Les Miserables

One day I got an inkling to put in a little Les Miserables. I hadn't listened to it in so long and I was sick of all my music. I listen to all my music in the car, so of course the kids are at the mercy of whatever I select (don't worry, I listen to my fair share of The Wiggles and Strawberry Shortcake). It was fun to remember the story as I listened to each song and appreciate how incredible the music is in tune and in telling the story. Apparently Hailee noticed that the music was telling a story, so she started to ask me questions about it. We spent several days to and from school playing each song and having a question and answer session throughout. I couldn't believe how many questions she came up with. She just absorbed the story! For those of you who know it, this post will be a lot more meaningful...She would tell me how nice the bishop was to give "val jean val jean" (as she calls him), the silver so he wouldn't have to go back to jail. She'd tell me how sad it was when Fantine died because now Cosette won't have a mom, but how good it was that "val jean val jean" decided to be "good" and take her with him. She'd ask about Cosette and why the "hotel owners" were mean to her. She'd say how mean it was that Javert "the policeman" kept trying to put "val jean val jean" back in jail. She just loved to ask every question she could about the story and continuously requested we listen to the music.

Soon, she started to ask what the characters looked like (she probably thinks they are real people). I started to pull up video's on you tube, so she could see little Cosette singing and Fantine when she was sick in her bed. She loved to see what they looked like. After weeks of all this with her so interested, I thought it would be really fun to actually take her to the play. I told her that I would take her sometime. Of course, I didn't think I should take my 3-year old to a broadway musical, so I wondered what other options I had. When she asked me when I was going to take her to the play one day, I thought I'd just check and see online if there was anything, anywhere coming up. Lo and behold, Taylorsville High School was putting on the play that very night and over the next few days! Can you believe that?! Tickets were $8 each!

I must say that I absolutely love Hailee at the age she is right now! She is old enough and well-behaved enough that Ty and I frequently take her out on one-on-one date nights trading off. She does so good in that kind of setting with us and it's nice for her to get our undivided attention, since Jake absorbs a lot of it at home. We can take her to movies, plays, bowling, golfing, anything and she just eats it all up.

So, here we are on October 23rd ready to leave for our special play.
I even did her hair into an out of the ordinary 'do, so she'd feel special.
Taylorsville High School did an excellent job on this play! I thought it was perfect. They had some amazing talent and didn't spare much expense with the props and backdrops.I couldn't even get Hailee to take her eyes off the stage long enough to get a picture and the play hadn't even started yet!
I wish everyone could've been there to hear her commentary throughout the play first-hand. She was cracking me up and I could not believe some of the things she noticed about the story. I came home and immediately wrote down everything she said because I wanted to remember it forever. I wish you could hear the inflections and drawls in these comments, but hopefully you can imagine. Here are my favorites.

Javert came to arrest Jean Val Jean after Fantine died. “Oooh, that’s not very nice”

When little Cosette was sent outside, Hailee asked what she was doing. I told her she went out to the well to get water. She asked, "did she bring a cup?"

She asked why Fantine cut off her hair and I told her she sold it to get money so she could buy food for Cosette. She said, "Oooh, that's sooo nice".

During the second part of the play, they started to sing "Look Down" again. Hailee said in a very irritated tone, "why are they singing that song again?!" She likes the song, but couldn't understand why they'd sing it twice. Funny thing is, I never even noticed until she pointed it out.

When Marias was singing "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables", she asked why he was so sad. I said "because all of his friends died". She watched for a bit more and then asked, "Mom, is Cosette Marias's friend?" "Yes" "Well then...all of his friends didn't die!" Wow, what a smart little girl.

She did a great job and made it through the whole thing. She didn't take her eyes off the stage for the entire first half, but after intermission she got a little antsy with all the war stuff, but I was impressed with how well she did.

And...it was past her bedtime.

I love my sweet little Hailee and was so glad I got to share this special night with her and share something that was such an important part of my childhood.