IF?there was ever any doubt about the wealth of musical and dramatic talent in Abergavenny, the students of King Henry VIII?School well and truly put it to bed this week when they staged the school edition of the hugely difficult musical Les Miserables at the town’s Borough Theatre.

One of the world’s longest running shows, there can be few who haven’t either seen the stage version, the film version or at least heard most of the music sung by tenors, sopranos and countless male voice choirs, which makes it quite a challenge for any company to perform.

It’s also a big sing...a very big sing. With a lead character who rarely leaves the stage and a supporting cast which faces some incredibly taxing music, Les Miserables is not a choice for the faint hearted and it is to the credit of director Leanne Phillips and musical director Matthew Hunt that they had the courage to take on the show with a cast of students who are combining rehearsal with schoolwork.

In the lead role of Jean Valjean, Steel Quinnell grew ever more confident and the evening progressed. His powerful voice impressed as he developed from the anguished prisoner to the loving father, with his final scenes with Cosette particularly touching and vulnerable.

As his nemesis Javert, Kieran Moss was again impressive both in the iconic ‘Stars’ and the tortured suicide scene which saw the entire audience holding its breath as he teetered on the edge of the precipice.

Ben Barker and Millie Francis as Marius and Cosette worked well together in two difficult roles, while Emily James excelled as Eponine, with her emotional performance of ‘On My Own’ simultaneously bringing the house down and marking her out as one to watch in the future.

Another star in the making is certain to be Year Seven’s Shaun Edwards, who may prefer sport to drama but certainly scored with his performance as Gavroche.

Good support came from Chloe Thomas as Fantine, Kerrigan Heffernan as Enjolras, Ella Griffiths as Little Cosette and Lily Newsam as Little Eponine.

Acting honours of the night however must go to the brilliant teaming of Matthew Jones and Meg Trinder as the larger than life Thenardier and Madame Thenardier.

In a musical packed with iconic numbers, they don’t come more loaded with expectation than the lively and comedic ‘Master of the House’ and these two certainly played it for every possible laugh bringing some much needed light relief to this and indeed their every appearance.

It is a mark of their acting skills that the production’s two most immoral and unlikeable characters got the biggest cheer at the final curtain.

It’s sometimes overlooked that the best efforts of the principal players would be for naught if they weren’t supported by a strong chorus and in this the cast from King?Henry were well served to say the least.

From the opening number to the final note, the large chorus gave its all with the strong harmonies coming through well and everyone confident in their place on stage.

There were of course some first night glitches - the lighting was slightly under par in places, the orchestra was sometimes overpowering which meant some of the words were lost and things became confused and added to the strain for young voices and diction as always was a bit of a problem, but on the whole this was a production to be incredibly proud of.

It is always refreshing to see young people on stage and to know that the future of amateur theatre is safe in their hands and it’s even better to know that these young people all come from our town’s comprehensive school...but then all the best folks do!