{"id":310867,"date":"2026-07-31T16:51:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T16:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310867\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T16:51:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T16:51:27","slug":"les-miserables-was-always-more-than-a-musical-for-my-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/310867\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Les Mis\u00e9rables\u2019 was always more than a musical for my family"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I saw that \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d was coming to Radio City Music Hall<\/a> this summer for a limited 3-week run \u2014 part of a special arena tour staged for the show\u2019s 40th anniversary \u2014 I immediately thought of my younger brother. Adam passed away last year, at 45. \u201cLes Miz\u201d was his favorite musical, but it took on deeper meaning for my family during Adam\u2019s childhood, when he suffered a leukemia relapse and wasn\u2019t expected to live.<\/p>\n

Though Adam and I were only three years apart, the gap felt wider because he had Down syndrome. We didn\u2019t fight, like other siblings, or confide our deepest secrets. One thing we did share was a love for \u201cLes Miz.\u201d We\u2019d sing together in the car, a cappella in the grocery store or sometimes in his bedroom, accompanied by his beloved Fisher Price tape player.<\/p>\n

When Adam\u2019s leukemia returned at 10, \u201cLes Miz\u201d became an outlet for my family\u2019s hope. The musical, set in 19th century France and spanning decades, tells the story of Jean Valjean, who turns to God and gets a second chance at life.<\/p>\n

The Make-A-Wish Foundation bought us tickets to see the show on Broadway. Despite the circumstances, I was ecstatic. I had never seen it on stage before. On a November day in 1990, my family drove from our home in the Hudson Valley to New York City\u2019s Imperial Theater. I expected that my brother would love the performance.<\/p>\n

But he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It started with the opening notes. He hummed them loudly, as he always did when we sang at home. When I shushed him, he slumped in his seat. Then, at another point, I saw him dozing off. I wasn\u2019t sure how to feel. I wanted him to love it as much as I did, and yet he seemed so detached.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe author with her brother Adam: a selfie (left) and by Jacqueline Schlossman (right). (Courtesy Alyson Pomerantz)<\/p>\n

After the show, we met the actor Ed Dixon<\/a>, who played Adam\u2019s favorite character, the villain Monsieur Th\u00e9nardier. The innkeeper Th\u00e9nardier sings \u201cMaster of the House<\/a>,\u201d a song about how he fleeces his guests. Perhaps an odd choice for a boy who seemed incapable of guile, but I can see why Adam loved the show\u2019s sole comedic number. He sang it flawlessly and with humor, albeit in an English accent (we had the London cast album).<\/p>\n

When Ed greeted us, he was still in Th\u00e9nardier\u2019s white face paint from the final scene. We all fawned. Everyone, except Adam, who impatiently tapped his hand against his thigh. Time to go, his body told us.<\/p>\n

The theater staff watched my brother closely. Perhaps they were disappointed, or worried about his health? The day my parents had told me about Adam\u2019s illness \u2014 and that there was a chance he might not make it \u2014 I was devastated. But as Adam sailed through his treatment, I found it increasingly difficult to believe my brother could actually die. My parents joked about Adam\u2019s attitude at the hospital, how even after a painful procedure he seemed more focused on what was for supper than what he was going through. It just didn\u2019t seem real \u2014 even at the theater.<\/p>\n

Adam relaxed into the melody, and we watched, mesmerized, as he performed his favorite song on a Broadway stage.<\/p>\n

Eventually, it was time to go. As we said goodbye, Adam surprised us all by swinging around and addressing the actor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome, monsieur,\u201d he began, singing the opening notes to \u201cMaster of the House.\u201d Adam relaxed into the melody, and we watched, mesmerized, as he performed his favorite song on a Broadway stage. Ed watched too, kneeling down in front of my brother and resting his chin on his hand. He seemed delighted by Adam\u2019s rendition.<\/p>\n

Perhaps wanting to extend the night\u2019s magic, my mother offered Ed a ride home. At first, he declined, but my mother was persistent. I was starstruck. A Broadway actor in our minivan? I managed a weak goodbye when we left Ed on a corner in the Village, then fought my sister for Ed\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

It was a magical night, but what came next, back home, defied our expectations: Adam\u2019s health improved. Despite what we\u2019d been told by the doctors, he officially entered remission the next year. We got our miracle.<\/p>\n

Years passed, and \u201cLes Miz\u201d continued to connect my brother and me when I\u2019d visit home. Singing it also gave my family solace when my mother passed away in 2002. And then, almost a decade later, I was reminded of our special day when I came across Ed Dixon\u2019s name on Facebook.<\/p>\n

I messaged him, letting him know that my brother had lived. His response was both warm and cryptic. He told me he had something devastating to tell me about the day we met.<\/p>\n

While my brother was fighting for his life, so was Ed. He\u2019d developed a drug addiction<\/a> while performing in the show. Even more shocking, by the time we met him, he was homeless. I immediately thought of the hovering staff. They probably weren\u2019t worried about my brother. They were worried about Ed.<\/p>\n

My mother had offered him a ride home, but he had no home to go to. He came with us anyway. When she asked for an address, he did what any well-trained actor might: He made one up. Eventually, Ed\u2019s union helped him get treatment, and his career flourished as an actor, composer and author.<\/p>\n

After we reconnected in 2010, Ed mentioned that he was performing that summer in \u201cSweeney Todd.\u201d My wife and I traveled to Great Barrington and watched him perform the role of Judge Turpin (another despicable character). Seeing him onstage again pulled me back to my family\u2019s Les Miz visit. Then, at the bar after the show, I nearly spilled my drink when I noticed the bar\u2019s name in neon lights: Sheila. The same name as my mother. She had been gone 8 years, but there she was. After the show, we met Ed at the stage door, and I finally got to tell him in person how much he meant to our family.<\/p>\n

While writing my brother\u2019s obituary, I came across something Ed wrote to me when I first reached out to him. \u201cPeople need to know that almost anything can be surmounted.\u201d Awash in grief, it didn\u2019t feel that way, but I swallowed Ed\u2019s words like medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cLes Miz\u201d played such a big role in my brother\u2019s life that perhaps I shouldn\u2019t have been surprised when, just days after his death, my son mentioned that a local theater group was performing the play and asked if we could go.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to. \u201cLes Miz\u201d was all about second chances, but this time, Adam was gone. Despite my grief, something told me to go anyway. Maybe it was the same voice that told Ed to take a ride with our family that night in 1990.<\/p>\n

I was tense at first, but the music immediately brought me closer to my brother. Toward the end, when the cast asked if there was a world I longed to see<\/a>, an emotion surfaced that I hadn\u2019t felt in months.<\/p>\n

Hope.<\/p>\n

As we walked back to the car, my son raved about the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was your favorite song?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome, monsieur\u2026\u201d he sang.<\/p>\n

Adam would have loved it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I saw that \u201cLes Mis\u00e9rables\u201d was coming to Radio City Music Hall this summer for a limited…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-310867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}