Showtime!

   I've been part of a musical production for the last 3 months.  It's not for school, and I'm not being paid for it or anything like that.  A town close to where I live, called St. Anthony (in Idaho), customarily puts on a musical each year in celebration of Pioneer Day.  So it's just a community gig, but I've really been enjoying the whole thing.

   This year, the musical is Les Miserables.  Many of you are probably familiar with it - it's an exceptional musical.  For those that are unfamiliar with it:  in a nutshell, it's the story of a man named Jean Valjean, who, after being let off of a chain gang (after many years), breaks his parole and flees the law in order to take care of a friend's daughter.  His parole officer, Javert, is unyielding in his pursuit of Valjean, and the story goes from there.  I won't spoil the plot for you.  All you really need to know is that the name of the musical is French; it means "misery".  And it's a fitting name; Valjean and the other characters go through some heavy stuff in this play.  But it is an incredible story, with a great message layered beneath all the crap that rough patches.

I wasn't planning on doing this when I first came up to Rexburg for school.  I just wanted to do well in school, work a bit, go on a few dates, and hang with my friends.  I have two brothers that also live in Rexburg; my younger brother, Corbin, is my roommate, and is also attending the college here (BYU-Idaho).  My older brother, Garrett, also went to school here, but graduated a while ago.  We're a tight-knit trio, and we enjoy spending time together.  It was two years ago that Corbin and Garrett heard about St. Anthony's musical productions; they took part in one called Hey, Tom Sawyer! and they really enjoyed it.  So, naturally, when I came up here, they wanted me to join them in this year's show.  I admit, I was reluctant at first.  I don't typically go out of my way to do extracurricular stuff; I'm most at ease at home, reading or playing a video game.  But I figured, "Hey, it's a show with my brothers.  It'll be fun."  And so I attended the auditions with Garrett.

By then I warmed up a bit to the idea.  It might be fun to be Beggar #3 or something.  I wasn't expecting a lot.  So I was pretty surprised when the casting email came out.  I found my name next to a character named "Enjolras".  Who, it turned out, was the leader of a rebellion that takes place in Act II.  I had recently seen the movie of Les Mis that had come out just a few months before.  I vividly recalled that Enjolras was, in fact, nothing like Beggar #3.  He's one of the bigger characters in the cast; I would have lots of lines to memorize, and about 3 months to do it.  I was...not very happy at first.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to manage this character with everything else I had going on.  I occasionally cursed myself for doing so well at the auditions.  Why didn't I just do an adequate job, instead of going out of my way to "wow" the director?  Still, I didn't want to ruin the show, so I went ahead and resigned myself to my role.

I'm happy to say that my initial feeling toward all this was dead wrong.  I have been having a great time, even when I wasn't sure of any of my lines, and I have made tons of friends.  There must be something in the water in St. Anthony - everyone in the cast is really awesome.  And I must say, I'm glad to have something to occupy me, especially considering that I have not actually done well in school this semester.  While I'm not proud of that, I am very proud of the work that I've put into this musical.

Tonight is opening night.  I hope that everything will come together and go well.  I hope that I can portray my character well, and I hope that any who attend will appreciate the story we will tell.  

To use the immortal words of Bilbo Baggins:  "I think tonight will be a night to remember!"