Last week, the LHS theater department put on its biggest production ever with a performance of “Les Misérables.”

Les Misérables was written by Victor Hugo in 1862. It is the story of an ex-convict named Jean Valjean. After being released from prison, Valjean goes to the town of Digne in search of work, but no one will help him because of his reputation. There he meets M. Myriel, who decides to help him, but only if Valjean promises to become a better man.

During his journey of self improvement, Valjean adopts Cosette, the daughter of Fantine, a woman who died after she became an escort in order to pay for her daughters’ well being. Ten years later, a revolution breaks out. Many people die with only a few survivors left, but in the end, Cosette marries one of the survivors from the revolution.

Theater teacher Stephanie Winters said she decided to bring the production to Liberty after she saw the play herself. She was so moved by the storyline and the production that she wanted to bring the play to life via the LHS theater department.

“‘Les Mis’ just really struck me,” Winters said. “I felt something that I really hadn’t felt in a while seeing live theater, and I thought that I just had to bring this back to the kids.”

“Les Misérables” starred many Liberty seniors, including Cameron Nise as Jean Valjean, Trent Sandland as Javert, Kathryn Kingwell as Fantine and Allexys Johnson as Madame Thenardier. Many other LHS theater students participated in the play alongside students from surrounding middle and elementary schools, who were invited to be extras. Students came from Scoggins, Vandeventer and Fowler middle schools, while elementary school participants came from Norton and Comstock.

“Les Mis” required more than 12 weeks of preparation for the more than 87 cast and crew members and was performed four times over three days. While other high schools were performing shows like “Beauty and the Beast,” Liberty set new standards for high school productions.

“This play has been the biggest production ever,” Winters said. “We went out into the community to get more cast members to mix into the works; it’s the most lighting cues, most members, most everything. It is the biggest production we have ever had.”

The next production that is coming up is the LHS talent show, which will be held on Feb. 13.