Back again...

Not much time to write in the past couple of weeks. I worked on the local middle/high school production of Les Miserables.

This is my second go-round with Les Miz on a high school stage, and I'm always amazed by kids who can sing, no matter what they're singing. Honestly, I'm amazed by anyone who can sing, 'cause I sure can't.

I still remember the first time I saw Les Miz, on a high school trip to the Broadway production. I spent the entire second act sobbing into a cocktail napkin torn in half. My friend Marie was sobbing into the other half. To this day, I still get a little choked up by "A Little Fall of Rain" and "Bring Him Home."

Not so much so for the kids who came to our two school performances on Monday. Maybe it was because the acting wasn't quite Broadway-caliber (though it wasn't half-bad for a bunch of teenagers), or maybe it was because they all knew they'd see Eponine, Gavroche, and the student-soldiers in their fifth period math class the next day. But I couldn't help but think that some of the actors and audience members might find themselves in a situation where the guns aren't plastic and the dead don't scamper offstage once the lights go down. One of my favorite actors from last year's production is at the Air Force Academy this year. I don't know if any of the other students have military service in their future, or if any of the ones graduating this year will. But it made me look at and listen to the show with a different perspective than I had in high school or even when I did the show three years ago.