Newsletters

Here are the newsletters from 1-6. Sorry newsletters 7-9 are still missing.

Table of Contents
-Word from the club head
-BB Contest of da month
-Musical Excerpts
-Definition of Les Mis
-See It through Their Eyes
-BB Fresh
-Some Facts about Les Miserables
-Commentary

I. Word from the Club head (Read this!!!!! It’s quite important)
Hi everyone! I give you a warm welcome to the Barricade Balloon. Since it’s just the first newsletter, it’s just short, since I wrote mostly everything, but, it’s gonna improve. I’ve been planning this club for a lot of months now, including my website. Finally, my dream has come true. Voila! The Barricade Balloon! Unfortunately, though, my website’s not yet done. I’ll inform you when it’s available. For next month’s issue, pls. Send more articles to put in the newsletter, like reviews, etc. Just to inform you, you’ll receive each newsletter every 5th of the month.
About the contest, for those of you who don’t know the system, it’s like this: The contest will be either a question or an essay, it depends, whoever’s first, or whoever gives me the best essay wins. The winner of each contest will be announced on the next newsletter, and will receive an e-mail right after I decide that this person won. The person, called the member of the month, will get to put anything he/she wants on my website, as long as it’s related to musicals, or about herself. I’ll put a link to her part of my website on the main page of mine as a feature. That spot will remain there until the next winner of the next contest submits what he/she wants to put. That’s approx. 1 month, or, she can choose to have a permanent corner where she can write articles in my newsletter, but it means she should be consistently submitting articles for her/his corner. Deadline of submitting entries for each contest is on the 25th of each month. Deadline of the winner to submit whatever he/she wants to put is on the 10th of the next month. I’ll also put the winning essay in the website. All entries will also be place in the newsletter, winning or not.  Through the next months, will be having activities. I’m so sorry though, that I can’t give a chat. I’m also implementing the “Buddy System.” A lot more will develop through the next months. If you have any questions about anything, just e-mail me. I’ll also be annoucing the most active members on the 6th newsletter.
Oh, if you could advertise this club, please do.

II. BB Contest of the Month
Essay: Write how Les Mis influenced your life. Deadline for entries is on March 25, 2000.

IV. Musical Excerpts by Tamil
Recently, it was announced that we were going to have musical excerpts. Each group picked a musical through draw lots. Unfortunately, though, our group didn’t get Les Mis (grrr!!!). We got Grease, instead. They made me a boy, since I study in an all-girl school. I’m playing Eugene, one of the high school boys. It’s a very small role, but I have a lot to do with the props. Other musicals that are going to be presented are Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, King and I, Sound of Music, and West Side Story. It’s a lot of work. The review of all the presentations will be written in the next issue.

V. Definition of Les Miserables by Tamil and Hermion
L   is for the life that the actors show.
E   is for the energy that the actors give.
S   is for the songs that everyone knows so well.
M is for the music, the most important thing.
I    is for interesting, everyone agrees to that.
S   is for the strings or violins, which most of the orchestra is made up of.
E   is for the eagerness that the audience shows before Les Mis starts.
R   is for LES MIS RULES!!!!!!
A   is for the audiences that are ever so loyal.
B   is for the best musical in the world.
L   is for the lyrics that a lot of us remember.
E   is for excited, I know everyone is when Les Mis comes to town.
S   is for the strength of the performers to sing for more that two hours.

VI. See It Through Their Eyes
This corner will be seen in every newsletter. Each newsletter, I will write about a character telling her/his own story.
This month’s article: Enjolras and the Barricade 

 I know that by the time you are reading this, I am already dead. I am writing this so that people will remember me when I am gone. This is my story.
         I am Enjolras, leader of the ABC students. I live in Paris, France in a time when there is great turmoil. General Lamarque, our hero is fading away. After his death, I know that everything will change. That’s why I and my friends are already planning. We have to create barricades. It is dangerous, I know, but the cause is worth it.
         Gavroche just told us that Lamarque is already dead. I knew it! It was the hour of fate. The barricades will be built right away. It was time.
         We finished building our barricade. An officer told us that no one is coming to help us fight. I told my friends not the heed their warnings nor their lies.
         At the barricade, a man arrived. He said that there will be no attack that night, but Gavroche came and told us that he was telling lies. We also found out his name: Inspector Javert. Some of us wanted to shoot him, but I told them to tie hip up.
         Then, I saw a boy climbing up the barricade, or at least I thought it was a boy. It was Eponine, Marius’ friend. She was fatally wounded. She died in his arms.
         A man wearing an army unifrom approached the barricade. He was old, probably sixty years old. The army was ready to attack. I gave him a gun. The battle begun. A lot of gunshots could be heard. We won the first battle!
         While fighting, the old man shot at someone who was aiming for me. For that, I told him that I would thank him after we have won the battle. He told me not to give him any thanks, byt there was something I could do for hi, He asked if he could take care of the spy Javert. I told him to do what he had to do, that man belonged to him. I told my friends that the enemy maybe recruiting. I told them to go back to their positions. I wasn’t very sure how the old man was going to kill the spy, but it didn’t matter.
         We were running out of bullets. Marius volunteered to get more, but I did not allow him. It was too much of a chance. He told me that it was the same for any man here. The old man came up to me and said that I should let him go and get bullets. He said he is old and has nothing to fear. Suddenly, Gavroche said that we need someone quicker and he volunteered. He climbed up the barricade. We tried to stop him, but it was no use. He was killed.
         I told Marius to rest. My friends and I sat down for a friend and a song.
         An army officer warned us that we have no chance. I told him that we will die facing our foes.
         I know that I will die tonight, but I know that through my death and the death of my friends, a new world will rise.

