When I was in middle school I had three key beliefs about my future:

1. I wouldn’t buy a house. Instead, I’d live in a RV. I’d drive around the United States and park on residential sidewalks and in Walmart parking lots. My cousins teased they’d let me park my RV in their four-car garages in the winter so I wouldn’t freeze.

The first musical I remember listening to was Miss Saigon. My mother played the cassette on weekends, and we listened to it dozens of…