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"Les Miz" groupies at this year's Utah Shakespeare Festival have it easy if they're looking for the actor who plays Jean Valjean.
Just search for a burly teddy bear of a man wearing a "24601" T-shirt and a baseball cap. Smell the tell-tale scent of clove gum, chewed almost continually to keep his vocal cords primed. And don't forget the mile-wide smile.
Find all that in one person, then sing a chorus line or two from your favorite "Les Misérables" song. It's almost guaranteed that J. Michael Bailey will give you a hearty laugh and a wave hello.
"I had a 'perma-grin' for almost two weeks after I got the call that I'd landed the part," the 38-year-old Bailey says, leaning forward in his chair during an afternoon interview at the Adams Shakespearean Theatre. "I don't think it's ever gone away, really."
Open, even forced, enthusiasm toward a role is a prerequisite for some actors. Successful stage acting sometimes depends on your level of enthusiasm, whether you like the character you're playing or not.
In Bailey's case, there's seemingly nothing forced about his enthusiasm. Jean Valjean is a role he's had his eye on ever since seeing his very first "Les Misérables" in a 1993 touring production at Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. Back then, he planned to be a professional football player. "As a 19-year-old kid, I wasn't used to crying in a public theater," Bailey remembers. "I knew then and there that was the role I wanted to do."
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"Bring Him Home" • Bailey worked hard to earn his way into a production of "Les Misérables." He auditioned for a part in the ensemble cast of Pioneer Theatre Company's 2007 production, only to be turned away. The next year he auditioned for Tuacahn Amphitheatre's production, coming oh-so-close by landing as the understudy to lead actor Timothy Warmen.
"Looking back, it was probably the best for my life at that time," he said. "The older you get, the more you realize that things happen for a reason."
The glory of playing Jean Valjean now, Bailey said, is that he can look back on the hard years of his life with a perspective that's so much richer for having pursued his dream role.
The years he attempted to scale the musical, but without reaching the top, were hard ones. He auditioned for PTC just before a divorce, securing the understudy position at Tuacahn after the divorce became final.
"I was living out of my car, sleeping on friends' couches," he said. "We all go through trials at times, but it's through the love of others [that] I was able to turn myself around."
If those sound like words straight from the mouth of Victor Hugo's character, it's because Bailey feels he's walked miles in Valjean's shoes. "I feel comfortable in the fact that I had to work to get this role," Bailey said. "It's something I would have waited even more than 20 years to earn."
That's why Bailey takes every precaution to stay healthy. The chewing gum to keeps his vocal cords salivated is only a start. He spends an hour in the gym daily and has increased his sleep hours from seven to nine or even 10. He starts singing scales, along with plenty of "motor-boat" throat-clearing, at least one hour before he's due onstage. "This role is a burly sucker, the bear that will eat you alive," Bailey said. "I want to make sure the bear doesn't eat me."
Brian Vaughn, the festival's co-artistic director, faces off against Bailey as Valjean's antagonist Javert. Bailey could easily become self-absorbed in his role, Vaughn says. It's a temptation for any actor playing the lead.
"But he's so giving in every single scene," Vaughn said. "He responds to everyone else with a lot of give-and-take. Every time I step into the scene, he's there right with me the whole time, from the fight scenes to our moment on the barricade. It's great for me to step onstage and know he's there."
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"I Dreamed a Dream" • Growing up in Clinton, Bailey didn't think about theater. Instead, he aspired to play football, to turn pro. His main exposure to the arts was singing in the Clearfield High School choir.
Bailey almost missed out on a choir trip to see "The Phantom of The Opera" in Los Angeles because he couldn't afford the bus trip and hotel bill. At the last minute, his choir instructor offered to pay half of Bailey's expenses. It wasn't long after seeing Andrew Lloyd Webber's touring musical blockbuster that the theater bug burrowed deep inside his skin.
"If I hadn't had a teacher selfless enough to pay for part of the cost, it's doubtful I would have become interested in theater at all," Bailey said.