VII. BB Fresh
I’m very glad to tell you that my website is almost complete. Maybe next month, I’ll give the address to you so you can check it out. Also, I told you that sometimes, you might receive club news from Hermion, [email protected] I’m appointing her as assistant head of this club. I see her everyday and I tell her everything I’m doing about this club.

VIII. Some facts about Les Miserables
-More than 40 million poeple worldwide have experienced Les Miserables over 22 million of them in the U.S. The shows global box office receipts exceed $1.8 billion.
-The correct pronunciation of the title is Lay Miz-Ah-Rob
-Each performance entails 36 actors, 28 crew members, 18 orcastra members, 20 wardrobe staffers, more than 1000 costume peices, 45 wigs, 150 pairs of shoes, five fog machines, 500 pounds of dry ice, 63 revolutions of the turn table
-The Broadway production of Les Miserables opened March 12, 1987, has played more than 4900 performances and is currently the forth longest running show in Broadway history. The show has been touring the U.S. for 10 years.
-Written by Claude-Michel Shonberg and Alain Boubil Les Miserables was first persented as a musical in a huge area of paris in1980 where is was seen by more than 500,000 people. Producer cameron Mackintosh adapted the show for the London stage where it is in its 19th sold out year.

IX. Commentary: Why is Gavroche so important? By [email protected]
          Some of you might think that Gavroche is just one of the people of the barricade, but actually, Although you may not see it, Gavroche is a very important character. Without him, the revolutionary students wouldn’t win the first attack. Remember when Javert came and told them that there would me no attack that night? Well, Gavroche came and told them that he’s lying and that his name is Inspector Javert.
         Gavroche has a lot of courage in him. He even volunteered to get more ammuntion, right? If I were in his shoes I wouldn’t do it at all.
         It’s a good thing that Gavroche was there and it's also a good thing that he remembered Javert. In the book he said that Javert "pulled him off by the ear while he (Gavroche) was taking the air."
         To some people"s eyes, he's nothing but a child, but he proved that he has the heart and the courage to be part of the revolution.

Table of Contents
-Read This
 -BB Contest of the Month
-Poet’s Net
    <Why
    <If
    <My Life
    <A Les Mis Poem
-Re-vue
    <Musical Excerpts
    <Musical Excerpts
-See It Through Their Eyes
-BB Fresh
    <Cats Leaving Broadway
-Add an ad

READ THIS
         Hi members! Our club has 16 members already, not bad for a club that started at the end of February.
         Announcement: I can’t access my hotmail account right now because my Internet Explorer and my Netscape doesn’t want to work, so pls. e-mail me at [email protected] until I tell you that the problem is fixed. My website is already done. If you want to visit it, here’s the address: http://fanclub.ms/barricade If you have a website, pls. put a link to mine. You might find it boring, though. It’s still new, so I’m not yet done putting up the pictures and the sounds, but basically, it’s complete. Also, right now, I’m redesigning it since it’s summer time and I’m adding animation effects and color, a lot of things. I even shortened my web address! To those of you who don’t know, my old web address was http://les_mis_2000.homestead.com/MainPage.html I made my website shorter so that it will be a lot easier to remember.
         Oh, one more thing, when I gather enough members, around 30, I’m implementing the buddy system. Coming soon: Spotlight. A corner where I write about a certain performer each month. Oh, and if you want to e-mail me and want me to respond to it ASAP, e-mail me at [email protected] or [email protected] ‘coz I could check my mail without going online, so I can instantly know when someone e-mails me and can respond right away. Also, you might receive your mail through those e-mail addresses, so don’t be surprised, but, if my computer doesn’t want to work, then I’ll ask [email protected] to e-mail you for me.
         Also, two keep my newsletter organized, each article will be sorted out and placed in a corner depending on what it is. And another thing, a recent Les Mis fan, my sister just joined my club, so I also made her an officer. She’s the new Prefect. If I might study in a boarding school, or I’m just too pressured that I don’t have time to check my mail, she’ll check my mail for me. So don’t be surprised if someone else answers it, and she has limitations, of course. She is only allowed to check mail and answer them, but she cannot make decisions. And she’s just 12, so don’t get freaked out, when what she sends you has a lot of humor and errors because she is still immature (I didn’t write the past 2 sentences. She’s beside me right now and wrote it herself). Her SCREEN NAME is Elisa and her address is [email protected] Oh also, she doesn’t know that much about Les Mis so pls understand.
         If you can, pls. also, donate stuff for my website like sound files or links to other Les Mis stuff. If you can’t, THAT’S OK. But it would really mean a lot to me if you would.

