This is no ordinary guest director, arriving to lead 72 Wake County schoolkids in a student edition of "Les Misérables," the musical based on Victor Hugo's fictional tale of 19th-century France. Mann is a star, the actor who originated the role of the relentless cop Javert in "Les Miz" on Broadway -- not to mention the beast in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" and Rum Tum Tugger in "Cats."

Never mind that Mann began his career in Raleigh, acting and directing at Theatre in the Park and N.C. Theatre. He was a grown-up, a graduate of the N.C. School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, when he did all that. This nervous bunch are just kids, as young as 8 years old. What will this pro think of their imperfect voices, their awkward stage presence, their barely developed acting skills?

They have little reason to fret. Mann isn't seeking perfection, and he isn't here to give a master class. At 56, with two Tony nominations and a dozen Broadway shows behind him, Mann has come to Raleigh to pass along some of the lessons he's learned since he first hit Broadway more than a quarter century ago.

And he's here to learn: Will working with children suit him after decades among primarily seasoned professionals? And will he suit the children?

Mann has one week with the cast before he heads back to New York, leaving assistant director Paul Orsett to carry out his vision. And the first lesson Mann wants to impart is that no matter how many plays you do, or how big your name is on a marquee, you need to start every project with the basics.

So on day one, hour one, Mann opts for "Les Miz" 101.

First, a question

Mann appears in sneakers and a Hawaiian shirt that hangs loosely over his slacks, his thick white hair already tousled. Yet he still looks every inch the star.

With a handsome face and a glint of mischief in his eyes, he's mesmerizing. And when he speaks, it's hard to look away, whether he's portraying the mad transvestite scientist Dr. Frank 'N' Furter in Broadway's "The Rocky Horror Show" or a shy, grief-stricken firefighter in the 9/11 drama "The Guys," or standing on dingy carpeting next to a beat-up piano in this dismal basement studio.

The first thing he does is drop a "Les Miz" pop quiz on the student actors seated in rows of folding chairs before him.

"Can you put into one sentence what it's about?" he asks.

A boy responds promptly. "Telling the tale of love, death and raunchy sex?" he says, drawing laughs from the tense crowd.

Other students are more earnest.

"It's about the shortcomings of human society as a whole," says one girl.

Mann smiles approvingly. "Now we're onto something," he says. "Go that way with it."

"I saw it as the path to God through suffering," says another.

Still more: "Lifelong burdens?" "Having hope despite hell on Earth?" "The extremes of the glorified and degraded?"

Mann looks pleased. These kids have clearly done some thinking -- or at least some Web surfing.

"Here's what it's about," he says. "The indomitability of the human spirit."

The kids are quiet -- possibly making mental notes to look up "indomitability."

"All there is in this play is the lofty notion of what heaven is," Mann continues. "All they can hope for is a better life in heaven, because all there is is hell."

Still quiet.

"You guys probably don't know what it's like to be hungry and cold," Mann says. "So how do you get at that?"

He thinks for a moment.

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