A few weeks ago, I was driving down Maine Street and spotted the overhead banner advertising the Brunswick High School Players performance of “Les Miserables.” That might be fun, I mused, even though I’d seen this memorable musical performed professionally several times. Tina agreed, so we went to the Crooker Theater an hour before the show on Friday night to get good seats. No luck, no tickets. So we bought tickets for Saturday night.

Five minutes into the show, I turned to Tina and whispered, “Holy (expletive deleted)! This is amazing!” And so it was. Everything about the BHS rendition of “Les Miserables” was magnificent: the set, the singing, the acting, the dancing, the orchestra, the choreography, the spirit. It was easily the best high school performance we’ve ever seen anywhere, and we’ve attended events at top high schools in Maryland, Massachusetts and Maine. Moreover, it ranked up there with professional presentation, an amazing feat given the limited experience of the young performers. The male singers even held their own with the female singers, a rarity at the high school level. We joined other audience members in the standing ovation; I daresay that every show would have sold out had another weekend been added.

I met with Pam Mutty, the theater director at BHS for 23 years, to find out how you get a bunch of high school kids to put on such a spectacular show. ‘I was hired during the last year at the old High School,” she explained, “and they wanted to make the Crooker Theater the crown jewel of the new High School. It’s a luxury to have our own space for rehearsing and performing.”

I asked Pam how the production went off with nary a hitch, and she said, “We were able to run through the entire show for two weeks, so the kids were very well rehearsed by the time the show went on. As a result, they could concentrate on the characters they were playing, rather than on remembering their lines or stage directions.”

Pam stressed that huge credit should be given to Ashley Albert ( the Music Director), Drew Albert (the Orchestra Conductor), Carla Selberg, the Costume Designer) and Linda Gardiner (the Choreographer). This group has consistently teamed to put together fine productions, but as Pam noted, putting on “Les Miserables” required a significant addition to the ensemble: the parents. “I get emotional thinking about the phenomenal support of the parents. I can’t say enough about everything they did.” She made special mention of Chris Moore, a parent responsible for the design and construction of the barricade.

When asked how performing on stage benefits the students as well as the audience, Pam said, “At Brunswick High School, the theater cuts across grades and cliques and even disabilities. Students get to know kids they wouldn’t normally be around, and they all come together like a family. They do something they never could have imagined themselves doing.”

Members of the Brunswick High School Players put on a drama every fall and a musical every spring. Pam makes sure that every student who wants to participate in the spring musical gets to take part if they’re willing to work hard, either on stage or behind the scenes. As a result, every student experiences the satisfaction of contributing to something big.

For those of you who wondering if I’ve overstated the quality of the BHS Players production of “Les Miserables,” I suggest you go to You Tube and check out “Brunswick High School Players ‘Les Miserables’ Trailer.”

Anyone who questions the value of the arts should heed the wisdom of Winston Churchill on the subject. When asked to cut arts funding to support the war effort, Churchill replied: “Then what are we fighting for?”

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary or suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” at columns dtreadwe575@aol.com.