My name is Richard Henry Lee

In an effort to keep hidden what is obviously a deathly character flaw, I have managed, until now, to keep quiet about my insane love for the musical 1776, which I was introduced to in the seventh grade by the venerable Mrs. Balbach, social studies teacher extraordinaire. Ostensibly a teaching tool to help seventh-grade Aurorans learn more about the goings-on leading up to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, I saw it more as The World's Greatest Thing Ever, and proceeded to tape it (but where? Where in God's name were they showing this on television in 1991?) and watch it approximately seven bazillion times, to the point where I knew where the main characters took a breath between lines.

While other kids were listening to Pearl Jam and C & C Music Factory (the first one I am ashamed to have missed; the second, not so much), I was sitting one inch from the television, holding up a tape recorder so I could make recordings of the songs that I liked best, and then listen to them in my room like the social pariah that I was. I also transcribed the lyrics-- poorly, it turns out, as I appear to have just made up several words entirely in my transcription-- and memorized large portions of the dialogue, which I then unleashed upon the unsuspecting teachers behind the drama club, who no doubt thought it whimsical (or totally, creepily disgusting) that a then-fourteen-year-old girl would know John Adams' opening monologue (which I still know, by the way).

In my free time, which I had a lot of, I carefully choreographed how I would act out each scene, on the off-chance that William Daniels, who played John Adams in the movie (and was also, incidentally, the voice of KITT and Mr. Feeney on Boy Meets World) would show up at my house, frantically crying "Dear God, is Kim home? Because we have an off-Broadway showing in half an hour, and there's no one who can play Richard Henry Lee quite like her!" Because in specific, I was going to be Richard Henry Lee, whose song, "The Lees of Old Virginia," is quite possibly the greatest song ever recorded in the annals of human history.

Luckily, I grew up and got hot and met a man despite this obvious mental problem, and was able to shove my love for 1776 and Richard Henry Lee to the back of my mind (although did you know that Richard Henry Lee and I share a birthday? Which is an obvious sign that I am meant to play him at at least the community theater level). That is, until just a few days ago, when I returned from a trip to Richmond to visit Megan, Matt and Madelyn-- a fateful trip that involved a side stop at the Virginia Capitol Building, and a tour prominently featuring the architect of the Declaration himself, Thomas Jefferson (and a passing reference to Richard Henry Lee, which caused me to get all crazy and poke Megan furiously in the side until she made me stop).

So last night, Ben and I popped in my DVD of 1776 (where did I get a DVD of 1776? Did the nerd side of me bludgeon the cool side and drag my body to That's Entertainment to pick up a copy while I was in a comatose state?) and watched it up to the point where they sing "Mama, Look Sharp," which is, as everyone knows, where all the good songs end, and it really just becomes a boring movie about the Declaration of Indendence instead of a rousing good-time musical romp. And this morning, I dragged out my original Broadway cast recording and made Jeni listen to it, much the same way I forced my high school friends to listen to the bootleg tape I had made from the television.

Then I Googled Ron Holgate, the guy who played Richard Henry Lee. And then I stopped, because I felt way, way lame for even remembering his name after all these years.