I Dreamed A Dream

Our 5th Avenue Theatre subscriber package this year didn't include tickets to Les Misérables, so we decided to buy some with my sister, Erin. It holds a special place in her heart as the first musical she ever saw, and Stew remembers the music because his mom had the soundtrack growing up. As for me, I enjoyed the movie almost as much as I loved the moment when Susan Boyle sang "I Dreamed A Dream" on Britain's Got Talent. (Seriously, it still makes me tear up a little when I watch it.)

I'm familiar with a lot of the music from Les Misérables and I saw the movie years ago, but I couldn't quite remember the story so I was really looking forward to the show. We had purchased fairly good orchestra level seats about 20 rows back from the stage and couldn't wait for the curtain to go up. As soon as it did I realized my mistake... we probably should have sprung for front row seats. I need glasses so badly! It's really pathetic. I could see the blobs of people and sets on the stage, and I could vaguely make out the difference between men and women, but beyond that I was resigned to just listening in order to put the plot together.

The story is quite complicated with lots of characters spanning several different time periods, and I although I was thoroughly enjoying the music I found myself becoming quite lost. Was that vaguely male-shaped blob Jean Valjean or Inspector Javert? Was that little kid Cosette or Gavroche? I had no idea. That woman looks like Fantine, but I thought she died? Oh wait, we've actually gone several years forward and it's actually Cosette all grown up. And Madame Thénardier... I thought she was the innkeeper's wife in a small village, but now she's on the streets of Paris? My head was spinning.

When I checked in with Erin and intermission she actually confirmed that I had the gist of the story correct, so I sat back to enjoy the second act. It started out with one of my favorite Les Mis songs, On My Own, which was so good it gave me chills and also had me daydreaming about one of my favorite Dawson's Creek moments. But following that there were a lot of French Revolution scenes and battles which I also found myself daydreaming through.

I wished I had done a little more Wikipedia research before going to the show (or at least gotten myself to the eye doctor), but overall we absolutely loved Les Misérables and were so happy to enjoy a fun evening at the theater together.