Jimmy Ray Asks Forgiveness

Forgive me father for I have lied. I didn't mean to, no premeditation on my part and in all actuality I knew from the moment it was uttered, how utterly impossible my utterance would seem. So if I may, I will take the opportunity to set the record straight.

      I never played Gavroshe in the Broadway production of Les Miserables. Hell, I can't even spell it. I know this sounds like a blatant ramp to a marginal joke, but if I am being honest, which I am, this actually happened. I have thought of it ever since. I had just started a community theatre program back in Tallahassee by the urging of my family divorce specialist, possibly known as an analyst, possibly a psychic, who can say. At any rate, I was a country mouse who felt his experiences in a stable didn't measure up to the child Lunts of our Capital City. I lied. I lied because I didn't feel I was enough. I know better now.

    It all went down in a 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity, with a girl named Jenny. If you aren't familiar, this particular car was one of the first "Sports-wagons." Limo tint. Sleek and tilted design. Eggplant. Stussy sticker square on the back. Jenny was of the first generation non-Jennifer's which spawned in the late seventies as a reaction to the Jennifer's of the early. It was a dangerous time for all. However she commuted from Thomasville Georgia, which I thought was as worldly as it got. She was speaking about her most recent production, of which mine was a Cantata at Branch Street Church of God singing 'He's Alive" by Dolly Parton, and it just came out. " I played Gavrosche in Les Miz! Yeah on Broadway, and in Jacksonville." At the time I had never been above North Carolina, this was '89 or '90. Jacksonville yes, but the Alhambra couldn't get the rights. I knew she could see through the crap. Bubble wrap is harder to see through, but I didn't budge. This lie's blatancy and careless back story has been in the edges of my mind ever since. I have not seen said Jenny in eighteen years, but if you are out there, know that I know.

    Oh, and Jenny- if you are out there. Come see me in White's Lies. You won't regret it. Unless of course you lie to get here. Then you may find yourself blogging about it many years later. Stay tuned, I have lied since and I actually need to go public with a whopper I told the incomparable Peter Scolari.

- Jimmy Ray Bennett