Ethan Berl as Marius holds the dying Eponine, played by Caitlin Dobbs, in the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company's production of “Les Misérables.” (photo courtesy Doug Abbott) (click to enlarge)

By Linda Song
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Sunday, Nov. 26, 2006, The OG, features & arts

EVERY JANUARY, AN estimated 4,000 students and teachers come together to participate in the Illinois High School Theatre Festival, a three-day event that consists of more than 25 theatrical performances and 150 workshops. This year's festival will be held Jan. 4-6 on the campus of the University of Illinois.

One highlight of this event is the all-state production, which features cast, crew, and orchestra members from schools throughout Illinois. In recent years Uni students have been among the select few chosen for the production.

Last year, Paige Martin — now a senior — performed in the 2006 all-state cast of “A Chorus Line.”

This year, junior Ethan Berl made it into the 2007 all-state cast of the musical “Les Misérables,” based on the novel by Victor Hugo.

When sign-ups for all-state auditions began last spring, Berl was already participating as a cast member in the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company's student edition of “Les Misérables.”

CUTC's production ran from June 23 to July 2 at the Virginia Theatre. In most of the performances, Berl played multiple roles as a convict, a student, and a wedding dancer. But he also had the pleasant surprise of acting as Marius for the first two performance nights when the original actor fell ill.

Auditions for all-state were held June 10-11 and 17-18. Berl attended auditions at Centennial High School for the role of one of the student revolutionary leaders in the play, and was called back for further auditions in Chicago.

There he was instead asked to sing the parts for Gavroche, a fierce young street rat who plays a decisive role during the barricade.

“They asked me to sing it all in falsetto and that was not favorable,” remarked Berl wryly.

In the end, Berl was judged too tall for Gavroche and too short and young for the role of Enjolras, but he remained as a member of the chorus as well as gaining the part of Babet, one of Thenardier's gang.

“It is interesting to participate in two ‘Les Mis,'” he said. “It helps to know the show and maybe to be able to pick up on some more subtle lines.”

When the new school year started, Berl made his way up to Chicago for rehearsals every three-day weekend.

“So far [managing school and rehearsal] is not too bad,” he said early this fall. “It might get worse as the school year progresses.”

As the case turned out, on top of juggling schoolwork and all-state rehearsals, Berl had to fit in time to prepare for his role as Ed in Uni's fall play, “You Can't Take It With You,” which was performed Nov. 2-4. All of this was in addition to his schedule as a musician; Berl was named to the Illinois Music Educators Association District III Chorus as a tenor I and Jazz Ensemble III as a trumpet player.

Not surprisingly, Berl has come back from the all-state rehearsals tired — but he has no regrets.

“Everyone at all-state is amazing” he said. “It's all worth it.”

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