Feeling helpless and lost, searching for a way out to finally feel the sunlight of redemption graze upon one’s face. To be snatched away from the light can only lead to more determination and hope to achieve the goal of freedom.

Les Misérables is playing at 7:30 p.m. April 10, 11, 17 and 18 and at 2 p.m. April 12 and 19 at Fisher Theater.

Jean Valjean, played by Evan Stenzel, who graduated last December in vocal performance, is in jail for stealing a piece of bread.

After escaping, he meets Fantine, played by Kourtney Richards, senior in performing arts, who had a child with a man who she was not married to.

Filled with instant regret, Fantine is fired after her co-workers at the factory find out about her illegitimate child and is forced into prostitution to provide a paycheck to a family taking care of her daughter.

Once she fell sick, laying on her death bed, her wish was to see her daughter. Valjean said he would retrieve her from the family she entrusted her child with.

After her untimely death, Fantine’s daughter, Cosette, played by Grace Chermak, junior in vocal music education, is orphaned. She only trusts Valjean, who took her from the foul house of abusive care takers.

Trying to find a sense of life and belonging, Valjean tries to raise Cosette with care after being reminded of his past imprisonment.

Valjean’s love for Cosette’s mother resonates within Cosette herself as he treats her as his own daughter, only wanting a fulfilled life of love and success, instead of the misdemeanors her parents lived by.

Brad Dell, director and assistant professor of music and theatre, listens to his actor’s advice and gives directions in a friendly tone of demand.

“He’s awesome,” said Elena Foster, freshman in elementary education, who is a part of the women ensemble. “It’s so nice having such a positive director with constructive criticism that you actually feel like it’s helping you as a performer.”

According to Foster, she is not only pleased with her director, she is happily surprised by the cast and their problem solving abilities, as well as their talents.

Actors’ voices resonate with confidence as they cross a creatively produced jungle gym of a stage. Their voices boom with urgency and a need to be heard for the perseverance of Valjean raising Cosette to live proudly, and not hide timidly.

“It’s a show that revolves around change,” Foster said. “There’s love and there’s sad parts about life, but in the end your love for your friends and family is really the important thing in life.”

Valjean and Cosette are not blood related, but Valjean left a life of imprisonment behind him in order to change into the father figure Corsette desperately needed.

Les Misérables is playing at 7:30 p.m. April 10, 11, 17 and 18 and at 2 p.m. April 12 and 19 at Fisher Theater.

Tickets are $24 for adults and seniors and $16 for students. Tickets can be bought through Iowa State Center Ticket Office in Ames or www.ticketmaster.com.