No Day But Today

I went to see Rent last week. Though I love the music, I'd never seen the show on stage. I have the movie, and love it, so I couldn't wait to see the stage show.


They couldn't have been more different. Really!


When I heard that Rent was coming to Houston and would feature two of the original cast members (and movie cast members), and that those cast members would be Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the two most important roles in the show, I couldn't wait.

(FLASHBACK)

DEB: Sven, guess what! We're going to see Rent! Adam and Anthony are going to be there-

SVEN: No.

DEB: What?

SVEN: You go, honey. I'll stay here with the kids. I hate that show.

(END FLASHBACK)

So, my first task was to find someone to go with me. For me, that is a challenge. I just don't have that many people I can share Rent with. There's too many inappropriate words and themes for my mom or my church friends, and Sven hates it. Who is left?

(FLASHBACK)

DEB: Hey, Lindsey, the art teacher at my school! You like Broadway shows, right?

LINDSEY: I love them!

DEB: Well, Rent is coming to Houston! And Adam and Anthony will be there! Do you want to go with me?

LINDSEY: Yes, absolutely!

(END FLASHBACK)

So my wonderful friend, Lindsey, agreed to come with me. I should say that this year is the first year I've ever had such great friends to work with.


I found tickets quickly for the Thursday night show. Lindsey and I, exhausted after a week of standardized testing, dressed to the 9's, went to town.

My first shock: Rent onstage is hilarious. It's really funny. As I told Sven, until people start dying of AIDS in the second act, you practically never stop laughing. Sven found that statement funny, for some reason.

My second shock: They really toned down the language for the movie. Lots of F-bombs being dropped.

My third shock: Lindsey had never seen Rent. Not the movie, not the show. She didn't know anything about the background, the plot...nothing. Fortunately, she loved it. What a way to see it for the first time!

Lindsey's shock: We saw a drag queen as we made our way to the ladies' room. Lindsey just spent her Spring Break in New York, and never saw a drag queen. Personally, I think she probably saw plenty, but they were just a lot better than the one we saw in Houston. (Stubble!)


Lindsey was such a good sport, she even came with me to the stage door as I tried to get close enough to Adam or Anthony (but mostly Adam) for an autograph. That didn't happen, but I did get some pictures:







This is Adam Pascal, taken by me holding the camera up over people's heads.

This is Anthony Rapp, taken by Lindsey the same way. You can tell she's an artist, though, from the way she caught the upside-down program in the foreground. Nice.

There's Adam again. This was the closest I got. Lindsey and I had school the next day, so I left with my dignity and my $50 dollar Rent book. I did yell, "Your performances inspired me!" from the adjacent parking lot, but no one looked up. It's hard to be a fan.

So there it is. The first show I've seen in years, and it was wonderful. Now Lindsey, Sherri (our wonderful PE teacher) and I are thinking about getting season tickets together next year so our husbands don't have to be bothered.

I shared this idea with Sven, who looked hurt. "It was just that show," he explained. "I don't mind going to other stuff."

Clearly, to this man, "For better or for worse" meant nothing. I'll probably give him another chance, though...

Confessions Of A Musical Theater Snob

I have another confession: I am a total musical theater snob.

If I had to pinpoint a beginning, I would have to go back to early childhood. By the time I started kindergarten, I knew the score and most of the choreography to Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Funny Girl, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, and, of course, Sound of Music. All of these well beloved, very mainstream shows were wonderful to me. I had the movie versions literally memorized.

The highlight of this phase of my life was my senior year in high school, when I played Laurey in our school production of Oklahoma. Though my acting skills weren't on par with Olivier, or even the more talented Monkees, or even literal monkeys, I sang pretty well and was relatively famous in our town for a couple of years.

"I know you," the grocery store checkers would say, squinting at me.

"You do?" I would respond.

"Yeah. You're that girl. The one who sings. Huh."

Fame is a cruel mistress, but it is sometimes the price we pay.

All of this was fine. Loving musicals, after all, doesn't make one a snob, right? No, it's loving obscure musicals no one has ever made a movie of that makes you a snob. Loving musicals you've never technically seen makes you a snob. By the time I was 30, I was a bona fide musical theater snob.

It began when PBS broadcast a documentary called "Broadway : The American Musical," hosted by Julie Andrews. This 6-part series, available on DVD, traces the history of Broadway and the musical from the late 1800's to the opening of Wicked in 2004. By the time I finished watching this series, I was hooked. I bought books, CD's, and DVD's of all of these amazing shows. I learned the songs and performed them, if it was at all appropriate. Though my senior recital the year before contained a set of Sondheim songs, I now sought out original recordings of Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park With George. I developed a distaste for even hearing the name Andrew Lloyd Webber. I had to be physically restrained when I heard the following sentence:

"You know what musical I like? Cats. I like it when I don't have to think too hard."

The test, though, for the musical theater snob is when a musical comes along that is both cutting-edge and popular. Which side to take? This was the situation for me with the musical Rent.

Pro: It was very innovative, incorporating musical styles and theatrical conventions not seen before.

Con: The music was definitely pop.

Pro: It was political and relevant, embracing controversial topics.

Con: It was really popular, even getting on the cover of major magazines like Newsweek.

Pro: It featured a cast of edgy young unknowns, like Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Taye Diggs, and Jesse L. Martin.

Con: The theme song was recorded by Stevie Wonder and marketed as a pop single.

And on, and on it went. For years I just avoided it, refusing to listen to it, considering myself above the controversy.

And then.

I actually listened to some of the music. And loved it. Then the movie came out, and I loved it. I especially loved how they got so many from the original cast to come and pretend they were 10 years younger. It is now one of my favorites.

AND I'M GOING TO SEE IT! I'M GOING TO SEE RENT IN TWO WEEKS! ANHONY RAPP AND ADAM PASCAL ARE REPRISING THEIR ORIGINAL ROLES ONSTAGE AND I'M GOING TO SEE IT!

Ahem. I'll make sure to post after I see the show, but I have to say I'm looking forward to this very much. If at all possible, I'll get a picture of Adam or Anthony to post. If not, I'll get a picture of me looking at them, which is just as good, right?

Life is good.