The Best Musical Ever

By Kyle Markstiener

There’s a variety show coming up at the high school. Several of the theater kids wanted to do a scene from Hamilton, and they needed space to practice. I proposed the United Way’s boardroom, and my daughter, Amelia, took me up on the offer.

Practice was set for 2 p.m., but Amelia came by about 45 minutes early to prepare.

I could hear the scraping of furniture as chairs and tables were moved to turn our boardroom into a more suitable location for rehearsing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical.

When I went to investigate, the room had already been cleared. In addition, a board on the wall of the room now bore detailed blocking and song assignments, all compiled and organized by my daughter. Hours of conceptual plans had been placed on the office whiteboard in meticulous detail.

Amelia ran out of ways to prepare for the practice and sat down on a chair alone, waiting.

By 2 p.m., none of the theater kids had shown up for practice.

I started to panic that my kid had been let down, again. Nobody was going to show up. It wouldn’t be the first time, or the last. Amelia had worked so hard, only to be ghosted.

At 2:05 p.m., Amelia was still patiently waiting. By 2:10 p.m., I began searching for words of comfort.

Then, at 2:12 p.m., Amelia suddenly bolted past my office like a dog sensing a family’s return from vacation and threw open the front door. Turns out the theater kids had gone to the wrong office. They’d figured it out, and Amelia was letting them inside.

Moments later, a parade of goth kids strode past my office, politely thanked me for use of the building, and went to the breakroom.

They spent the next three hours practicing.

During that time period, I took several 211 calls and fielded a couple of in-person visits to the United Way office. My attempts to render assistance were, I’ll admit, somewhat impaired by the sounds of Founding Father-themed rap coming from the back room. And then, even better, by the sound of teenagers laughing and enjoying their friendship.

Adolescence has been rough. There have been betrayals and broken friendships. The fact that some of the greatest injuries were at least partially self-inflicted doesn’t make it any better.

But not this time. Today, Amelia got to see that reliable people do exist, and that hard work can pay off. The theater kids did not throw away their shot.

With all due respect to Broadway’s many talented performers, my absolute favorite rendition of Hamilton will always be the one coming through the walls of the United Way office, the practices interrupted frequently by the sounds of the performers giggling.

The Carlsbad High School variety show will take place on April 16 at the Performing Arts Center. I hope you can make it!