Been there, done that (edit much?)

So I have a thing for the musical version of Les Miserables (Alain Boulbil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and Herbert Kretzmer). I saw it more than once, and can’t believe it didn’t become the only show to have an eternal run. I loved how I would cry at different places, depending on where I was that evening or who was performing a given role. Two songs always got me going, though. How universal are the themes in Victor Hugo’s novel, and how well they were brought to life in this show. I never cared about all the scenery changes and stuff; but oh how I loved every moment of its performance. One small regret is that I would have so loved to see Patti Lupone play Fantine; I adore listening to her sing this first song.

Okay … have a good day.

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting

There was a time when love was blind
When the world was a song
And the song was exciting

There was a time when it all went wrong …

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
When dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he’ll come to me
And we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

~Fantine, Les Miserables

And now I’m all alone again
Nowhere to go, no one to talk to
I do not want your money sir
I came out here ’cause I was told to
And now the night is near
And I can make believe he’s here

Sometimes I walk alone at night
When everybody else is sleeping
I think of him and then I’m happy
With the company I’m keeping
The city goes to bed
And I can live inside my head

On my own, pretending he’s beside me
All alone I walk with him till morning
Without him I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me

In the rain the pavement shines like silver
And the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me forever and forever

And I know it’s only in my mind
That I’m talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there’s a way for us

I love him, but when the night is over
He is gone, the river’s just a river
Without him the world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers

I love him but every day I’m learning
All my life I’ve only been pretending
Without me his world will go on turning
A world that’s full of happiness that I have never known …

I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own

~Eponine, Les Miserables

Thanks to a friend for this:

I’m Jean Valjean!

(No, really.) Some people may see me as a little sanctimonious, but though I care deeply about doing right, I’m not above a little skulduggery in a good cause. Being in touch with my spiritual side doesn’t make me an easy target… on the contrary, in fact.

Which Les Miserables Character Are You?