Musicals through the generations

Musicals through the generations

My mother loved musicals, so we had records of musicals. I remember clearly that it was true competence when I could change the records myself. When I was younger, you could put it on repeat; but when I could turn it over myself and put it back down, that was a very important first competence, being able to play the music for yourself. I’m not a musician, so being able to play the music was pretty great. I remember going to see Camelot in the stage version, and it was nothing like my imagination from listening to the songs. We went to see lots of musicals.

Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get several childhoods: you get one of your very own, and then if you’re lucky enough to have children, you get to have their childhoods too. I remember the stage one of my daughters went through where she was really into musicals. All the girls—that’s what they did, they listened to Les Mis all the time, and they were in musicals, and things like that. So you get to enjoy things again when your children enjoy them, so I enjoyed musicals through my children’s eyes. And now my granddaughters know Hamilton by heart. Every time they’ve gotten in the car this summer, they’ve said “Do you have Hamilton?” because they just listen to it all the time, all the way to Minnesota and all the way back in the car. We went camping together: “Do you have Hamilton?” No, I don’t have Hamilton. And then we’d be sitting around the campfire and they’d just start, and you know, it’s rap, so they’d just start rapping, my granddaughters. It’s so fun. They don’t need the music; they just want it. I really enjoy that.

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