BUFFALO, N.Y. — The beloved musical masterpiece Les Misérables is filling Shea’s with the sounds of its iconic score -– and the traveling cast features one WNY actress defying the odds to make her dreams come true.
Genevieve Ellis is a Chautauqua Lake Central School District and SUNY Fredonia graduate, making her first trip home since going on tour in 2022.
"I did get the chance to sing, and [I cried] the entire time in sound check before doing it in front of 3,000 people,” Genevieve said. “It was very overwhelming, but I managed to hold it together until the last minute.”
Genevieve knew from the age of 4 she wanted to perform, but her mom, Angelique Lipari, shared that a doctor’s visit nearly derailed those childhood dreams.
“She had a node on one of her vocal cords, and it was a pretty nasty one,” Angelique said. “She went and got scoped, and [doctors] said they have to do surgery and have to remove it.”
“I was told that I’d never be able to sing again,” Genevieve said.
While recovering from surgery, the two of them took a night out to Shea’s and took in one of their favorite shows.
“Crazy, I saw this [Les Misérables] tour in 2019,” Genevieve said.
“When we saw Les Mis here, she said ‘this is it, this is my life, this is what I want to do’,” Angelique said.
“I was sitting there recovering from voice surgery, crying because the show is moving and beautiful, but just hoping that one day I’d be able to do that,” Genevieve said.
Now, Genevieve is not just watching, but living out her dream every night.
She’s a member of the talented ensemble, and she’s also the understudy for a leading role, Fantine.
During her first show back home, her name was called to play that role in her home theater.
“[Fantine does] everything she can do to support her child,” Genevieve said. “I’m really grateful that I continued to push forward and drive, and I feel like I have that same drive and determination that Fantine does, so I connected with her on that level.”
Her family and friends were in the audience to see this dream come to life in the Shea’s spotlight.
“She’s living her dream, seeing her up on the stage is the most gratifying thing as a parent,” Angelique said.
Genevieve and Les Mis will be in town through Sunday.