BB CONTEST OF THE MONTH
Same as last month because no one sent in their entries.
Essay: Write about how Les Miserables influenced your life.
Deadline: April 30, 2000

POET’S NET by club members
Why?
By Gavroche at [email protected]

Why? He never noticed me, anyway.
Why should I care he's in love with Cosette?
Why did I fall I fall in love with him?
Why did I put my heart before my head?
Why did I return to the barricades?
Why does it hurt to die?
Why does my pain wash away when I feel his arms closing around me?
Why do I start to cry as I realize I won't live?
Why do I find myself telling him "I loved you"?
Why, as I slip into darkness, do I feel his lips touch my forehead?
Why did I die?
Why?
Why?

IF
By Tamil at [email protected]

If Valjean didn’t rescue Marius from the barricade, what Cosette do?
If Valjean didn’t take Cosette, what would his life be?
If the Thenardiers weren’t part of the story, would things be a lot easier?
If Javert didn’t throw himself to the river, what would he do?
If Valjean never went to jail, what would the story be about?

MY LIFE
By Elisa at [email protected]

I’m the mayor
I’m Jean Valjean
I’m so alone
But that was before Fantine

She had a daughter—Cosette
The same time Fantine died
I had to hide
With her little child

She grew up
And fell in love
With a young man named Marius
This wasn’t so hilarious

I risked my life
For Marius’ wife
In turn I got Javert
I wish he could convert

Javert spent years after me
But this was a sight to see
He drowned himself in the river
I did not know what this was for

My Cosette was married
Javert was no longer there
My life seemed so happy
But then I died

What an end.

A LES MIZ POEM
I will tell you the story of Les Mis
What a wonderful story that it is I
It starts off with a man named Jean Valjean
To eat he steals bread even though it's wrong

Off to catch Jean Valjean is Javert
He is an inspector with very dark hair
There is a nice lady named Fantine
She's the poorest person that I seen

She's forced to give up her daughter Cosette
To the Thénardiers who she just met
Not knowing that they were mean
She earned money any way she seen

Jean Valjean became very rich
He had to obey Fantine's dying wish
With him he let little Cosette stay
After Fantine passed away

Cosette grew beautiful you see
And fell in love with Marius Pontmercy
Eponine fell in love with Marius too
But he loved Cosette what could she do

Marius called Cosette on the telephone
So Eponine was all on her own
There were no phones in Les Mis time
I only said that so it would rhyme

The people of France built a Barricade
Out of all sort of stuff it was made
Out of chairs, wagons, wheels, and other things
They did this to fight against the king

They stole every gun that they saw
Enjoras was in charge of it all
Javert they planned to kill him he'd be long gone
And to do this task was Jean Valjean

But Jean Valjean spared Javert's life
And this caused Javert a lot of strife
And so Javert wanted to die
He jumped in the river and said good-bye

After the Barricade was fought Marius and Cosette tied the knot
Jean Valjean eventually died
This made Cosette and Marius cry
But he lived his life and was very old
And now the story of Les Mis is told
 

RE-VUE by club members
Musical Excerpts by [email protected]
         Last March 13, 2000, Monday, our school had its Broadway Musical Excerpts. The six groups presented the following musicals: Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Sound of Music, King and I, our group, Grease, and of course, my favorite, Les Miserables.
Here are the songs each group performed:
Les Miserables: Come to me, The Confrontation, One Day More, On My Own, Finale
Grease: Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, Greased Lighting, Prom Dance, You’re the One That I Want, We Go Together
Sound of Music: Sound of Music, Maria, Sixteen going on Seventeen, My Favorite Things, So Long Farewell
Phantom of the Opera: Phantom of the Opera, All I Ask of You, Masquerade and other songs I didn’t see because I went out to lunch
King and I: Whistle a Happy Tune, Getting to Know You, We Kiss In a Shadow, Shall We Dance
West Side Story: Tonight, Maria, Tonight (Quintet and Chorus), I Feel Pretty
         I wasn’t able to see the whole Phantom of the Opera, because I went to eat and dress up. I only saw the first song, Phantom of the Opera and Masquerade, which I saw in the group song, so I can’t say if it was good or not. It had two Christines, one for the Phantom of the Opera, and another one for All I Ask of You and Masquerade, I don’t know what the other two songs were. The Phantom of the Opera wasn’t in a boat. It looked more like the Confrontation of Les Miserables because the Phantom had an angry look on his face (I wonder why).
         West Side Story was okay but something went wrong with the microphone and the sound system, so they had to do it again. The rest of the groups were okay.
Here is the order of the program:
Grease
Sound of Music
Phantom of the Opera
West Side Story
Les Miserables
King and I
         The biggest problem in our presentation, not only Grease but everyone, is that were only told on the big day that we couldn’t use the function room, so we didn’t have a place to dress up and to put the props and the backdrop. We had to put it at the side of the stage, and we only had ten seconds to dress up for the next song, literally. Everything else was fine.

