Les Misérables

Can I just say that Les Misérables is a fantastic show? And the Utah Shakespeare Festival definitely did it justice! The story and the music itself-- Fantastic! Especially "One Day More" at the end of Act 1. WOW! And, of course, the ending. Beauty. Tears. 

Now for my characters review:

I feel like Cosette and Marius were written a little flat, definitely stereotypes; but Jean Valjean, Fantine,  Eponine, and the Thenardiers (so, basically the rest of the cast) are great characters. I feel like even though Eponine and Fantine are kind of flat characters, they have some great songs that make up for that. 

Fantine, played by Melinda Pfundstein, was amazing. Her death scene was very powerful. I teared up a little. I have to admit, I would have found the singing to be a little better if I hadn't seen Idina Menzel and Lea Michele do a version of "I dreamed a dream" on Glee. They're powerhouses. Not to minimize Miss Pfundstein, but she came off as more a belter and some of the high notes were a little sketchy. Overall, though, I thought she was a great Fantine. 

Barbara Jo Bednarczuk was an amazing Eponine. I wasn't familiar with the the story before I saw the play, so I didn't know what to expect. I actually figured I wouldn't like her after reading the summary in the program, but I liked the character, the songs, and they way Miss Bednarczuk portrayed her. 

J. Michael Bailey did Jean Valjean justice. He was a powerhouse. He was tender. He made me tear up at all the right times.  That's some good casting right there. 

The Thenardiers, played by Max Robinson and Kymberly Mellon, were hilarious! I imagine they had a great time becoming those characters. I mean, I didn't like them, because they're "bad guys" but they were so funny!

And who can forget our revolutionary leader, Enjolaras, played by Joey DeBenedetto? I liked him better than Marius, and his songs just made me want to stand up and join the revolution!! Down with the culottes!! 

If you're still reading my fawning over Les Misérables,  you can see how amazing of an experience I had in the theatre! It's definitely worth the time and money! Go see it now!!

Revolution is not a Dinner Party

Ya know, this was a pretty interesting read about Mao & the Chinese Revolution from the perspective of an upper-class young girl. Not the best book ever, but worth a quick read. Again, it's YA Fiction, so keep that in mind. But I liked it well enough. Read on, Revolutionaries!

Shadow Children

  

Once upon a time*, when I was ten or eleven or so, I brought home a book order from school. I had circled the many books I wanted my momma to buy for me, and I was sure we would sit down later and narrow down my selections. And in that book order was a book, Among the Hidden, by an author I had read before, Margaret Peterson Haddix.  

"Do you really want this weird book?" momma probably asked me. "It looks strange. The government says you can only have two kids? What kind of weirdo are you, Jayme?"

"But Momma!" I'm sure I argued, "We liked Running out of Time, the weird book about those kids who thought they lived in pioneer days and escaped! And this lady wrote that too! So it must be good!"

"Okay, fine, whatever, you odd child of mine. At least you're reading."

And I was reading. The problem was, Haddix came out with a sequel a few years later. But I was older. I was reading other books. And Among the Imposters was never at the library. And then it was another year and another book, and so on. And I always meant to read the Shadow Children series and never quite made it. I kind of forgot about them until I would see Among the Hidden sitting on my shelf, which wasn't often. I have lots of books. 

Yet at CMS, kids are still reading the Shadow Children series. The last one, Among the Free, didn't even come out til 2006. Good thing I wasn't holding my breath. :) But I digress. I was reminded. And so while I was at the library, getting Peter and the Starcatchers, I thought to myself: I should go look at Haddix's section. See what they have of her. And low and behold, they  had the whole series. So I got them. And read them. They're children's books and short, so I pretty much inhaled them. 

These folks live in a society where, due to the famine a few years back, they have limited the number of children to two per family. But that doesn't stop everyone, and I'm not entirely sure the government has provided adequate birth control. So there are lots of illegal third, sometimes fourth and fifth, children in hiding throughout the country. And that is where the series starts, with Luke, an illegal third child in hiding. Through the course of the series we meet other illegal children and see other problems within this government. But  many of these illegals have fake IDs. The end up meeting each other and banding together, hoping that one day they will become free. Hoping they will have the right to exist. 

But they were pretty great. I love the concept, I love all books like this. Of course. I like weird books. Lucky for me, they're pretty in right now (ie: Hunger Games).  I'm a little worried they're getting ruined (see my next post) but I'm not too concerned. So yeah, go on. Read these books. You'll love 'em!

*some facts have been exaggerated for the enjoyment of the story telling. But the concept of this is completely true: I was a strange child. I read strange books.