Show Tunes

The 25th anniversary show of "Les Miserables" was on PBS last night, though it was a rebroadcast from when the show first ran, back in 2010.

"Les Mis" opened one year before "The Phantom of the Opera," whose own 25th anniversary show TigerBlog saw on PBS a few months ago.

There really can be no debate that "Les Miserables" and "The Phantom Of The Opera" are the two greatest musicals of the last 30 years or so. In fact, they could be the two greatest musicals ever, though TB has always been a huge fan of the older shows, so he would call "Les Mis" and "Phantom" two of the top five - along with, say, "Fiddler On The Roof," "West Side Story" and "South Pacific."

And, okay, "Oklahoma." And "The King And I." And "A Chorus Line." And "My Fair Lady." And "Meet Me In St. Louis."

So TB will say that those would be his top 10, with a nod to "Pippin" as just outside that group.

TigerBlog has always loved musicals, and he has taken as much grief from those who work within earshot of his iTunes for the show tunes that come along as for the 100+ Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band songs.

TB's parents exposed him to the theater at an early age, and he has many childhood memories of car rides spent listening to musical soundtracks, on an eight-track player no less. FatherBlog's favorite show tune by far is "If I Were A Rich Man" from "Fiddler."

As for MotherBlog, her favorite was from "Les Mis," the song "Do You Hear The People Sing," which fit in well with her stand-up-and-make-your-voice-heard approach to life.

The 25th anniversary show was, as you might expect, pretty much awesome, and even Nick Jonas as Marius was really good.

Yes, people don't often break out in song as they go through their days, so the whole premise of the musical requires a little faith on the part of the audience, something TB-Baltimore refuses to offer up.

And yes, even TB will admit that some of his favorite musical songs are either outdated or just plain sappy, but it doesn't stop him from listening to them over and over and over again. And he's also spent hours in his car - often driving to or from Princeton athletic events - singing some of these songs fairly loudly, mindful of the fact that the person in the next lane has no idea if the guy in the next car is singing show tunes or Jay-Z.

Mostly, the average musical is simple place to get lost for a little while, and most of them circle back to a nice, simple, happy ending. Maybe that's why "Les Mis" and "Phantom" stand out, because they are darker, grimmer and not quite as happy (though TB has long wondered why Raoul and Christine didn't simply go outside the opera house to get away from the Phantom, since he couldn't follow them).

Perhaps the greatest attraction to TB is the sheer talent it takes, not only to sing the way they can but also write it in the first place and then stage it.

It's the same level of greatness from watching the very best athletes and teams.

Rehearsals started at Princeton last week for the 2012-13 athletic year, which begins - egads - a week from Friday, when four teams begin their seasons.

The men's soccer, field hockey and women's volleyball teams all start out on the road next Friday.

The first athletic event at Princeton this academic year will be on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium, and ironically enough, it won't feature Princeton. Instead, it'll be Colgate and Hofstra who meet in Game 1 of the Princeton Invitational for women's soccer.

Game 2 will be at 7:30 and will feature the Tigers and Wake Forest. Until this morning, TigerBlog did not realize that Wake Forest had been ranked third in the country last week (though the Demon Deacons were tied 0-0 by UNC Wilmington over the weekend).

Yes, games have already started.

The second day of the Princeton Invitational will be on Sunday, Sept. 2, when Wake takes on Hofstra and Princeton takes on Colgate.

Princeton women's soccer Ivy schedule is favorable every other year, when Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard and Penn are home and only Yale, Cornell and Columbia are away. In other words, the travel isn't outrageous.

On the other hand, the league opener is one of the away games, the one at Yale, which comes up on Saturday, Sept. 22. If Princeton can get through that, it would be looking at four of its last six at home.

Still, Princeton is in the early stages of preseason, and there are seven games to play before the league starts, including two in California.

The Tigers are coming off a rare down year, but there is a good mix of veterans and younger players, as well as the explosive Jen Hoy to build the offense around.

There's also the good karma from the Olympics, when Princeton alum Diana Matheson scored the game-winning goal for Canada in the bronze medal game.

In soccer more than maybe any other sport, the difference between a good year and bad year is subtle. The year that Princeton made its run to the NCAA Final Four in women's soccer, it might have all been different had Emily Behncke not forced overtime with a goal in the final minute against Harvard.

Hey, for that matter, you could be the most prepared team in the world and have it all come down to whether or not the ref calls the penalty kick at the right or wrong moment.

Anyway, it's less than two weeks until the opener. Until the curtain goes up, as it were.

Staying healthy will be important, so TB won't say break a leg, except in the theater sense.