Villains are forever, or so it seems for Terrence Mann, who returns to the role that he originated on Broadway 28 years ago as Inspector Javert in the blockbuster and revolutionary musical “Les Misérables.”
Mann, who received Tony Award nominations for “Les Miz,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Pippin,” stars and directs a staged concert version of the show for Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nutmeg Summer Series. The show plays through June 7.
In the last few years, Mann has found an artistic summer home with Connecticut Repertory Theatre on the Storrs campus, having previously starred in “My Fair Lady” and “Man of La Mancha” at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre.
The fully costumed, staged concert version received special permission to be presented by the licensing agency for the show, which is also having a Broadway revival.
Age isn’t an issue in playing this obsessive villain. The musical begins with Javert as a young man and then the story jumps many years later as it follows his dogged pursuit of escaped prisoner — and the show’s hero — Jean Valjean.
Mann was 36 when he starred in the 1987 show, closer to the age of Javert in the first scene. Now, at 63, he’s closer to the age of Javert as played in most of the show’s scenes.
As for returning to the role, he says a lot of it is “muscle memory.” Mann experienced a similar feeling of acting déja vu when he was asked back to close the Broadway show in 2003 during the musical’s original run — 15 years after he last played the role.
“It’s something that’s so deep in my DNA now that it’s always there,” he says, “and hopefully, it’s better now than it was then. The thing I have learned as an actor is to go out there and be empty when I begin and then, with all the information that I’ve had over the years of doing it, just coming through. Hopefully that’s all going to come out.”
Seeing ‘Stars’
The Kentucky-born, Florida-raised Mann got his start in professional acting when he attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, where his mentor was Malcolm Morrison, former dean at the Hartt School at the University of Hartford. For many years Mann was a regular at Morrison’s North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.
In the ’80s, he moved to New York, where his career took off with his first Broadway role in the musical “Barnum” in 1982.
Besides his acting career, Mann is also a professor of musical theater at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C. When teaching, he often sees students performing roles that he originated, roles they grew up with in recordings and subsequent productions.
He says a trio of signature songs from three separate shows is now standards for young male performers: “Stars, “If I Can’t Love Her” from “Beauty and the Beast” and “Where’s the Girl?” from “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” “I come across a lot of young people who sing [Javert’s big number] ‘Stars’ at auditions. These songs are in their blood.”
Javert from “Les Misérables” is far from his only iconic role. He also has a fan base for his performance as Rum Tum Tugger in “Cats” and for the cult film “Critters.” And as famous a role as Javert is, it was his title role in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” in 1994 that really resonated in large numbers with audiences.
“That was because that show had the Disney juggernaut, press-wise,” says Mann. “I remember getting [fan] letters sent to my home.”
Mann will follow “Les Misérables” at UConn with another role he has played before: Captain Hook in the musical “Peter Pan,” which will play the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre June 18 to July 3. One difference in this production is that the title character will be played by a young man.
Mann also starred as The Man in the Yellow Suit in “Tuck Everlasting,” a new musical that premiered earlier this year at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre. The show will open on Broadway next April.
“LES MISÉRABLES.“ plays through June 7 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn campus in Storrs. Information: crt.uconn.edu.
