At last nights Les Miserables rehearsal (which was a run of Act 2), the director looked at me & said to the whole room Larry will sing Jean Valjean tonight. Or as it sounded in my head: LARRY WILL SING JEAN VALJEAN!!! Of course I wasnt prepared -- and there wasnt TIME to prepare, except to madly page through the score marking all the places where Valjean sings & count out the entrances. Well, not prepared except for years of listening to the (older version of the) music on my CD. And years of practicing Bring Him Home. The moment came. I had no plan. I just moved from Marius out to center stage when I felt that I had to. I let my hands do whatever they wanted. I knew to give myself some pauses on the last page so that I wouldnt tighten up (as much) on the last three notes. And then I sang them... and the cast burst into applause. I dont care much about applause as such. What mattered last night was the proof that they heard me. Their reaction showed that they felt in my singing the passion and humility of this simple-seeming song that I care about so very much. Singing with Cosette & Fantine in the death scene, I almost lost it. Then I rejoined the ensemble for the final song. And I was walking on air. I still havent entirely come down to earth. Last night will remain one of the perfect moments of my life. Not that my singing was perfect -- far from it. But its still a perfect moment. I found out later that our Jean Valjean had shown up for rehearsal so sick that he could barely talk, so they sent him home. I hope hes well again tomorrow night! Its too close to opening night to be missing people. But Im grateful, if he had to be away, that Im the one who was chosen to fill in. We all know that old theatrical chestnut about the chorus member who is abruptly catapulted into the lead role. Last night it happened to me -- in a limited way, but still. Theater is magical. Sometimes the magic is greatest when things go wrong, if we respond with the right attitude.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 00:11:44 +0000