I Dreamed A Dream

Hello my lovelies! As you know I saw the new revival of Les Miserables recently and absolutely loved it. I know that I’ve mentioned this a few times before but Les Mis was the show that got me hooked on musical theater and now with the revival recently taking it's Broadway bow I wanted to share with you all my personal Les Mis story.

I was twelve years old and in the 6^th grade the first time I saw Les Mis. Up until then, I knew a little bit about the world that is Broadway and musical theater. As I mentioned in my recent post about Aladdin, my first cast recording was of Beauty and the Beast. I worshipped Susan Eagan, knew all about the Broadway production of The Lion King after an obsessive phase where we used the music for a dance camp production when I was 10, I had memorized the words to “Happy Talk” and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair” from South Pacific by the time I was six and had seen many movie musicals. My knowledge of theater was somewhat limited and I had only really seen the touring company of Beauty and the Beast when I was nine. But then I saw Les Mis and not to sound over dramatic but it changed my life.

It was a production at my school at the time and they were known for putting on some of the best productions in the area often times selling out performances. I went with one of my friends and her parents and we thought that we were so grown up going to see this show that we honestly knew very little about. By the end of the night I was a stunned little 12 year old that was wondering what I had been missing out on for so long.

When I got home that night I plopped myself down at the family computer and started to look for the music to listen to again and again-with this being around 2005 the search wasn’t that um extensive. The next morning over my bowl of Special K cereal I went on and on about the show to my mom saying how amazing it was and how much I loved the music. She asked me who my favorite character was expecting that I would say Cosette and I immediately told her that it was Eponine cause I thought that she was the best. In the coming months I borrowed a VHS of the 10^th anniversary concert from my public library, which I watched a number of times enthralled by brilliance that is Colm Wilkinson and Lea Salonga. I began to check all of the cast albums out of the public library and read anything and everything about theater that I could get my hands on. As I grew older and as the Internet really developed with YouTube and other such sites I delved further into the world of musical theater. I started listening to more show tunes regularly to the point that I now have a number of cast albums memorized and would watch countless performance videos on YouTube. Fun story when I was about 14 I memorized the choreography for “You Can’t Stop the Beat” after watching the video of the original cast of Hairspray’s performance on NBC News Today.

Broadway quickly became more than just a phase for me but something that I loved and was passionate about. Yes, it was definitely something that most kids my age didn’t know or for that matter care about, but that didn’t faze me one bit. I loved that it made me unique for loving something that was uncharted territory for most as it wasn’t music that was played on the radio. I reveled in the idea of getting my hands on new cast albums and books, a playbill vintage or new was treated like gold and souvenir programs were carefully stored in my dresser drawers. The obsession or passion whatever you want to call it even spilled over into my schoolwork. In my junior year of high school my English class was British Literature and for our research paper, my teacher said, “I do not want to see one more paper about The Beatles” and most of the class groaned. But, I had no interest in writing about The Beatles; I wanted to write about The Phantom of the Opera and its influence on theater as I explained to my teacher that it was originally a London musical so it fits the guidelines. She said yes and later told me that it was the first paper that she had ever read about Phantom and she loved it! The next year, my senior year I wrote my research paper on Rogers and Hammerstein. I moved to New York later that summer for school and so I could see shows regularly not just the handful of times a year that I was used to when I was able to get one of my parents to agree to go.

Why did I just sit here and ramble on about all of this for a while that has nothing to do with Les Mis? I fully believe that it is because I saw that school production all those years ago. I honestly do not think that I would sitting here at my desk typing this with Dogfight playing softly in the background if I hadn’t went my friend to see that show. My parents aren’t musical theater people and the only exposure that I had to it was the few cast recordings and old movie musicals that I had seen as a kid. The signs were there when I was growing up, but I think that I fully understood it when I saw Les Mis. Like with anything that you love, my passion for Broadway and musical theater has helped to shape and mold me to the person that I am today and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Barbra Streisand once said that “You have to discover you, what you do, and trust it.” Les Mis helped me to discover who I am and I hope that Les Mis or any show for that matter can do that for you.

Murder Ballad Takes No Prisoners

All is not fair in love and war. This old adage could not ring any more true to the new Off-Broadway musical Murder Ballad over at Manhattan Theatre Club New York City Center.

This stunning production consisting a four-person cast of seasoned and award winning theatre royalty vets. Throughout the 80 minute performance the narrator, Rebecca Naomi Jones (American Idiot) tells the story of a love triangle involving of a woman named Sara (Tony Award Winner Karen Olivo) who starts a steamy affair with her ex rocker boyfriend Tom (Will Swenson Hair and Priscilla) after becoming dissatisfied with her life with her patient, loving and nerdy husband Michael (John Ellison Conlee) and daughter with a major twist at the end. The entire show is sung with beautiful and enticing book and music by theatre newcomers Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash and flawlessly directed by Lynne Meadow gives the production its sharp edges that make it so incredible to watch. The brilliant cast performs in a bar setting, interacting with the onstage audience throughout the shows duration giving it a sense of realism by breaking the fourth wall that it makes the simplicity of it so beautiful so that your sole focus in on the actors and the gripping story they are telling.

As stated earlier the whole cast is phenomenal. Rebecca Naomi Jones is a fierce and edgy narrator with the pipes to match.  John Ellison Conlee gives a heart wrenching performance of doting husband that makes your heart break when all comes to fruition. Will Swenson brings out the vixens in all of us with his electrifying performance as Sara’s’ ex and lover Tom. The always amazing Karen Olivo delivers a standout, captivating and flawless portrayl of the torn woman Sara dare I say it is perfection in her return to New York City Theatre.

Their performances all bring a different element to the production, showcasing the writers beautiful story and lyrics flawlessly. They don’t water it down and talk down to the audience quite the opposite. They interact with onstage audience members the entire time and deliver the story with the sharpness of a knife. Its edginess is what makes the production so stunning and captivating to watch. You leave the theatre replaying scenes in your head and wanting to know more about these characters who are just everyday people, which is what makes them intriguing.

The story hits home to some but it doesn’t leave an audience member too quickly after final curtain. It stays with you and makes you think, wonder and question. That is what makes it a beautiful piece of theatre, something that we need to see more of-bold new and different pieces that leave you with a question or thought.

Murder Ballad is gut wrenching and the creators knew exactly what they wanted to achieve and that is exactly what they did. They have reinvented and revitalized their very particular genre in the world of theatre that does not disappoint.