To the editor:

A few observations about the musical.

I had the good fortune to be tricked into reading Hugo’s “Les Miserables” my senior year in high school here. It captivated me and I remember Hugo’s writing, and Miss Thomas with gratitude and affection to this day. So when the Broadway traveling company came to Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City with the muscal version around 1990, my wife and I went. It was a disaster. The sound system allowed one to hear a fragment of a word now and then, the cast seemed to respond to the lack of enthusiasm, the Thenardiers came across as comic relief (It is hard to catch sarcasm if one can’t hear the words.)

So when our High School was going to perform the musical, I admit trepidation. Boy, was that trepidation wasted. If only the Hancher audience could have attended here and now they would have been thrilled. Our students and leaders and supporting crews were better in every respect than that Broadway company. Wow! And wow!

Allow a personal pet peeve. It is nice once in a while to not hear about STEM. These students will carry this musical with them for the rest of their lives, and may well be better citizens and human beings for it. Congratulations.

Larry Handy

Fort Dodge