I saw a fantastic high school production of Les Mis this weekend. Truly, I kid you not. When I heard that Ridgway High School (one town over from where I grew up)was putting it on, I said “No way. How are they going to pull that off?”

Well, they did. It was by no means perfect, but wow. I was stunned. Eponine was amazing. She’s going to be something. I guarantee it. And the little boy who played Gavroche? Unbelievable. I don’t know where they found him, but wow. He was better than this one kid that I saw in an professional (traveling) production in Buffalo a couple of years ago. The kid was so bad that, when he was dying on the barricade, I felt like screaming “Just shut up and die already!” Yeah, it was that bad. This kid, though? Tears.

So, kudos to Ridgway High School and director Jason Phipps. It makes me want to get into the classroom already, so I can be a part of things like this!