugo described him as “a thinker and a man of action.” On the barricade, he should dominate everyone else physically and vocally. He should be a natural leader oozing with charisma. The original Enjolras won a Tony Award for his performance so it is a show stealing role if done right. His death at the barricade is one of the dramatic highlights of the show.

Gender: Male

Vocal range top: G4

Vocal range bottom: A2

 

Cosette

Cosette is Fantine’s strong-willed, loving daughter. She is an intelligent, inquiring, personable girl; she is not in any sense a sappy, romantic heroine. Once she is adopted by Jean Valjean, Cosette lives a comfortable, if secluded, life. She falls instantly in love with Marius, changing her world and her priorities. 

Gender: Female

Vocal range top: C6

Vocal range bottom: Bb3

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Marius

Marius is the romantic hero of the story. He is impulsive, passionate, willful, and headstrong. His moods change according to his circumstances. He is sweet and tender but also capable of great courage and compassion. In Act I, Marius plays Romeo to Cosette’s Juliet. Marius matures after “The Café Song” as a result of his experiences on the barricade. 

Gender: Male

Vocal range top: Ab4

Vocal range bottom: A2

 

Thénardier

Thénardier is the true villain of Les Misérables School Edition . That said, he should also possess a wicked sense of humour. He delights in cheating, robbing, defrauding, and blackmailing, and relishes every aspect of his schemes with glee. He is tough, greedy, brutal, lowbrow, crafty and yet irresistible. He hates society and blames it and everyone else for all his misfortune. Thénardier is also the opportunist and realist of the show. He is a thief, a liar, a cheat, and steals valuables from the dead with no remorse. He is also the comic relief of the production. However, his comedy is based in reality. He is married to Madame Thénardier and is father to Eponine and Gavroche (although he abandoned Gavroche to the streets of Paris). 

Gender: Male

Vocal range top: G4

Vocal range bottom: C2

 

Madame Thénardier

She is married to Thénardier. Together, Madame Thénardier and Thénardier con the world as partners in crime. They were made for each other, and although she complains about him, she loves him dearly. She is coarse and vulgar, unhappy in her existence without knowing why. She is romantic, greedy, manipulative, evil, and larger than life. She is mean and nasty to Little Cosette and able to improvise in nearly any situation. 

Gender: Female

Vocal range top: D5

Vocal range bottom: G#3

 

Gavroche

Gavroche is Thénardier’s son. He is left to fend for himself and lives by his wits in the streets of Paris. His archenemy is Javert, the policeman. Gavroche is brave, witty, and arrogant, with a fantastic, unchanged voice. For comparison, think of a young Artful Dodger.  Gavroche has a very dramatic death at the barricade. 

Gender: Male

Vocal range top: G5

Vocal range bottom: B3

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Members of the ABC Society (soloists)

Members of the ABC society: Combeferre, Feuilly, Courfeyrac, Joly, Prouvaire, Lesgles, and Grantaire. These characters compose a secret society of students and workers. The letters A, B, and C, as pronounced in French, make the word “abaisse,” which means “the underdog” or “the people below.” The members are drawn from wealthy families and have chosen to fight for freedom, in stark contrast to the poor who have no choice due to their downtrodden circumstance. These characters all have their own specific characterisation and solo singing lines.

Vocal range top: Varied

Vocal range bottom: Varied

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Bishop Of Digne

The Bishop is a good man who saves Valjean’s soul through showing compassion. Despite only appearing briefly, it is a key role. The Bishop of Digne’s kindness carefully establishes the premise of the show by literally buying Jean Valjean’s soul for God. 

Gender: Male

Vocal range top: E4

Vocal range bottom: A2

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Young Cosette

Young Cosette is Fantine’s daughter and the Thénardiers’ ward. She has been forced into child labor. She is underfed, beaten by Madame Thénardier, and bullied by Eponine. She is sweet, innocent and childlike - someone the audience instantly warms to.

Gender: Female

Vocal range top: C5

Vocal range bottom: A3

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Other Soloists

Including Chain Gang Members, Constables, Farmer, the Foreman, Factory Soloists, 'Lovely Ladies', Sailors, Bamatabois, Old Woman, Pimp, Onlookers, Fauchelevant, Young Eponine, Brujon, Babet, Claquesous, Montparnasse, Laborer, Army Officer, Women, Major Domo, 

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