Two speakers discuss the musical Just Along the Way, featuring composer Paskin-Paul, the youngest ever Jonathan Larson Award winner in 2007. The song "Along the Way" follows character Bucky Johnson reflecting on past mistakes. One speaker shares a memory of third-grade's class gerbil Jorge and the Friday ritual of taking it home.
include A Christmas Story, Dogfight, Dear Evan Hansen, and James and the Giant Peach. The original songs have also been featured on NBC's Smash. Although the show has never had a Broadway run, the show has had hundreds of productions across the world. In 2007, Paskin-Paul won a $20,000 Jonathan Larson Award, becoming the youngest to have ever won the award, which was established by the state of Rent composer Jonathan Larson to encourage composers, lyricists, and book writers at the beginning of their careers. In the song "Along the Way," Bucky Johnson reflects on his character's mistakes he's made in the past in preparation for his future.
Third grade in Miss Adams' class, an emotionally scarring time I'm still trying to forget. And it's not like It's not like it didn't pass. See, it has to do with what happened to Jorge, our class pet. We had this tradition on every Friday. One of us was picked to take him home. Exciting, right? Well, I finally asked Ms. Adams. Could this be my day? I thought maybe if I'm verbal, I could go home with this gerbil tonight.
My dad is allergic.
My mom's worried about it. It's a real thing. I knew exactly what the situation would require. My mom showed up for carpool, I stuffed Porky in my bucket. I forgot about him till my nanny found him in the dryer. Whoops. I faked sick the whole next week, too afraid to tell all my friends that poor Porky was dead. Katie Thompson told me that killers burn in hell. Miss Adams took my hand. And she said, oh, life goes on, things will be okay. And though poor Hayes is gone, tomorrow is a brand new day. Everyone makes a couple mistakes somewhere along the way. In case you're wondering, this wasn't just a one-time occurrence. Here's a brief list of all the reasons I kinda suck. I wrecked my mother's car, I lost my cousin in the mall, and I killed a fish and a plant and a squirrel. I misplaced my father's autograph, I threw a Mickey Mantle ball and drove my bike into a 9-year-old girl. But she's alright and I just keep telling myself, "Oh, life goes on and things will be okay." And though she broke her arm and all her teeth are gone, tomorrow is a brand new day. Everyone makes a couple mistakes somewhere along the way. Looking back, I can't pretend that I don't see the trend. I'm not the man you were. I'm aware I can't take care of things. Well, aware would be the air of his breath. You see, Courtney and that bike crash are just samples, small examples of mistakes I've made and stupid things I did. That's why I'm so afraid to raise a kid. So why would you choose me to raise a kid? Oh, life goes by, things will feel okay. Oh, life will fly by so quickly. Tomorrow as he grows away, I made just one mistake somewhere along the way.
