enlarge Courtesy of Ogunquit Playhouse

Ivan Rutherford stars as Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” at the Ogunquit Playhouse. It’s a role he has performed more than 2,000 times on Broadway and in national touring shows.

OGUNQUIT — When the Ogunquit Playhouse decided to extend its theater season into the fall, Executive Artistic Director Bradford T. Kenney knew he would have to present big-time musicals with big-time stars to capture people's attention.

He's certainly accomplished his goal with "Les Miserables." The epic musical, on stage at Ogunquit through Oct. 12, stars Ivan Rutherford in the lead role as Jean Valjean.

Rutherford has performed Valjean more than 2,000 times on Broadway and across the country in national tours.

Known for its majestic music, "Les Miserables" is the longest-running musical in the world and the third-longest running show on Broadway. It opened in London in 1985 and has been seen by more than 50 million people around the world since.

But those statistics mean little to Rutherford, who tries to approach the role anew each time he takes the stage.

"I love this show, and I love this story. I always assume there is someone out there who doesn't know it and hasn't seen it," Rutherford said in an interview earlier this week. "The piece has so much integrity, it deserves 100 percent of me, regardless of where it is and how many times the audience has seen it."

Based on a novel by Victor Hugo, "Les Miserables" tells a story of hope, love and determination, as the French lower class rises up against the authorities.

The musical opens with Valjean in prison for stealing a loaf bread. Although he is freed after 19 years, he remains an outcast in society and must change his identity to find his way. When his background is revealed, he resorts to a life on the run.

Along the way, he pledges to a dying Fantine that he will care for her young daughter, Cosette, and raise the girl as if she were his own. The bulk of the story involves the relationship between Valjean and Cosette as they become embroiled in the French Revolution.

As he ages, Rutherford said he is able to bring perspective to the role.

"It's an interesting role for me, in that the older I get, the more levels I find in this guy," he said. "I was 33 when I first did the role. I found the show emotionally stirring and moving and as touching as anybody else.

"As I have grown, I now have three kids. My youngest is a daughter, who is 7. The years have layered this role for me, and what I can tap into. I have found that I am growing into the role, and not growing out of it."

The Ogunquit cast has other stars. Playing Fantine is Andrea McArdle, who played the role on Broadway but is best known for originating the title role of "Annie" on Broadway in 1977. McArdle's real-life daughter, Alex Kalenhoff, plays Eponine.

This is Rutherford's first appearance at Ogunquit – and his first trip to Maine. Although he criss-crossed America on national tours of "Les Miserables," none of the tours made it north of Boston, because none of the theaters in northern New England were large enough to accommodate the musical's oversized set.

For this show, Ogunquit is using a set originated at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia.

He called Ogunquit "a great little playhouse with a great reputation. And Ogunquit is a beautiful town. It is everything they said it was. I tried to work it in my deal that I would get lobster every day, but I think I am on my own with that."

Rutherford lives in Connecticut with his wife and three children. His oldest son, now 14, has appeared on Broadway in "Beauty and the Beast" and "Tarzan."

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at bkeyes@pressherald.com