Musical Excerpts by [email protected]
         We had our excerpts on Broadway last March 13. The first group to perform was “Grease.” Their songs were: Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, You’re the One That I Want, Grease Lighting, We Go Together and the Hand Jive. I must say their performance was really good. The second group was “Sound of Music.” Their songs were: Sound of Music, Maria, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Favorite Things, and So Long Farewell. The next group was “Phantom of the Opera” with the following songs: Phantom of the Opera, All I Ask of You, Masquerade. The next group was “West Side Story.” Their songs were: Jet Song, Maria, Tonight, Tonight (Quintet and Chorus) and I Feel Pretty. Their performance would be nice but something went wrong with the sound system. After that was “Les Miserables.” Their songs were Come to Me, Confrontation, On My Own, One Day More and the Finale. Their performance was good. The Last was “The King and I.” Their songs were I Whistle a Happy Tune, Getting to Know You, We Kiss in a Shadow and Shall We Dance.
         Everyone enjoyed it and after preparing for it for weeks it was finally presented. What a relief!

SEE IT THROUGH THEIR EYES by Tamil at [email protected]
This month: Javert’s Reason

BB FRESH

Cats Leaving Broadway
         The musical Cats has been on Broadway for about 18 years, and is the longest running production in Broadway history. But on June 25, 2000 it will be it's last performance after 7,397 of them. It has been seen by 10 million people in New York, and has made $380 million in sales. The closing of Cats has been rumored about for a while. Peter Brown who is a spokesman for Andrew Lloyd Webber told the truth about the closing of it. Cats has been produced in 30 countries worldwide, and seen by about 50 million people. It is kind of sad to see Cats leaving Broadway, because it has been there for so long. I think it is a pretty good musical although I never seen it live. I have seen parts of the video. I like some of the songs from it. My favorites are Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, and Memory.

ADD AN AD
Les Mis Club
         I know another Les Mis club that I’m a member too. It also has a monthly newsletter, chats, and other stuff like that. It’s fun being in the club. If you want to join, e-mail her at [email protected] Just like mine, the club is new, and it would mean a lot to her if you join her club.

Table of Contents
-Read This
-Survey
-Poet’s Net
  >First Battle
  >Javert’s death
  >Revolution
  >A Night at the Theater
-The Barricade
  >Scarlet Pimpernel
  >Phantom of the Opera
-Quote of the Month
 

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READ THIS
Well, I told you that I might go to a boarding school and I did! I’ll be very busy but I’ll be home during the weekends so I have time to work on the club, but I’ll need your help more that ever. Sorry this isn’t as good as the last month’s newsletter, which I think is the best newsletter so far because I’ve been very busy. Sorry also that the newsletter was so delayed. After I got my computer fixed, which I told you that wiped out my memory, it got destroyed again and I had to send it back to the shop, so pls. Accept my apologies. Anyway, on with the newsletter…

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SURVEY
Pls. E-mail me the answers at [email protected] Results will appear when I get enough answers.

1. Pls. Tell me who your favorite performer in Les Miserables is, for those who haven’t told me yet.
2. Who is your favorite Enjolras?

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POET’S NET
FIRST BATTLE by Hermione ([email protected])

All is quiet
Not a sound could be heard
On the streets of Paris
Then suddenly…
A cry breaks the silence
Accompanied by
Gunshots
Fighting
Shouting
Dying
The enemy retreats
The first battle is over
We will hear this sounds again
On the second battle

JAVERT’S DEATH by Hermione ([email protected])

A man walks to and fro
Watching the mighty river below him
He is thinking intensely while walking
That a passer-by
Would’ve thought he was a police
On his regular beat
Then suddenly,
He reaches for his hat
Lays it down on the riverbank
And jumps to the river
To his death

REVOLUTION by Tamil ([email protected])

In a time of turmoil in Paris, France
When General Lamarque is fading fast
A group of students start a revolution
To them, it is the only solution.

Enjolras, Marius, Grantaire and the rest
Are all going to their best
Even Gavroche is doing his part
This shows he has the courage and the heart.

It’s good to say they won the first attack
But, later ammunition they lacked.
Gavroche was shot because he didn’t pay attention
They should have thought of a better operation.

The National Army attacked again
The students knew they were going to die by then
All of them did their best to fight
For they knew, they were doing what is right.

A NIGHT AT THE THEATER by Christa ([email protected])

The patience audience, the hustling cast
The long awaited opening night at last

As the backstage excitement grew
Five minutes until show time everyone knew

It will go well the cast assumed
As the chorus was getting their voices in tune

The first soloist seemed uncertain
Waiting in her spot behind the curtain

The stage hand for ready with the spotlight
The cast was ready, the time was right

The audience curiosity shows
As the heavy red curtain slowly arose
 

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REVIEWS
SCARLET PIMPERNEL by Gavroche ([email protected])

