Pope John High School presents ‘Les Miserables'

SPARTA — The Pope John Players are ready for the production of “Les Miserables.” The huge undertaking has a cast of 125 students (70 percent of whom are also athletes), while in the orchestra pit, 11 students from Sparta High School will join those from Pope John. Shows are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25; Friday, Feb. 26; and Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 available only at the door. All concession proceeds will benefit childhood cancer research through Making Headways (brain cancer foundation) and Alex’s lemonade Stand in honor of the area children combating childhood cancer. The annual cast donation will go to “The Cure” in honor of cast member Kimberly Piwko, who has epilepsy. The Sussex County High School premiere of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables features all the traditional numbers from the Broadway production in a two-and-a-half-hour format. The production was fortunate to secure some of the original costumes from the National Touring Company. The play is under the direction of Pope John XXIII instructor Jacquelyn Burt Esq. Burt is a lawyer and former assistant dean at a New York area law school who began teaching at Pope John after 9/11 to be closer to home for her two then-young children. She produced numerous musicals while at Harvard as an undergrad and worked on Broadway for a year and a half prior to law school. including as an assistant to George C. Scott and for producer Bob Buckley.