Liars and Saints

 Everyone knows that "Non-Stop" from "Hamilton" is a tribute to "One Day More" from "Les Miserables." But I want to argue that "Les Miserables"--a show I generally dislike--handles its "curtain number" more gracefully than "Hamilton." Because it's a work of fiction, "Les Miserables" can make a certain audacious promise. "You think Act One was crazy? You haven't seen crazy yet." And the promise is fulfilled.  Javert, the hero's antagonist, makes clear that there will be many violent deaths. "We'll be ready for these school boys. They will wet themselves with blood!" (Javert isn't wrong. But--in a bit of dramatic irony--it's true that Javert will *also* wet himself with blood. We can imagine that he might bash his head on a river rock when he jumps into the Seine.) A second war is implied. This is the war between Cosette and Eponine. It's a war between a head vo...

 I feel my old age most deeply when I'm standing in line for tickets to the revival of "Chess." All I want to do is complain about Lea Michele.  The role of Florence once belonged to Judy Kuhn--possibly the greatest singer in Broadway history. Now, in 2025, the best we can do is Lea Michele? A 7:30 pm start time means that I will be out past 11--but what can I do? Maybe I'll be able to sleep in the Uber. In my younger and more impressionable era, I thought "Nobody's Side" was thrilling. Now all I can think about is scansion: Everybody's PLAY-ING the GAME... But nobody's rules ARE the SAME! Who talks that way? Enough already. I make the purchase. Time to think about a tall glass of Ovaltine.

  As my kids get older, I think about words; the work of parenting seems to be centered on words. Attaching nouns to verbs. Giving explanations, but also modeling how a sentence is built--so that a child can build her own sentences, with ease, sooner rather than later. The musical "Fun Home" looks at words--how they can be weapons or tools. In one scene, young Alison pulls out a sketch for her father. She clearly has talent, and she wants some recognition. Her father is mentally ill, and he tends to destroy anything in his path. He begins to lecture Alison on shading and scale; eventually, he becomes flustered, and he suggests that the current draft will be a source of embarrassment. Alison will take the draft to school, and the other kids will laugh at her. It's a brutal scene. Later in the evening, Alison confronts her mother. She wants to know how Mom has survived decades of emotional terrorism. There is a complicated accusation within this question: "You have bee...