Defining Moments: Les Miserables

I was not happy when my youth minister announced that we were going to see Les Miserables.

I wanted to see Phantom of the Opera.

I was ignorantly dumb.

By the time intermission arrived and “One Day More” had reached its final peak, I was literally on the edge of my back-row-of-the-balcony seat.

Honestly, I didn’t fully understand the story-line. My 9th grade self didn’t follow the plot line of the French revolution and the schoolboys that would “wet themselves with blood.”

But I didn’t care.

All I knew is that I was deeply moved by my first Broadway musical and that I one day wanted to play the role of Eponine and belt out “On My Own” with such sadness of reality that I could make grown men cry.

I bought the poster. I bought the soundtrack. I learned all of the words to the original London cast’s soundtrack. And ever since that fateful moment during the summer after my freshman year, I have jumped at the opportunity to see Les Miserables. I may be wrong, but I think I’ve seen it six times on stage—and of course I saw the movie.

The ironic thing? I’m not a fan of Phantom of the Opera.

I suppose it’s no wonder, then, that when I learned that the theme of this year’s Harnett County Reading Council’s writing competition is “Dare to Dream,” I immediately began to sing, “I Dreamed A Dream.”

I sang and I wrote. Sang and wrote. Until the poem that follows emerged…22 years after original inspiration.

Thank you, old youth minister, for laying the foundation for this poem…and the many years of wonderful musical theatre that followed my first show.

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Dare To Dream: When Tomorrow Comes
With excerpts from Les Miserables

And the music played and
the crowd cheered on and
then she sang and
I cried.

“…I dreamed a dream of times gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving…”

But love did die yet
God was forgiving and
she kept singing so
I wept.

“…Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine un-tasted…”

And we had everything but
we had nothing and
I tried to sing but
I sobbed.

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

And the tigers did come and
Shame consumed me and
I tried to sing but
I choked.

…Light slipped away…

Yet dreams are stronger than shame and
Hope is more resilient than heartache and
Sacred silence is louder than thunder and
I dared to dream again.

“…When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes…”