A movie, a revolution, and some serious pipes.

Many of you know what a GINORMOUS obsession I have with Les Miserables. A friend introduced me to The London Cast soundtrack when I was 15, and I have been addicted ever since. 

I was actually just telling my husband (this morning) of a time when I was about 20 years old: The Las Vegas Academy of Performing Arts was presenting the musical, and I was meeting my mom and aunt at the school on the last night of the show to see their final performance. 

I had never seen the musical live before, and my only exposure to it's uberness (other than the soundtrack, which I had listened to so frequently that I could sing along word-for-word with every song, and my cd was to the point of needing to be replaced) had been a copy of The Dream Cast performance that my mom bought for me years before - ready for this? On VHS. Hehe. That just goes to show how long I have been addicted to this musical. ;)

Anyway, needless to say, I was extremely excited about finally having the opportunity to see the show performed live, and I was anxiously anticipating what an epic experience it was going to be for me. 

This is where I must insert a very ardent note-to-self: DO NOT wait until closing night to buy tickets to an extremely popular musical - at least not if you REALLY want to see it. Yeah - we got to the high school the night of the performance and the tickets were SOLD OUT. Why we didn't purchase advanced tickets was beyond me, but the fact of the matter is that as the reality of the situation sunk in while I stood outside of the box office that night, tears started streaming down my face (and I don't mean one or two little tears. I was crying hysterically. haha) as my dreams of finally experiencing a live performance of "Les Mes" began to crumble around me. 

Yes, I was a grown woman crying about not being able to see a musical. It was like a scene from a movie where some type of ferocious adversary is attacking a small village - chaos and confusion are ravaging the scene - and there is the one small child standing alone in the midst of it all, separated from her mother, crying wildly and inconsolably. Yeah, it was kinda like that.

It is what it is; though - and no, I am not ashamed to say that I am that passionate about Les Miserables. Sure, it was probably a silly reaction, but what can I say - I love Les Mes, and I am simply an emotional person. It's something I have come to accept and appreciate about myself, and maybe - just maybe, those tears are what ultimately became my saving grace after all, for an older couple that was standing nearby saw me in distress and came to my rescue.

Apparently, they had bought an extra ticket for their daughter, who was unable to attend the performance, so they offered the ticket to me. I turned to my mom and aunt - feeling somewhat guilty that they would not be able to go - but they encouraged me to go ahead and take the ticket. So, I did. :)

I went to pay the husband for my ticket but didn't have exact change, so he told me to just keep it and not worry about the money. The ticket was only like $17, and I was so extremely grateful to have my hands on it that I would have gladly given him the whole $20 bill in my hand, but he refused to take it. Maybe I reminded him of his daughter or something and he took pity on me. Haha. 

Either way, I finally got to see the musical performed live and it was absolutely amazing - and I am sure that my husband will never let me live it down, knowing now that I completely lost sight of my self control over a high school production of Les Mes. ;)

I still have never seen an actual broadway production of the musical (though we did purchase the 25th Anniversary concert, which starred Nick Jonas as Marius, when it came out on DVD last year, and we did see my husband perform with The Las Vegas Philharmonic a few years ago; a performance, which  featured four soloists that staged some popular songs from Les Mes, along with those from a few other popular musicals - and it was absolutely epic), but I am extremely excited about the upcoming theatrical release of the movie (which has an amazing cast and is going to be radiating with all of the musical magic, not to mention some seriously intense acting) this December.

Anyway, today is Frivolous Friday, and in honor of the much-anticipated upcoming movie release, I want to share this absolutely epic video of Hugh Jackman (who will be playing Jean Valjean in the film) singing the opening number at the 2009 Oscars. Before seeing this video, I knew that he had been on broadway, but had never even heard him sing. Man, does he have some pipes! And to think: he was never even classically trained. It's ridiculous how good he is.

The video also features Anne Hathaway, which seems rather serendipitous, seeing as how she is cast as Fantine in the film. It kinda makes ya wonder if the organizers for the Oscars and the producers of Les Mes were in cahoots. Hehe. Either way, I couldn't be more anxious for December! ;)

Happy Friday! :)