First off, I LOVE the Paramount Theater in Seattle! I can't believe how big that place is! The seats were very nice, too! *Leans back, forgetting she is sitting in her computer chair and not a seat from the theater* Anywho... As soon as I got to my seat, I began giggling at the pictures in my program that I bought, because they weren't of the tour, they were of the cast in 1998! Oh well. They, my mom says "Uh Oh". Now, when you are supposed to see Doug Sills, those words are not very good words to hear. Although, the Matthew Shep... Shed... the Matthew something-or-other wasn't half-bad as Percy... And he had the audience rolling around in the aisle laughing when after leaving 'Shovelin on the footbridge, he ran back on and was teasing him about being the Scarlet Pimpernel. Then he points out in the audience and says "Oh, Pimpy!" And Shovelin goes "WHERE?" and looks out in the audience. Then Percy leans over his shoulder and says, "April Fools!" (Keep in mind that today is April Fools day and I saw the show today) Then he made a big show of rolling around laughing onstage, and well, our dear friend 'Shovelin didn't look too amused. William Paul Michaels, by the way, is a fantastic Chauvelin. And I certainly like Amy Bodnar better than Christina! (Sorry, all you fans of Christina!) I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get to see Doug (Ok, so I started crying during 'Prayer' cause it wasn't him singing it and I had come THIS CLOSE to seeing him, but oh well.) Because this was my first time seeing the show and will probably also be my last, for the tour leaves Seattle tomorrow and I have no more tickets, and the tour supposedly ends in2001 (I hope not!) I would like to once more give ANOTHER standing ovation to he cast! They were wonderful and are very good actors and singers. (Matthew, I LOVED THAT LINE!) ANYWAY... I will soon post my 9 or 10 pictures that I couldn't resist taking during the curtain call, and yes, William Paul Michaels was very nice when I TALKED TO HIM after donating to the BCEFA. I got a cool Aids support ribbon too... and my tee shirt isn't half-bad either. :-) My evaluation of the cast: Amy Bodnar as Marguerite: Man, can this girl sing! She had a wonderful French accent, too. And I don't know how she was able to rattle off the organizations BCEFA supports so fast. William Paul Michaels as Chauvelin: THIS GUY ROCKS! He was a wonderful Chauvelin, and I can't believe his singing voice. He was very nice after the show, too, when I donated to the BCEFA fund. Matthew Shepard as Percy: Lets say that Doug is still better, but this guy isn't half-bad. He was sooooo funny when he was teasing Chauvelin onthe footbridge. I loved that April Fools joke! (See my raving about it above in the first big blurb) Elizabeth Ward Land as Marie: Very good! I've heard she's been with the show since before it even opened, and I can see why. She is also married to Ken Land, who played Dewhurst. Ken Land: Because I couldn't even tell which one of the Bounders he was, I'll just say that he was a good Bounder, because they all rocked! I loved that little "Very Summery" joke that one of them said when they walked in during 'Creation of Man' in the PINK outfits. There were other colors, too, and the audience was cracking up, myself included.;-) The rest of the cast: EXELENT! They were a wonderful cast, and deserve a round of applause. *gives round of applause* I had to do that. Doug Sills as the Percy we were supposed to see: I started crying during Prayer cause it wasn't him, but oh well. He is still the best Percy EVER! GO DOUG! :-)

THE PHANTOMOF THE OPERA REVIEW by [email protected]

P.s.- I have a question. Is the phantom actually supposed to swing on the chandelier, like I've heard he does, or does he just stand up there above the stage and laugh, like I've seen him do? If you know, please e-mail me [email protected]. PPS- in our school play, "the great pandemonium" I have the part of Richard III and get to mention the phantom in one of my lines (so I’m happy)- (it's a rehearsal within a play and the director doesn't like the fact that I have a cape covering my face). "Oh that. I thought about Richard’s first countenancing, that is, his first meeting with the viewing public. This is after the entire introduction, and, I thought, the sub-text underline the outward deformity, the grotesqueness, if you will, and his appearance, by using the cape as a sort of grand drape, will make more of am impression. Much the same as the mask in the phantom of the opera. And by slowly lowering the cape-" and then, later on in the play, someone says- "maybe next year we'll do the phantom of the opera and I'll swing from a chandelier." (Which is why I was wondering) anyway...
 
 

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THE BARRICADE by Tamil ([email protected])

         Before school ended, in one of our classes, we were asked to make a 3D model of anything we wanted to as long as we used recycled materials. Our teacher also asked us to group ourselves into 2-4 people. Of course, since Hermione ([email protected]) was my best friend, we grouped together.
         Some chose to do a model of a town, a radio, a racing track with cars, etc. We were thinking what we were going to do. None of us said anything. Finally, I said, “Do you wanna make a barricade?”
         “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” she answered me back.
         The next day, we went to work. We brought different kinds of stuff: medicine boxes, an old plastic cup, tissue paper tubes, bottle covers, and even pennies I collected when I went to the States. We also brought an illustration board, which was a requirement. We were supposed to stick what we made there.
         We first got the medicine boxes and the cardboard tubes, and stuck them one by one in the illustration board. Then, we got the plastic cup and stuck it on top of the medicine boxes in the middle (for the summit of the barricade). Then we got some scratch paper that we used for solving math problems and crumpled them and stuck them on top of the medicine boxes. At the end of the day, everybody was looking at our project. They were all asking, “What’s that?”
         “A barricade,” we’d answer them.
         “A what?”
         “You’ll find out.”
         Then, I got a black sack and cut it and used it to cover the whole thing. It was time to do the outside. We got barbecue sticks, chopsticks, bottle covers, and the pennies. We cut the barbecue sticks and chopsticks and stuck it together to form stairs, ladders, barrels, and stuck it there. We stuck the pennies on top too and also what’s left of the sticks, and the bottle covers. Then, since we were running out of stuff to put, we started using some of the trash in the classroom, like broken plastic, etc. and place them there.
         When we presented it to our teacher we joked, “We should get a plus for recycling other people’s trash.” When our teacher announced to us our grade, we found out that we got a 100% Yahoo! All that hard work paid off.
         If you ever think of doing this as a school project, I’m warning you, it’s not as easy as it looks. It’s takes days to do something like that, a lot of hard work and a lot of trash.

