So anyway, like I was saying, life is pretty crazy. I am slowly pulling myself out of a serious funk.
I went to Les Mis at Tuacahn last Thursday night for the second time this season. I think Tuacahn did a super good job, most everything else I have seen out there I did not like for whatever reason.
Les Mis is one of the best stories ever. I have seen it a handful of times in Vegas, SLC, etc and I read the book probably 10 years ago. The first time I saw it this year was back in July. I came home and the next day took my oldest aside and told her the whole story, it took me over an hour. I get excited about it. Justice, Mercy, forgiveness, how we should treat people, it has it all. She liked what I told her and we went to see it again for her birthday the other night.
Seeing it this time made me think more about Eponine. Daisy thinks I think more about Eponine because the actress who plays her is kind of cute in the play here. Frankly, I don't see it. She does a good job though and I think about Eponine because she has a surprisingly large role in the musical. You can talk about Jean Val Jean (pronounced by Isaac in a thick american accent as Jeen Val Jeen) and what a great "father" he is to Cosette or the charity and forgiveness immediately given by the priest to JVJ with the silver. But here is Eponine, raised by total losers. How she figured it all out is amazing. She grows up a vagrant and falls totally in love with Marius and is asked to practically put Marius and Cosette together. As much as it hurts her, she almost loves Marius so much she wants to see him happy, even if it is not with her.
This concept is not new but is mostly something people talk about but I don't think really believe. I have said this to girls before, that I want what is best for them even if it was not with me. I don't think I was ever serious though. I was always thinking that what was truly best for anyone WAS to be with me. Of course that is not true, at least not for EVERYONE. But I hope my daughters fill the same way about themselves.
I guess what struck me about Eponine this time was not her looks like it struck Daisy, but what a large role she has in the play and also how she could have easily been so destructive in everything around her but she chose to be helpful and really selfless to the point (****SPOILER ALERT**** - especially for you Edward fans so distraught over his "death") that she even gives her own life. That is what I admire, her selflessness the most. I always admire the qualities in others I find lacking in myself.
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8 comments:
i've only seen the movie, and i don't remember Eponine, but i remember i was watching the old old version on tv in slc(when i lived with josh and pete) and when the priest gives him the candlesticks when the cop brings him back, oh man i started crying, probably one of the top ten good cries i've had in my life.
i love a post where men wax philosophic about musicals AND talk about their best cries.....poetry!! (for real.)
i saw the tuacahn production and i thought it was awesome. i was really impressed with eponine and thought her voice was wonderful. they should be proud of the production.
glad to hear you are pulling out of the funk--i knew you would. morningside park did not raise losers in life!!
ps my new favorite line is the "what was best for them was to be with ME". classic.
Bonnie and I watched the movie the other day and I agree that that is one of the most powerful scenes in literature (translated to screen) is the priest giving Jeen Val Jeen the goods he tried to rob. Wow. Hugo and Dickens were blood brothers and they knew how to tell a human story.
Okay, it is Les Mes not Les Mis!
Megan, your correction reminded me of a funny story:
http://niveyblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/lame-as-rob.html
jared, could you please list the other nine of your top ten cries?
actually now that i think about it that was the only time i ever cried.
i wouldn't even call it crying, it was more just allergies than anything.
loved your post...mostly because Les Mis is my husband's favorite book and he just re-told the entire story (for the 100th) time to me on our drive home from Disneyland. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love love love the story,but really, how many times can I act surprised and amazed at his profound 'insights' and 'interpretations'? I personally thought the Tuachahn productions was better than what I saw in New York. I'll tell you one reason why. It has always bugged me when I have seen the play that Marius doesn't seem as emotional as I think he should be when Eponine is dying and they sing "A little drop of rain". However, at Tuachahn I was sobbing uncontrollably in this scene because he finally exuded serious emotion!! This is too long so I will stop there...geez I am turning into my husband!
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