A few months ago I remember seeing a prompt on Bluesky from a contributor with This American Life. They needed stories from when someone said an off-hand remark that stuck with you for a long time and had a major impact on your life¹. I couldn’t think of one to add, but this winter, I recalled a remark my dad made about musicals when I was a kid. 

We had just rented The Sound of Music on VHS. I don’t know what prompted it, but I distinctly remember him saying it was boring and too long, “They sing the same song for 15 minutes!” 

I took that and extrapolated it to believe that all musicals were boring and too long. Musicals weren’t my thing. 

I still held on to this belief even after seeing a few musicals at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. We could never afford orchestra tickets for a family of six, but my dad got complimentary tickets from work. We saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Candide and a couple other shows thanks to that perk². Joseph and Candide were fine and I enjoyed them, but I didn’t go home and immediately beg my parents to get a CD recording so I could listen to the songs endlessly. In my 20s, I saw a few other shows at the same theater and was a bit bored in the second act. Don’t hate me, but I didn’t love Wicked and Mamma Mia! 

The joke is on me. I’ve enjoyed musicals and musical theater since I was a teen. I was really into the 1990s Disney musicals. Some of the first CDs I owned were the soundtracks to Lion King, Aladdin, and Pocahontas. A friend gave me a 4-CD disc set of Disney music for my quinceañera, and it was one of the best gifts ever. To this day, “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid is still a go-to at karaoke.

Two, I was a band kid from middle school into college! Do you know how many times I played music from musicals?! Twice. West Side Story really had a grip on my band directors. Yes, I’ve formed a shark and a jet on a football field.

Maybe my dad isn’t into musicals, but I am³. See: Hamilton obsession and Hadestown. 

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Hadestown came to me by way of Xavi.

After acting in the fall Shakespeare play, The Tempest, Xavi decided to audition for the winter musical which would be either Hadestown: Teen Edition or Mary Poppins⁴. The students and school decided on Hadestown and Xavi was cast as a member of the chorus/workers. 

From December through February, he worked hard in many rehearsals on weeknights and weekends to learn the music and choreography. We’d listen to songs from the musical in the car or at home as he practiced his parts and choreography. It was cute to hear him share the origin story of Orpheus and Eurydice with Archie. 

We saw the school’s production four weeks ago. I was blown away by all the performers and so proud of Xavi’s hard work. I was also touched that my mom was able to come out to see Xavi. He didn’t know she was coming and was so surprised to see her when he came home from school.

Before the teen performance, I had only heard a few of the songs from Hadestown. But afterward I knew I wanted to see the Broadway production. So, when Xavi asked if we could see it while visiting family in Long Island, I immediately said “yes, let’s see if there are tickets!” 

We both loved it and I’m obsessed⁵. Two weeks later, I’m still amazed at the set, lighting, actors, and musicians and have had the Original Broadway Cast recording on repeat. Seeing the Broadway production made me appreciate more what Xavi and his peers did with a minimal set and budget. I told Sean that I was much more touched by the teen rendition of “Why We Build the Wall” because I saw Xavi up there and because the themes of the musical will have a greater impact on his generation.

On the road trip back from Long Island, we did family sing-alongs to Hamilton, a musical I played constantly when Xavi was a toddler and Archie was in utero/a baby. After asking to skip to “Wait for It”, Xavi said, “I have such memories of this song!” He then didn’t allow me to sing until the chorus, because he claimed Aaron Burr’s parts.

Whether we’re singing “Wait for It” or “Wait for Me”, I’m glad we can have these full circle moments and influence each other’s music taste.

It’s a parenting moment I didn’t know I was waiting for.

1. The resulting episode was pretty good. ↩︎
2. I also got to see an incredible flamenco show there and Natalie Merchant at the Greek Theater. That was my first concert. ↩︎
3. No shade whatsoever to my dad who has had a huge and positive influence on my musical upbringing. I’ve reflected on it like in this snippet from seeing Los Lobos years ago. ↩︎
4. The number of times I watched my VHS of Mary Poppins might also say something about my affinity for musicals. ↩︎
5. Sean and Archie didn’t go, but Archie still had a good time spending Christmas money in the Nintendo LEGO stores. ↩︎