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH submitted by [email protected]

Hello club members! I'm Jenny, and I believe this is the month's quote:

                 "Look down and show some mercy if you can!
                  Look down, look down, upon your fellow man!"

                               Just a few words

Sorry the newsletter's late again. I'm trying my best to send it on time but because of the work I'm
doing, it's not that easy. Sorry too that it's really short. I didn't have enough time to put enough stuff,
so please help me.
--Tamil
 

                                    Polls

Pls. send in your answers to [email protected] (to those who haven't yet)
1. Who is your favorite performer?
2. Who is your favorite Enjolras?
 
 

                                 Site Award

This month, the Barricade Balloon is going to give out its first "Site of the Month" award.
Here's how it goes:

1. Club members will start nominating sites which they think should win the award (you can nominate
your own website and you can nominate more than one)
2. I will narrow the nominated sites down to three, post it in the next newsletter and you vote!!!

What are you waitin' for? Start sending in sites at [email protected]
 
 

                                  POEMS
                                  Eponine
                            by [email protected]

                               All alone I wander
                              Far away from home
                          The streets always seem darker
                              When your all alone

                               All alone I wonder
                            To the Barricade I must go
                             To see Monsieur Marius
                           to will save his life you know

                               All alone I wander
                               I smile at the moon
                             I am content and happy
                           That I'll be with Marius soon

                               All alone I wander
                            in this trench coat disguise
                          hearing the gun shots above me
                              hearing the battle cries
                               All alone I wander
                             towards the lantern light
                            knowing someone will die
                               in the battle tonight
 

                                  Gavroche
                           by [email protected]

                            Out in the streets of Paris
                           You would find a pitiful sight.
                       People who are suffering from poverty
                           But still it is a common sight.

                            Among them there is a boy
                      As you can see his dominance from the rest
                         He is the only child in the revolution

                         He can easily blend with the people
                              And is a sight to see
                          When he gets mad at the police
                           For he's always driven away.

                         This young boy's name is Gavroche
                         And as you can see he's an orphan
                        He never knew who his parents were
                             I really pity him for that

                             He joins the revolution
               (The only child as I've said before, who even had the guts to)
                            He's usually the messenger
                             He always brings news
                       And I could say he is very, very brave.

                          During the revolution that night,
                         when ammunition was running short
                           He bravely sacrificed himself
                                For others' sake.

                          A lot of people say it was pitiful
                         to see an innocent child being shot
                          For that he should have received
                      a medal, for bravery, that's what he earned.

                         I myself would have given him such
                            The only thing is he's dead
                        Shot at the scene of sacrificing himself
                         for the ammunition that they needed.
 

                        My First Encounter with Les Mis
                          by [email protected]

My first encounter with Les Mis must have in 1996 when my grandparents took me to see at our
local theatre while it was on its UK tour. I enjoyed it, but I remember thinking during the barricade
scene, ‘they can’t die’ and then ‘Yes they can with a title like Les Miserables there’re all going to
die’. I almost cried during ‘Javert off the Tracks’ and at the end we gave it a standing ovation. For a
while after that I thought no more of the miserable people until one day my mother borrowed copy
of the Original London Cast from the library. I insisted that she recorded it and it became essential
bedtime listening. Several hundred (?) listenings later, when I knew every single word, I became
restless, I wanted to hear more, I persuaded my dad to buy me the CSR. This led to my discovery
of a picture of Javert tied up and surrounded by students, this struck a chord with me, I found I
could feel exactly like the picture if I tilted my head a little and looked down my nose. My next move
was to try and find the video of 10th Anniversary Concert, I tried my faithful library, all they in stock
was copy of the 1978 film starring Anthony Perkins. (Their copy of the Concert being permanently
on loan with a three week waiting list). I borrowed this film eagerly, in it I found Anthony Perkins a
very good Javert. This combined with reading the novel and giving up waiting for the library copy
and buying the concert video for my self I sort of fell in love with Inspector Javert. After reading the
book I discovered that people so often misinterpret Javert so, I’d just like to put the world straight in
these few points.

