Day 29
Today wasn't the best of days. It was cold and rainy and I had a test to due Friday morning. I went to class and then left right after to go home and work on homework and study for my test. I was really stressed because I had a few hours worth of homework in addition to a test that would take another few hours that I didn't have. So I made the one hour trip to Paris to enjoy about an hour and half of class and then turned around and made the hour trip back to Croissy to do my work. I was not a happy camper...nor a happy student for that matter. To make matters worse I didn't get enough sleep the night before so I was exhausted and I was looking forward to another night with little sleep because I was going to see Les Miserables that night (which would cut into my study time as well---great). So I attempted to work for about an hour, then I succombed to sleep and took an hour nap. I then had to drag myself out of bed (well, that's a figure of speech because I just work from my bed which doubles as a couch in my room) and try to get some more work accomplished. Of course, taking into account the time warp, the hours flew by and soon it was time to leave again and I was still far behind in my work. Around 6 o'clock I got ready to go and we took the 7 o'clock train to Paris to go to see Les Mis at the Theatre Chatelet.
Note to reader: This part of the blog was written first in the form of a specific entry I had to do for a homework assignment (we have to write about three cultural activities we do in Paris). So the format is a little different and I repeat some things I already mentioned so bear with me because I didn't feel like re-writing it...
Tonight I went to see the musical Les Miserables, based on the novel by French author, Victor Hugo. I originally thought that it would be in French, but in fact it was the English version. But that is okay because then I understood it better. One of the cool things about seeing it in France was that they had French "subtitles" on the side so it was interesting to listen to the songs in English and read the French translation and compare the meanings. Sometimes I preferred the English version and sometimes I found the French translation more profound.
Another interesting thing about this experience is that, because I saw Les Mis in America last spring with my family I was able to compare the two productions. The cast in this musical was British which definitely gave the performance a different vibe than the one in America. Although I usually love and prefer British accents, surprisingly I liked the American version of the musical better. I found the words and music more appealing when sung in American English--although its not just the accent, but the overall manifestations of cultural differences in behavior. Sometimes the songs were less fluent and more recitative/speech-song which is sometimes fun, but in this case I would prefer they had sung with greater fluidity in their voice. I also didn't like the special effects used in the Paris performance, which included using a projector to created a fluid background that moved with the actors and allowed a creative interpretation of the tunnel scene with Jean Valjean and also the suicide scene of the police officer. When it comes to plays and musicals I find I prefer more physical, hands-on special effects--I think the projector gave the performance too much of a virtual/sci-fi feeling that was not congruent with the themes and setting of the story or the venue.
However, I'm being picky. Overall the performance was very well done and I really enjoyed it. I will say that in terms of appreciating the story, the performance was much better the second time because 1) I'd seen it before so I had a basis of what was happening, and 2) Ryan gave a brief summary of the plot before it started which helped me keep track of what was going on and set me up to have a deeper understanding of the story and subsequently a better appreciation for it, and the ability to focus on the music itself, instead of being lost in the story plot.
In conclusion I had a great time and it was really enjoyable. I really liked the subtitles--they not only added to the depth of the meaning of the words, but they also helped me when I couldn't understand what was sung in English (sometimes its hard to distinguish words when they're being sung).
Nothing like a good musical to boost your spirits!
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After the musical ended we headed back home on the metro to Croissy where we arrived home around 12:30am. Then I began my homework and test. At around 2am I started to forget whole paragraphs that I had just read and studied so I made the executive decision that I shouldn't take the test and I should finish up my other homework and finish my test after class. So I finished my journals and finally made it to bed at about 3am and looked forward to a nice early rise at 7am! Goody.
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