musicals

The last two weekends I have spent listening to music from musicals.

The first weekend was listening to Michael Ballam with my grandparents. His concert was almost a history of musical storytelling in the USA. He started with some of the oldest American Musicals and worked his way through the years until he ended with "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables. He said that the prayer of this song could be taken after the model given by another, Jesus Christ, who also made a covenant with the father to help all of us to be able to make it back home to our father's kingdom. 

Though I love that song and loved the connection, there was a another part of the show that hit me more. He talked about a time that his dad took him to Chicago. His dad had to be at business meetings during the day, but told Michael that they could do whatever he wanted in the evenings. He gave Michael the money to buy tickets to things on the first day so that they wouldn't have to wait in lines the other days. He bought tickets to the opera, symphony, art exhibits and a few musicals. He showed his dad all the tickets at the end of the first day and his dad said the only one that they might have a little trouble with was making it to Man of La Mancha on Thursday because they had a dinner with one of his dad's idols in the business world. The dinner was at 6 pm and curtain for the show was at 8 pm, so they figured they could make it. 

At the dinner, it was quickly evident that getting their meal would be a production of it's own. After an hour and fifteen minutes of eating appetizers that came nowhere near looking like real food, Michael became resigned to the fact that they probably wouldn't make it to the show. The surprise came at 7:40 when his dad stood up and apologized that he had to leave because he had a previous engagement with his son. They took a taxi to the play and got in their seats just at the end of the Overture. 

Michael Ballam talked about how this moment, his father knowing how much it meant to him, has really touched him and inspired him to keep chasing his dreams. I thought about all the times that my parents have done things like that for me. They are always there to tell me to reach for my dreams. They read my resumes and help me optimize them for the jobs for which I'm applying. When I was in Jr. High, mom made me the promise that either she or dad would be at all of my wrestling matches. In High School, they didn't miss a show, choir concert, etc, especially when I was the lead in Man of La Mancha. 

He then sang "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha. That, combined with the story, really touched me. I cried and felt really loved with my grandparents. 

This weekend, I went to Second Studio's Broadway Bonanza with my musical friend Makenzie Vance. It was a wonderful show. Keilani rocked some good jazz tunes. Carly gave a hilarious rendition of "Everybody's Girl" from Steel Pier. Sceri sang "Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q. Redge's performance of "Man" from The Full Monty was hilarious. There were also some great renditions of songs from Ordinary Days that I really related to me. The end of the show was a wonderfully funny performance of "Screw Loose" by Josh Hopkins. It was a fun night. 

Michael Ballam said in his concert that the reason we love musicals is because they tell stories in a much more compelling way. I really agree with that. There is something about music that sparks my emotions to a much higher level. I feel like everyone has music that would make up the soundtrack of the musical of their life. There are power ballads of love; slow minor songs of uncertainty; big production numbers of excitement; dance jams of personal triumph; and blues solos of sadness. We all have our crescendos and decrescendos in life. We just have to keep looking forward. We'll reach a happy end eventually.