Last week I had a post entitled "Looking Beyond the Hits" which talked about how much fun it was for me when I was a kid to buy a full album and then discover songs that I had never heard before, beyond the well known hits. Today's blog follows along those lines and illustrates how we can find things that we end up loving and appreciating in places we never thought possible.

If you missed the first post the Carpenters are my favorite musical group. One day, while I was in high school, I went to the library to look for sheet music of some of the Carpenters' songs. I saw the title "Superstar" in one collection and immediately thought it was the Carpenters version of it; you know the one that goes, "Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby? You said you'd be coming back again baby!"

But as I looked through the music I realized this wasn't the Carpenters version, but was a song about Jesus Christ. What?? Jesus Christ, Superstar? Who who would want to listen to a rock song from a "rock opera" about Jesus, I thought. And what a stupid title!

Music of the Night

At the start of my junior year in high school, I saw the Los Angeles production of "The Phantom of the Opera" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. With the first notes of the overture, I was hooked and another obsession (similar to my Carpenters one) began. I had Phantom sweatshirts, t shirts, the mask and the recordings! I even sang the signature song from the show, "Music of the Night," in a high school show during my senior year. 

After "Phantom-mania" had begun in my life I learned of other Lloyd Webber musicals including one called "Jesus Christ Superstar." It dawned on me that the song I thought was stupid, was written by this composer whom I greatly admired. Now I knew who would want to listen to a rock song about Jesus....me. 

The Irony-Revealed

The irony was not lost on me then nor now. I found something hidden, something I wasn't planning on finding on the shelves of the library and I wasn't ready for it at that time. Yet God in his wisdom (or never ending sense of humor) decided to bring it into my world when I was ready. 

Now, as an adult, my wife and I watch a video of singer Michael Ball performing the song "Gethsemane" from "Jesus Christ Superstar" every year during the Easter season. Each time, we are extremely moved by the beautiful (Ball is amazing!) rendition and as we contemplate the story and moment the song illustrates. Funny how life works, huh?

And to think, I once thought the whole thing was "stupid!" 

What hidden treasures remain to be discovered in your world?

If you know me personally, you know that I am a huge fan of the Carpenters. If you were around in the 70's this wouldn't be a surprise-but I was born in 1974 and didn't actually start to really get into the Carpenters until 1988, five years after the passing of Karen Carpenter and a few years after their days at the top of the charts.

The very first Carpenters album I purchased was a two cassette (remember those?) collection of many of their hits. In time 28 songs was not enough for me and I wanted to hear all of the other songs they recorded, until I owned every Carpenters album released in the U.S.

Have you seen either the Les Miserables movie or the stage show on which it was based? I have been a fan of the show since I first heard the music in 1991and saw it live in 1992. Yet until I saw the movie a few weeks ago there was one lesson that remained hidden from me for over 20 years!

SPOILER ALERT! I am about to reveal some crucial elements of the plot, so if you don't want to know, please click on another blog post to the right. If you'd like to know more...keep reading!

Are you a fan of the musical “Wicked”? Did you know that in every town that it plays in, the "Wicked" company holds a lottery a couple of hours before a performance for the chance to get really discounted tickets to the show?

Lottery winners would be given the chance to purchase orchestra section tickets for $25.00, so my wife and I decided to give it a try since the cheapest tickets way up in “nosebleed hollow” were starting around $50.00. Now, I assumed that this was a way for the production to sell a bunch of unsold tickets either way back in the orchestra section, or in the parts of the section that no one would want to sit in.

I was wrong!