? He was not religious ‘His religion was the police’
? He was NOT obsessed with Jean Valjean ‘He thought no more of Jean Valjean’
? He was not evil ‘Which he made almost (but not quite) evil’
Thank you.
Now to go on with my tale, after seeing the video and learning the entire libretto of the CSR I
wanted to see it again, so for my 14th birthday I toddled up to the Palace Theatre, London. I was
very miffed to find that from my seat I could barely see the expression on the actors faces, but the
emotion still got across, the whole theatre was hold its collective breath as Javert soliloquized on his
fatal dilemma.
I was pleased to hear there was a new Les Mis film out, but, when I saw it was very disappointing,
Geoffrey Rush was a very weak Javert and Claire Danes’s English accent was not so hot.
Still the musical never fails to please and for the record I have:
The London cast recording,
The CSR,
The French concept album,
The 10th anniversary concert recording,
The Manchester company recording,
The Paris recording,
And one in German recorded in Duisberg.
I was very pleased when during one of our rehearsals for the school [alt one of the girls started
singing ‘Confrontation’ I knew I was not alone in admiring the great Inspector Javert.
I went to Paris last summer, to see the places mentioned in the book, and to visit Victor Hugo’s
house (6 Place des Vosges). It was interesting, I have photographs of the bridge Javert threw himself
off (yes, I know it’s morbid but hey, that’s what happens when you are Miserables). I managed to
see the majority of the 1939 French film of Les Mis, the Javert did not impress me, but the rest of it
was quite good.
Now, bringing us right up to date, I have just discovered the mass of Les Miserables sites on the
web my favorite being twideman’s Hugo page to which I have contributed. (If you are interested,
www.rural.escape.ca/wideman/hugo, then go to the submissions page and click on characters and
scroll down past Spooky 719’s ‘interpretations’ to Javert’s Character, you will also find my real
name there, but that does not really concern you.)
My future plans for indulging in Les Mis are as follows make a really good film of both the book and
the musical and annoy my friend by talking Mis to the boy she fancies when we go to Spain!

                           The Tony Award Winners
                            by [email protected]

     The 54th Annual Tony Awards was held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.  It is a
big event for musical fans everywhere.  This year "Contact" won the award for the best musical, and
best play.  Contact is directed, and choreographed by Susan Stroman, she also won for the Best
Choreography of the year.  This show is a little bit different then most though, because there is no
singing, and no orchestrations.  The performers dance to recorded music.
    The musical, or show that won the most Tony's of the night was "Kiss Me Kate," which took
home 5 Tony's.  It won for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, and Best Actor in
a Musical, and others.

Here is a list of the Tony Award winners of 2000....

Best Choreography
Susan Stroman for Contact

Best Book of a Musical
Richard Nelson for James Joyce's The Dead

Best Original Score
Tim Rice and Elton John for Aida

Best Orchestrations
Don Sebesky for Kiss Me, Kate

Best Scenic Design
Bob Crowley for Aida

Best Lighting Design
Natasha Katz for Aida

Best Costume Design
Martin Pakledinaz for Kiss Me, Kate

Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Blakemore for Kiss Me, Kate

Best Direction of a Play
Michael Blakemore for Copenhagen

Best Revival of a Play
The Real Thing Producers for The Real Thing

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Roy Dotrice for A Moon for the Misbegotten

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Blair Brown for Copenhagen

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Boyd Gaines for Contact

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Jennifer Ehle for The Real Thing

Best Revival of a Musical
Kiss Me, Kate Producers for Kiss Me, Kate

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Stephen Dillane for The Real Thing

Best Play
Copenhagen Producers and Michael Frayn (Author) for Copenhagen

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Brian Stokes Mitchell for Kiss Me, Kate

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Karen Ziemba for Contact

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Heather Headley for Aida

Best Musical
Contact Producers for Contact

editor's note
Well, it's another newsletter. Wow!!! I'm happy to say that we have reached our 6th newsletter and
now have about 30 members. Hopefully, I could have my own domain. Ooooo. This month's
newsletter doesn't have much articles, though, but a lot of club activities. Keep up the good work
guys!!!
 
 

poet's net
                           Javert's Thoughts
                                 by Tamil

                                You were freed
                                 Yet you stole
                               You gained power
                             Yet you were revealed
                           You were almost in my hands
                           Yet you managed to escape
                           And now, as the years go by
                          I have not yet forgetten my duty
                                You are in hiding
                          Yet one day, you will be caught.
 
 

reviews
 

They're Playing Our Song was shown in the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Theatre in
Camp Aguinaldo from June 20-August 13, 2000. The Show starred Lea Salonga and Adrian Pang
as Sonia Waltz and Vernon Gersh.
     Unfortunately, we weren't able to see Adrian Pang as Vernon. We saw Michael Lee, but he was
very, very, good. Great acting, great voice!
     Sonia is a wacky lyricist who wears costumes from different Broadway shows like Pippin, the
Rocky Horror Show, and once, even Little Red Riding Hood. She also has a love problem. Vernon
is a conservative composer.
     Lea was great as Sonia! She made us all laugh with all her lines and facial expressions. I think this
is her first comedic role, since the roles we know that she played are Eponine and Kim, which are
both tragic roles, but this proved that she can do comedy as well. There were times when the scene
had to be dramatic, which she did very well, too. Her singing is great, too. I got her autograph in my
souvenir program, too.
     Michael Lee was even more hilarious!! He is soooooo funny!! Very convincing as Vernon. He
makes Vernon so lively. Very incredible and natural. I think he's the best stage actor I've seen so far.
He's real nice, too. I got a couple pictures of him and his autograph, too. Ooooo, so many too's.
     It was great watching "They're Playing Our Song." I think it's a very good experience. Even my
5-year-old brother could appreciate it. He was laughing along with us. Well, I wonder if there could
be a re-showing...
 

