Les Miserables

We and the Hegelbergs went to the Reinhart Theater to see James and Becca in the musical Les Miserables. Three generations of Reinharts were involved in the production, from the orchestra conductor to the directors to a youngster who played Gavroche. In 1954 Jerry Reinhart started out as choral director at Merrillville High School and was responsible for starting the Ross Music Theater, which puts on tywo shows each summer. Son Michael and his wife Melinda started M and M Productions, which my grandkids have been involved with in various capacities. This was the fifth time Dick has seen Les Miserables, including with us in Chicago, and the young actors were every bit as good as the performance we saw in Chicago. The cast was about half African American, reflective of the growing Black population in Merrillville, including most of the main roles. The guy who played Jean Valjean was unbelievably talented although his make-up made him look a little like the Caveman character on TV commercials. Likewise the actress who played Cosette’s mother Fantine had a voice that was little short of thrilling. Even though the show was three hours long, it kept my attention like none I’ve seen in many a moon.

My first orders for volume 41 of Steel Shavings are coming in. Ray Smock paid me the ultimate compliment in claiming I was keeping the spirit of Jean Shepherd alive. A copy of David Goldfield’s Journal of Urban History arrived with an article I helped critique by Paul O’Hara about the city of Gary. It ends with a quote from “Gary’s First Hundred Years.” Janet Bayer was in to see Alice Bush and stayed with us Saturday night. We are all excited that daughter Kirsten has moved back to Indy – talk of Thanksgiving dinner there in November.