Misjudging a book by its cover...

I love Broadway.  I just do.  I love the music, the performances, the atmosphere... even the shows I saw on Broadway that were not my favorite (Dame Edna, Swing, and Hair...)  I loved... because of the experience, because of the artistry, because of the spirit of Broadway.  

The first Broadway show I saw in NYC was Les Miserables in 1998 I think... Sis had a conference in NYC and somehow I ended up going with her and while she was at the conference I spent time with a friend of mine.  It was my first time in NYC.  Our tickets were, if I remember correctly, in the last row of the balcony... I had never really seen professional theater... and as the show began, I could feel the music from the orchestra in every fiber of my being... and as Jean Val Jean appeared on the stage and began to sing about his prison term...."Look down, look down, don't look 'em in the eye..look down look down, you're here until you die...." He was marching on a part of the stage that rotated... in a circular motion and I was mesmerized.  I fell in love, with Broadway.  

Since that time... I have seen several shows... Rent of course, Chicago, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Swing, Dame Edna, Hair, Wicked...Oh and the Off Broadway show, Naked Boys Singing! (Hysterical by the way!)  And I have seen the movies that have been made after the Broadway versions including Chicago, Rent, and most recently Les Miserables.  

I was a bit apprehensive to see Les Mis because I loved it on Broadway so much... but since it had been so long since I had seen it I decided I would go...  I saw it with Sis, on Christmas day.  At a small theater about a mile and a half from her house.  We walked to the theater and am glad we didn't arrive any later than we did.  To my surprise the place was packed.  Who knew so many people went to the movies on Christmas Day? I had heard that Anne Hathaway was going to play Fantine.  I was skeptical.  I picture Anne Hathaway as the Princess in the Princess Diaries, not as a desperate woman who, to support her child, ends up selling her body.  I had more confidence in her acting abilities than in her singing, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The other performers did well also, though I think Russel Crowe 's singing was not as good as it could have been...while I respect the need for big names in a film, I would have loved to see a Broadway performer get their film debut... Anyway... this is not a movie review... I misjudged Anne Hathaway's abilities... and today I misjudged one of my students.  

There is this kid, who sits with another kid at the same lunch table.  I would not classify them as friends... they are two 'outcasts' who have found each other's company tolerable, and are often engaging in other activities while sitting there...gaming... music, etc... One of the boys, I will call, Mikey is a student with special needs, a very typical tall lanky goofy awkward boy trying to grow facial hair... the other, who I will call Darrell, is a kid who is hairy, bearded, whose hair is so long it covers his face... overweight... and they are kids I say hello to whenever I see them at lunch.  I try to engage them in conversation and often do so successfully.  One day, Darrel appeared in my neighborhood... he was sitting outside a church that is close to my house and I was surprised by his presence in my life outside of school... he was waiting to go to a youth group activity, waiting for his ride as well as the youth group leaders.  He was there with a few other kids one parent.  

Today, as I walked by their table I asked them what they had done over vacation and they both responded with 'not much.'  So I dug deeper and asked if they had seen any movies... I assumed they were both movie buffs... Darrel said he had seen a movie and when I asked him which one I expected him to name the newest terminator  type sci fi film or star wars or the like... and he said, "Les Miserables."  I tried to prevent my eyes from bugging out and from contorting my face into a confused expression... and asked him what he thought of it.  He began telling me about specific scenes and comparing them to a live performance he had seen somewhere... he compared the voices of the main characters in the movie to other actors he had seen.  At this point, wanting to be part of the conversation Mikey asked what movie we were talking about and I told him Les Miserables, and when he asked what it was about, I was attempting to say the French Revolution, Darrel interrupted me and corrected my description, saying it was about post revolutionary France... and as he described the plot, starting with why Jean Val Jean was serving his prison term (stealing a loaf of bread for his sister's child)  I started singing, softly yet overly dramatic, the song that starts the musical...Look down look down... and Darrel stopped talking and looked at me with the biggest smile and said, you know the songs, and I said I did and that I found it hard to watch the movie because I wanted to sing along.  He laughed and said HE had felt the same way!!  WHAT? Darrel? My outcast gamer likes Broadway? I LOVE IT!  He went on to tell me that he skyped with one of his female friends before going to the movie and as they skyped they sang the songs, each taking on parts of different characters!  

How fun!!!  I would not, in a million years, pegged that kid as a Broadway fan.  I love that my paradigms can be challenged and shifted.  Yahoooooooooooooo! Love my job!