MIZ NEWS

Just incase some of you don't know it yet, "The Barricade," Les Mis' official magazine and "Cosette's
Cafe" are closing.

The Barricade:
I got this news from the Les Mis Mailing List. "The Barricade" will stop publication this year. This is
sad news. I read that it's hard to print out something when all the fan activity is in the internet
nowadays. Their last issue will be the October/November 2000 issue which they will make real
good on, but it's possible that "The Barricade" will rise again, but it will be in the internet already.

Cosette's Cafe:
Cosette's Cafe is one of the most popular Les Mis sites in the internet. Perhaps the most popular
next to the official Les Mis site. I went there one day and I read that it will close this December. I
read that the reason is because she has some medical bills to attend to and because of some things
that happened, the webmistress can no longer attend to such a large site. Well, to those who haven't
visited this site, I suggest that you do so NOW. There's a lot of stuff to see there, a really great site.
 
 

active award

This month's active award goes to:
                ADELA ROSE JAVERT

Congratulations!!! I'll e-mail you the award. Please give me 2 weeks allowance because I am a very
forgetful person.
 

Website Award

This month, our club is giving the first club award. The nominees are:

1. Cosette's Cafe (cosettescafe.randomland.org)
2. Mae and Linn's Les Miserables Page (www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Land/8165)
3. The 100% Original Les Mis Page (freespace.virgin.net/david.bean/lesmis)
VOTE NOW!!!!
 

POLL

Here are the answers to the poll:
1. Favorite Performer
                                                                      O = 1 vote
 Colm Wilkinson (Valjean)
                                       O O O O
 Michael Maguire (Enjolras)
                                       O O O
 Lea Salonga (Eponine)
                                       O O
 Terrence Mann (Javert)
                                       O
 Brandon Danner (Gavroche)
                                       O
 Tom Lucas (Marius)
                                       O
 

2. Favorite Enjolras

 Michael Maguire
                                       O O O O
 Anthony Warlow
                                       O O O
 David Malek
                                       O
 

For the next poll:
3. Favorite Song
4. Favorite Javert
 

spotlight on:
                           Lea Salonga

              Special thanks to [email protected]
        Info gotten from: www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Palace/6981

Musicals:
(If you know more, pls. tell me)

     Annie
     The King and I
     Miss Saigon (West End)
     Miss Saigon (Broadway)
     Les Misérables
     My Fair Lady (Repertory Philippines)
     Into the Woods (Singapore Repertory Theater)
     Grease
     Miss Saigon (Broadway, 1999)
     They're Playing Our Song (Singapore)
     They're Playing Our Song (Manila)
     Miss Saigon (Manila)

Solo Albums:
(I'm not sure if they are available abroad but are surely available in the Philippines.)

     Little Miss Lea Salonga: Small Voice Vol. 1
     Little Miss Lea Salonga: Tomorrow Vol. 2
     Lea Salonga (Octo Arts, 1988)
     Lea Salonga (Octo Arts, 1992)
     Lea Salonga (Atlantic, 1993)
     Lea Salonga: I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing
     Lea Salonga: In Love...
     Lea Salonga: By Heart (1999)
     Lea Salonga Live (Vol. 1)
     Lea Salonga Live (Vol. 2)
     Lea Salonga: By Heart (2000)

Soundtracks:
 

     Miss Saigon (Original London Cast Recording)
     Little Tramp: The Musical
     The King and I
     Animal Tales
     Les Misérables (10th Anniversary Concert)
     People: A Musical Celebration of Diversity
     Miong
     Hey, Mr Producer!
     Aladdin
     Mulan
 
 
 

BB FRESH

Members' websites:
If you have any website, even if it has absolutely no connection to Les Mis, you can give the web
address to me. I will put it in the next newsletter and will come out in the website (when it comes).
You're also welcome to put an ad here even if it doesn't have anything to do with Les Mis.

Barricade Balloon 10th Month Newsletter:
We will be having a 10th Month Club Newsletter. I am going to make this newsletter the best one
ever. It will also review the content of the previous newsletters and I will put the best works of the
clubs ever. The 10th Month Newsletter will also be posted on the website (when it comes). I hope
that everybody will cooperate. Pls start sending comments about the club and about Les Mis as
early as possible. Ooooooo. This is gonna be exciting!!!!
 
 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Red, the blood of angry men
 Black, the dark of ages past
 Red, a world about to dawn
 Black, the night that ends at last!"

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