The Miserables

No, that isn't the title to the all in action flick sequel which stars all of your favorite 80's and 90's action heroes. It is the literal translation to the 18th century French drama that Cathy and I went to see live last night at the historic and newly renovated Boston Opera House.

Opening night of Les Miserables at the Boston Opera House.

To put it mildly, we don't get out much so going into the big city to the theater is a big deal around these parts. I've seen a couple of musicals in the past, primarily Weber, and enjoyed them. That said, the last I'd seen was Phantom back in 1992 I believe. Only ten years ago, that's not bad. Oh wait, that's 20 years. Phuck me I'm old.

Back to the story, it was a fun night out and something that we don't do often but that I recognize that Cathy really likes to do. We took the red line in from Alewife and grabbed some food and drinks at Max and Dylan's in town. Good place. Very friendly and welcoming and a good selection of brews on tap. I opted for the Sierra Torpedo which is a double IPA. Given that it was basically summer yesterday with the temperatures in the 70's here, Cathy went for the Wachusett Blueberry garnished with actual blueberries. For food we started with some grilled kielbasa bites and then I had a parma prosciutto sandwich which was fresh and and tasty and Cathy went for the prosciutto mac & cheese, which she raved over. We finished with a cupcake trio.

Dinner at Max and Dylan's finished off with a cupcake trio.

The show was great and a delight to see the working of a high end production. The set design and complexity had me in awe, especially given the relatively small stage that they had to work with. The lighting was good though the production is set very dark, intentionally, given the theme and mood. Having never experienced Les Miserables before and knowing little if anything of the storyline, I found some of the movement between acts hard to follow. Wait, he was just in prison and then he got out and stole a bunch of silver from the church, now he owns a factory? I must admit though, I was often fidgeting or marveling at the sets and the theater and not fully engaged in the plot. ADD.

Boston Opera House is a recently revived classic from the roaring twenties. It is truly something to behold in it's classic theater design and architecture. Let me say, however, that people back in the 20's had a much greater tolerance for discomfort or rather, their notions of comfort were probably vastly different than our modern, coddled ideas. As such, I struggled with comfort at the lack of leg room. Doing a hard hour long TT effort right before leaving for the show probably didn't help things. One other thing, apparently people were not as hydrated in the 20's as us modern beings. I base this on the line for the restrooms at intermission. That was one time I was really glad not to be a woman. I'm told they had a person directing traffic in the ladies room, it was so busy. Wonder if they get overtime for that detail?

The detail was impressive. The seats, not so much.

All in all, a great night spent with my favorite person. Thank you Cathy, I had a wonderful time.