Theatre Aspen’s Les Miserables. Last night I had the privilege of attending Theatre Aspen’s production of Les Miserables. I am still reeling from the phenominal performances we enjoyed up close and personal. I literally dragged my son Micah to the show. He is 8 would have preferred spending his evening with Skylander Giants, but I was bound and determined to have him experience “The Theatre”. It is a passion of mine and though we get to NY or London to see a show here and there, we don’t have many chances to see live theatre. We were both transfixed by the show and the world class performances. The score, the story, the history, the actors all came together to transport us to the world of the French Revolution. I think it is also fitting that I write this post on the 14 Juillet, the day of the storming of the Bastille.

Intermission allowed us a chance to check in with one another and see how we were all enjoying the show. We were all in agreement, it was a knock out.  Excitedly we returned to our seats to see the rest of the show. The cast was packed with big time national talent, the lead Mike Eldred, also played Jean Valjean on Broadway. Javert, Aloysius Gigl was a force to be reckoned with. Andrea Ross as Eponine was a standout with her great voice and presence as were Daniel Berryman and Beth Malone. Loved seeing local Franz Alderfer in a variety of roles; he’s taken care of me numerous times at the airport and I had no idea of the talent that lay inside.  The kids in the show, both “local”, were on par with the world class talent in the show. I had to watch Sophie Schlosser’s mom’s face to be sure that the “boy” playing Gavroche was indeed her. Mother’s faces tell all as her love and admiration reflected back from the audience. Jaidyn Hurst as Cosette portrayed a talent well beyond her 8 years.

We went home planning to get tickets to see the show again. It was a treat to feel the cool calm Aspen night and not have to try and catch a cab in Times Square. Tired, but not wanting it all to end,  we had to watch a little bit of the movie to get more. Luckily Micah passed out quickly so we finished the movie in the morning. The play had been such a moving experience that all he could talk about was learning more about the French Revolution and wondering if he might actually like to try his hand at acting. He’s a natural drama queen, so of course I was encouraging!