Haley Dortch dropped out of the University of Michigan after her sophomore year, having landed a leading role. In a Broadway show.
She was 19 in March 2022 when she auditioned for “Les Misérables” and flew to New York City to sing for casting directors without any intention of trying out for a lead.
“But I was told that I ‘looked like Fantine’ that day, whatever that means,” Dortch said, in an interview.” They asked me if I knew ‘I Dreamed a Dream.’ “
Yes, she said. She knew “I Dreamed a Dream” — one of the most recognizable theater songs of all time, sung by one of the genre’s most coveted characters — and knew it well. She sang, nailed it, started rehearsals that August. She was on the road by October.
Dortch, the 22-year-old former musical theater major, plays Fantine in the national Broadway tour of “Les Misérables,” which opens Tuesday at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk and runs through Sunday.
Based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel set during the French Revolution, the show tells the fictional story of Jean Valjean, a convict on the run after breaking parole. In his new life, as a factory owner and mayor, he agrees to be the guardian of a young girl after her mother, Fantine, dies. Fantine — portrayed by Anne Hathaway in the 2012 film adaptation — is a young woman who has been forced into prostitution after backstabbers get her fired from her job at the factory.
“She’s resilient, very persistent, and she loves her child more than anything,” Dortch said.
“And she has the best song in the show — but,” she added, “I might be biased.”
Fantine sings “I Dreamed a Dream” in the first act. Even after two years and more than 650 performances, Dortch sings it as heart-wrenchingly as possible every time she’s on stage.
“It’s so true that each show is someone’s first experience with theater or somebody’s first experience with ‘Les Miz,’ and I can remember those exact first moments for myself,” she said, about formative experiences watching theater, “and how much they inspired me and meant for me, and especially as a person of color too — what that can mean for young artists of color who are coming to see the shows.”
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
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If you go
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Chrysler Hall, 215 St. Paul’s Blvd., Norfolk
Tickets: Start at $40
Details: sevenvenues.com