He went on to study musical theater at Weber State University in 1996 and 1997, bouncing back in 2009. He might have graduated, but theater jobs became so steady he couldn't afford to take time out to finish school. "The most valuable thing I gained at WSU was a network, but I'm always a student," Bailey said.
Bailey distinguished himself from the beginning with his extensive musical background and musicianship on the guitar, said Kevin Mathie, who worked as musical director in several productions where Bailey performed.
"Even if [most students] have had vocal lessons for years, that often doesn't translate into having the same kind of understanding of the inner workings of music that an instrumentalist develops," Mathie says. "J. Michael has that understanding of music, which makes him a dream to work with for a musical director. And with all J. Michael's talent and insight into music and theater, he is never high-maintenance. Ever."
Bailey's favorite roles never strayed far from Stephen Sondheim. He played George in WSU's 1997 production of "Sunday in the Park With George," followed a decade later by the title role for Park City's Egyptian Theatre Company's 2007 production of "Sweeney Todd." Most recently, he played Captain Braid Beard last year for Salt Lake Acting Company's lighthearted children's production of "How I Became a Pirate."
The decision to cast Bailey as the lead in "Les Miz" was almost instantaneous, said director Brad Carroll. It came just minutes after Carroll finished playing piano for Bailey's live singing audition. Huddling afterward with festival artistic directors David Ivers and Brian Vaughn, all three reached a quick consensus. Bailey had made an impression with a video audition before his meeting with the festival bigwigs, who already knew his acting from earlier seasons at the Cedar City festival.
"Brian and David saw people in Chicago, L.A. and New York," Carroll said. "Then J. Michael submitted an audio recording of himself singing Jean, and it stopped us dead in our tracks."
Since opening in late June, Bailey's performance has done the same for audience members. "He was right on key; the connection he made was incredible," said Mandi Mendenhall, of Provo, who singled out Bailey's performance of "Bring Him Home" as a highlight of the show.
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"In My Life" • Bailey didn't just fall in love with Jean Valjean that fateful day in 1993 he first saw "Les Misérables." His relationship with the character has resonated through the complications of his own life.
Valjean's heart beats a path straight to his own at the deepest, personal level. Bailey married again in 2009 after meeting his wife, Mary Anderson, while she was working as part of the ensemble cast for "Sweeney Todd." Anderson is a regular fixture at Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Grand Theatre and Egyptian Theatre productions as actor and musical director. Now the couple are expecting their second child. Bailey also has two children from his first marriage.
"Valjean is a father figure in every sense of the word," Bailey said. "The true law of sacrifice is evident for him. That's what makes 'Les Miz' a true love story. … It's also about rebirth — starting over to begin again, but also not forgetting what happened before."
With those words, Bailey's smile grows even wider.
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'Les Misérables' at Utah Shakespeare Festival
When » Through Oct. 19. In repertory with "The Merry Wives of Windsor," "Mary Stuart," "Titus Andronicus," "Scapin," "To Kill a Mockingbird" through Sept. 1; with "Hamlet" and "Stones in His Pockets" Sept. 21-Oct. 20.
Where » Utah Shakespeare Festival, on the campus of Southern Utah State University, 315 W. Center St., Cedar City
Info » $22-$73; tickets are nonrefundable, but can be changed for an additional $5 with a 24-hour notice. Most performances of "Les Misérables" sell out two to three weeks in advance. Visit http://www.bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX or 435-586-7878. —
Will 'Les Miz' film outdo stage version? Tell us
Reader survey • Director Tom Hooper's long-awaited cinematic adaptation of "Les Misérables" is slated for the big screen this December. And the draw of the movie's stars — Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russel Crowe as Inspector Javert and Anne Hathaway as Fantine — are already sparking Oscar buzz. Do you think Utahns will flock to the movie version versus the next live stage show? For a future story, send your comments to features@sltrib.com and include "Les Miz" in the subject line of your email.