Boobs everywhere. Suggestive winks. Flirty smiles. Loud singing.
In other words, the Les Miserables prostitutes.

These eleven girls have to sing, flirt, and be sexy to make their role believable. Their choreography includes a lot of leaning forward, crawling, and slinking around. Some of the prostitutes are still learning to cope with their seductive characters.

“[It’s hard] to do something you never would do in real life, like the movements. To not be too shy; to just do it without thinking to much,” junior Marie von Setten said.
Senior Amber Carter agrees and adds that it’s weird with the boys.

“Mocking these really sensual scenes with guys I have no feelings towards is definitely a challenge,” Carter said.
Awkwardness is not limited to the ladies. A few of the men have a hard time getting used to picking up the “prostitutes.”

“It’s really awkward because a lot of them are my friends and I’ve never thought of them as pieces of meat,” sophomore Evan Yoder said.

In order to play these characters, the actors have to prepare themselves. “Getting into character is the hardest part. It’s really odd,” freshman Rachel Cavato said.

Senior Dylan Norquest, who plays the pimp, has a very strange ritual for getting himself into the zone. “I get really grimy, and I make weird faces,” he explained.

As a pimp, Norquest said he likes the fact that there are girls crawling into his lap at all times. “They also give me back rubs during some of the scenes, so that’s nice.”

As for von Setten’s favorite part, she said it’s hard to say.
“I like the costumes so far; they’re really cool.” The costumes consist of corsets and fluffy skirts. “The corsets are really tight and the skirts are cool. They’re long but pinned up so you can see the legs,’ said von Setten.

All the girls adore the costumes so far. “They’re pretty raunchy,” said junior Lydia Hatfield. “Some are questionable, but still fun.”
Carter agreed wholeheartedly. “Everyone has got to love a lace corset; you can’t go wrong with those.”

For some of the more theater-oriented families, hearing that they’re daughter was a whore was no big deal, as they’d seen the show or knew the basic storyline.

“[For my parents] it was no big deal. They’re pretty familiar with the show,” explained Carter.
For others, casting came as a shock. von Stetten, who is a German exchange student, had to explain her role to her family back home.

“I Skyped with my parents, and I told them I was in the musical. They were all congratulating me when I told them I was a whore. Then they were like ‘what?!’ My mom really freaked out! I explained the storyline to them, though, so they calmed down,” von Setten laughed.

In Cavato’s case, her parents already knew the storyline, so she got no interesting reactions there. The conversations her mother had on Facebook, though, got a little ridiculous. “[When the cast list went up] Mia’s mom put, ‘Never thought I’d be so proud of my little whore.’

That was funny and all, and then Andy Perrine commented, ‘At least she’s not a drunk whore!’” Cavato’s mom, being the mother of the drunk whore, defended her daughter. “‘Hey, that’s my daughter you’re talking about!’”

Through all the parent drama and crazy costumes, you can tell the whores are having fun and making the most of their “slutty roles.” The choreography is out of comfort zones all over the place, but they are taking it and running with it.
As Mikala Wolter said, “[Being a whore] is a hard life.”