Interview: Truman Boyd of Les Miserables

Javert is arguably the best-known policeman in the history of literature and theater as he doggedly pursues ex-convict Jean Valjean during the 1832 Paris Uprising in Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables."

He's the antagonist in Hugo's sprawling 1862 novel that, translated to the stage, has over the past four decades become the world's most popular musical, seen by more than 70 million people in 44 countries and in 22 languages around the globe.

But, contrary to the popular perception of the character as an abusive cop trying to capture and punish Valjean for the minor offense of violating parole, Preston Truman Boyd says he's not a bad guy.

Boyd would know — he plays Javert in the national touring company production of "Les Miz," which visits the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa from June 11-16.

"Most people think of Javert as a bad guy, but he's just more of a misunderstood guy because at the end of the day he is doing his job, being a cop, being that dogged police force," Boyd said. "It's easy to see him as a bad guy because we're watching Valjean to see life as it is and kind of finally get to realize that, 'I'm given a second chance, I'm going to take this and run with it.' I'm kind of the counterpart of that, the other side of the coin that stands in the way of that. My character needs to be in the show and needs to have my intention to show Valjean in that redemptive light."

In fact, Boyd said, Javert's conflicted character, torn between his belief in God and his loyalty to the law, is ultimately revealed each night when — this isn't a spoiler, the story is 162 years old — he commits suicide by throwing himself into the Siene River.

Even after playing Javert hundreds of times, Boyd said, the suicide scene isn't easy.

"You do see my demise at the end and you see how tormented that character is," he said. "For me to have to go there every single night and to be standing on that bridge and to make that decision every night, I'll say it's not a walk in the park. It's more of a jump in the park."

The suicide is obviously the darkest moment in a very dark show for Boyd, a Minnesota native who has primarily worked in what he calls "golden age musical theater comedy." He was in the first touring company of "Young Frankenstein" and was in the Broadway run of the very funny "The Play That Goes Wrong."

"I really do get pretty dark with it," Boyd said of "Les Miz." "So, then backstage and when I'm walking home after the show, it's very light-hearted, I think, across the board, because it's such heavy content. We as a company who travel together, (as) a family away from home, really try to lean into the joy and the fun that we have on the road to kind of counteract this really profound and intense and deep story that we're telling that is still incredibly relevant today."

Not everyone on the stage is plunged into darkness at each performance. Matt Crowle, who as unscrupulous innkeeper Thenardier — aka the Master of House — provides a few minutes of comic relief during the three-hour production.

"Comedy is a very serious contract with the audience," Crowle said. "By the time I hit the deck, 35 to 40 minutes, they've been listening to some enormous tragedy and some heavy, heavy material. So the second that my feet hit the stage, I'm basically promising them that we're going to take a little break from this. We're all going to have a few laughs. We're going to catch our breath. We're going to dry our eyes, and everything's gonna be OK. Then I'm going to plunge you back into the emotional side. But until then, here comes the clown."

But both Boyd and Crowle say the tragic darkness within the Tony Award-winning production that is filled with iconic songs and refreshed sets and staging is part of what has made "Les Miserables" the musical a hit since it began its English language production in 1985.

"First of all, (the musical) is such a tribute to Victor Hugo's story that he wrote, which is the survival of the human spirit and being saved by grace in a way," Boyd said. "I think that story is so relatable. It doesn't matter who you are, what walk of life you come from, it's the idea of having grace and showing grace in everyday life.

"This show has been reinvented so many different times and I think our directors have done such a great job of highlighting those really important themes. You look at the world today and all the imbalance of social classes and people fighting their own battles, for social, civil rights and whatnot. I feel like there's something that every audience member can go and sit and see the show and relate with one of the themes or hopefully be challenged in the way that they think about certain current events and what it means to be a good person, a good human in society and to kind of coexist together and to share forgiveness and to be a safe space for other people to come. Ultimately as a cast, we hope people leave the show and want to go out in the world and do more good."