Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known? God, give me courage to show you you are not alone!

I attended the production of Phantom of the opera. My youngest daughters high school put on a fabulous production.
She had an opportunity in her first directing gig. Assistant Director. I couldn't be more proud.

They went way over budget but the sets and props and costumes were of the quality of an off-Broadway show.

I will be attending again next Saturday with the little brother of a long time friend. Here are some shots.

If Victor Hugo could see the state of our world now.

My youngest daughter has stars in her eyes, she is a drama student and Shakespeare is a love of hers. This year her school put on a production of her favorite among the Shakespearean Victor Hugo's works. Les Miserables.

Try-outs were held in November and although she didn't get one of the few speaking parts, She was ecstatic to be a part of the ensemble groups. And she shone!

Although the play runs for nearly two weeks, the shows have consistently sold out. The school paid a large royalty fee in order to even show this play at the school. Add costumes, sets, and the price goes up. Hopefully they will recoup enough of the costs in order to continue with great plays in the future.

We live in a very conservative area. Les Miserables is set in France in the 1860s. It deals with war, love, prostitution, prison, and poverty. There was some foul language that to most would roll by as pure realism. Giggles and gasps in the crowd reminded me where I was. There is a scene of prostitution and my daughter stood near her latest love interest. I am not sure if I should be worried at just how well she played this particular part.

There were a few younger actors in this play and they nearly upstaged the senior school students. - Nearly.

In her ensemble scenes, My daughter had four costume changes. So much going on.

The sets, the acting, the music, the talent were all amazing. It was hard to believe that this was a group of high school kids.

The two months of set building, practices before and after school and many weekends has really paid off.

I was so proud of my daughter.

Oh! And she can dance too!

I nearly used 4 gig taking pictures. I am so proud of the school, I am so proud of my girl!

What a great performance.

Sometimes I think that the local talents adds a whole element you don't get in Broadway and Hollywood. An element of real vs beautiful.

When we stepped outside, there was a blizzard of beautiful white snow. Beautiful to look at that is. Not as beautiful to drive in, with a very packed parking lot and most of the other cars driven by 16-18 yr olds. But we made it home safely, I canceled plans for a night out, took some cough medicine and called it a night.

I slept in until 9am this morning, I cannot remember the last time I did that. I suppose I needed it. And woke up to the beautiful snow and clean clear blue skies.

 

No Miserables here.

Interesting play

Last night, It was chilly here in town. It was the first night in a long time that neither of my daughters had to work. We have had a netflix movie that we have been trying to find time to watch for over a week now, so as I was driving home I was thinking tonight is the night. Figured I could whip up a quick soup and some bread, and settle in for a good flick.

That was short lived however, My oldest daughter wanted some extra Christmas spending cash so she had agreed to work a shift for someone else. My younger daughter, had some homework to catch up on and reminded me that she was planning on attending a play at the high school that night. This particular play I had forgotten about as she had not even auditioned for it, and I hate to say it, but if it doesn't apply to my kid... I'm just not as likely to remember them. But, she is in stage crew this year and so she had labored an entire Saturday (8am through 5 pm, then an entire shift to closing that night) a few weeks ago, building the set for this particular play and a lot of her friends were starring in it.

She asked if I would like to go with her to see the play and my first instinct was to say no, and climb into my ugly sweats and curl up on the couch...but, I love love love time with my girls, especially one-on-one time, and I wanted to support her and her love of theatre. So, we went.

Turns out, I am glad I went. i had never heard of a play (or movie or book for that matter) with the title 'Inherit the wind'. It was quite a controversial subject matter for the year of 1955 when it was first shown in theatre, however, I think it still resonates in today's culture too.

The story is fictional, however loosely based on the 1925 conviction of John T. Scopes, in a famous 'Scopes "monkey" trial.

The basic plot of the story is a man, a school teacher, who teaches a lesson on Darwinism and evolution to his science students, and is convicted.

Very interesting play. Even more interesting is the fact it was accepted in such a conservative bible over evolution society as I live in.

I had a great time, the students were amazing. I love high school theatre.

And- I got home, climbed into my ugly sweats and got to relax...until 11pm so that I could pick my older daughter from work...I know I nodded off a few times waiting.. all for not! She got a ride home from a fellow worker... oh well.