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Christian Mark Gibbs as Enjolras and company in \u2018Les Mis\u00e9rables.\u2019 Credit: Photo by Matthew Murphy \/ Straz Center Media Room<\/p>\nChristian Mark Gibbs as Enjolras and company in \u2018Les Mis\u00e9rables.\u2019 Credit: Photo by Matthew Murphy \/ Straz Center Media Room<\/p>\n
\u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d doesn\u2019t need an introduction in Tampa\u2014the show has toured through the Straz Center nine times in the past four decades, practically earning \u201cannual tradition\u201d status. But this year\u2019s return comes with a twist: one of the people calling every cue, solving every crisis, and steering this global theater machine actually lives here.<\/p>\n
Ken Davis, production stage manager of the North American tour, keeps Wellswood as his home base when he\u2019s not managing\u2014quite literally\u2014everything you see on stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt its simplest, like I always tell people who ask that very question, I manage the stage. It\u2019s actually in the title,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m ultimately responsible for everything that happens on stage both creatively and technically.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes lighting, sound, set, orchestra, performers \u2014 all the pieces that make Les Mis feel like Les Mis. \u201cI\u2019ve been likened to an air traffic controller, making sure everybody knows where they\u2019re going safely,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big job because Les Mis is a big show. The tour travels with roughly 80 to 85 people: 40\u201345 cast members, 15 musicians, a crew of 20, management, and even a schoolteacher for the five child actors. Davis laughed as he recalled: \u201cWhen we\u2019re checking into the hotel, you best just step aside \u2018cause [we\u2019ll] run you over.\u201d<\/p>\n
The worst audition, the perfect job<\/p>\n
Stage management wasn\u2019t Davis\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a performer in high school,\u201d he said. And like many theatre kids, he believed performing was the door into the life he wanted: \u201cI wanted to make people feel like I felt that day that I was like, \u2018Oh my god, I don\u2019t know what this is, but I have to be a part of this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But his first college audition was its own plot twist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave the absolute worst audition ever,\u201d he said. \u201cThey probably still use it as a way not to audition.\u201d<\/p>\n
That door closed. Another opened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI eventually got into the technical side of things in college and found this avenue of stage management,\u201d he said. \u201cIt exercised that creative side\u2026 and the other part of me, the organizational, logistical, logical guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there came decades on Broadway tours\u2014Chicago, Hairspray, Ragtime, The Lion King\u2014years of hotels, airports, and \u201cstarving for a minute like most people do.\u201d But one show eluded him.<\/p>\n
\u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living Inside a modern classic<\/p>\n
Davis still remembers seeing an early tour in his twenties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember to this day some of those moments,\u201d he said. \u201cI had every version of the show possible\u2026 records, cassettes, then downloads.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a 40-year global footprint\u2014London, Madrid, Shanghai\u2014Les Mis is what Davis calls a \u201cmodern classic.\u201d<\/p>\n
And performing it in Tampa carries weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the 10th time it\u2019s coming to Tampa,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople know it\u2026 and probably have heard of some of the songs. Now I get to hear it every night live, which is kind of amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
That legacy shapes his job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that we\u2019re part of that legacy and it\u2019s been entrusted to us,\u201d he said. \u201cSomebody is seeing it for the 10th time and somebody\u2019s seeing it for the first time. They should both get the same experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
At every new city, he reminds the cast and crew what\u2019s at stake.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember that tonight somebody is seeing their first Broadway show and somebody\u2019s seeing their last Broadway show, and with that comes some responsibility,\u201d Davis tells the company each night.<\/p>\n
The Broadway road\u2026 leads to Tampa<\/p>\n
For a guy who has spent half his life living out of a suitcase, Davis talks about Tampa with the softness of someone who chooses it.<\/p>\n
He grew up visiting Madeira Beach every summer. Busch Gardens was \u201calways a highlight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later, he landed here by accident when a former theme-park colleague hired him to work for Norwegian Cruise Line\u2019s secret entertainment facility in Riverview.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot many people know that. It\u2019s a top little secret facility over there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He moved here, stayed here, and\u2014like many touring artists who discover Tampa\u2014fell in love with it.<\/p>\n
Today, he lives in Wellswood \u201cwith all the peacocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between cities, he returns to the Riverwalk, Ybor, Armature Works\u2014places that didn\u2019t exist when he first toured through long ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first went to Tampa\u2026 the Riverwalk wasn\u2019t there and Armature Works wasn\u2019t there,\u201d he said. \u201cNow\u2026 it\u2019s really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
St. Pete, especially, gets him dreaming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love St. Pete,\u201d he said. \u201cA little bungalow in St. Pete might be the dream retirement house.\u201d<\/p>\n
But more than anything, Tampa\u2019s geography\u2014and its vibe\u2014makes it easy to exhale.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can fly to Miami in an hour,\u201d he said. \u201cThe beach is close by. Getting to Orlando\u2026 eventually it is just one big city between Orlando and Tampa.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he loves that we sometimes forget how good we have it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s Saturday. What should I do?\u2019\u2026 I\u2019m like, over the bridge there are places people dream of going their whole lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why now, why here<\/p>\n
When Les Mis\u00e9rables returns to Morsani Hall Dec. 10\u201314, it isn\u2019t just another stop on a world tour. It\u2019s a homecoming for the guy who runs the entire operation\u2014and a chance for Tampa to meet the person who makes the magic feel seamless.<\/p>\n
Tickets to see \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts\u2019 Morsani Hall in Tampa Dec. 10-14 are still available and start at $62.20.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Nov. 27 \u2013 Dec. 03, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t