RENTsday

So Wednesday is the day that we have decided to go see a show on Broadway (we didn't really decide this on our own so much as have it decided by the powers that be who only schedule matinees on Wednesday). We took the subway into the city and kind of just hung out in Time Square for a little while (there will be much more on this in a wrap-up blog after I get home). We had decided earlier in the week to go see Avenue Q (it is basically Sesame Street if it were written by a dirty comic and set to music...it has puppets and everything). It turns out though that Wednesday is the only day of the week that Avenue Q is dark (no show at all). That was quite the bummer, so we had to figure something else to see. The first thought was to go see Wicked, unfortunately Wicked has been so wickedly successful that they don't have discounted tickets for a matinee (and this is after almost 5 years on Broadway). We then decided to go see The Putnam County Spelling Bee (a comedy about a spelling bee...yeah, deep); however, that too was not available at the THTK window for the matinee. We finally settled on Curtains, which is a comedy starring David Hyde Pierce from Frasier and is written by the people who wrote Chicago. We get up to the line (which is just JAM PACKED!!), and the guy at the window says that they only have partial view seats left.

"ARGH!! No partial view for us, thank you very much. How about Hairspray? It only has partial view too?! What about...well, what do you have that isn't partial view? RENT? Your call Bex, I have already seen it three times. Yeah, I would happily see it again. Okay, 2 for RENT."

So RENT it is. Let me just go ahead and say that while it was Les Mis that really got me into musical theater to begin with, it was RENT that really sparked my passion for it (and that is an extremely heterosexual passion that is both healthy and cultural). I first bought the double disc CD way back in 1994 (the day it came out, no less). The first time I saw the show was the night before my senior prom in 1998 (I went with Beaner, and we wore our prom get-up). I saw it again a few years later, and then again a few years ago with some of my favorite people in the world (no names yet, but you all know who you are) and one not so favorite person who is just not in my circle of friends anymore. I ended up seeing the movie the weekend it came out with my parents and bought that soundtrack as well. The best part about the movie is that the majority of the original cast returned. That being said, the tickets ended up costing $60 each, and after we paid it, we were both experienced some buyer's remorse (all the other shows were only $35). Whatever.

We happen to have some time to kill before the show starts, so we go to the Toys'R'Us in Time Square. HOLY CRAP IT IS THE BIGGEST TOY STORE I HAVE EVER SEEN!! There are entire sections devoted to specific toys!! There was a Barbie Castle...IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING STORE!! There is a Ferris Wheel...IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING STORE!! There is a section on the 1st floor that is devoted solely to video games, and it is bigger than most toy stores that I have ever been in. There is a section devoted to Legos, and Bex and I were lamenting about how Legos used to just be sold in a box of Legos. Now they are kits and you can only build the thing that is on the box. WEHEHEHELL, as we walked through the Lego section, we came across an alcove that was 100 different color Legos drawers that you could just put in a bag!! On the second floor, there were Sony Computers, and sections for Spiderman and the Transformers among others. A man that looked eerily similar to Sherman Helmsley dressed in a King's costume sold something. There was a third floor!! It was absolutely amazing and every little kid's wet dream.

So we have wasted the requisite amount of time, and head over to the Nederlander Theater. The outside of the theater is all RENTed out, and people have written all kinds of notes and such all over the walls. We get inside and the usher brings us to our seats...10th row Orchestra dead center. Literally the best seats in the house. I am overcome a little by the moment and decide to risk taking a picture of the set from my seats...bad idea, and the usher from the other side comes over and berates my for taking a picture (got to keep it anyway!!). Still have about 15 minutes to curtain, so we start reading through our Playbills. There is an article about the new Sandy and Danny from the Grease Revival, but the reviews are pretty dismal. We then get to the page that has the original credits from the show...Written by Jonathan Larson...Directed by someone...Staring Adam Pascal as Roger, Anthony Rapp as Mark, Tamyra Gray as Mimi...

"Wait a minute, Tamyra Gray wasn't in the first cast, she was on Americal Idol. Becca, look at this page...I think that the original Mark and Roger are in today's show. There are no understudy inserts in the program."

That is right. The original Mark and Roger star in today's show. For those of you that are not theater savvy, let me just say that being able to see anyone from an original cast star in a show 13 years after that show debuted is a dream come true. Seeing that this is my favorite show of all time, this is the greatest possible thing that could have happened. All three other times that I have seen the show, it was like watching actors play the actors who played the parts. Today I am gonig to be able to see the show with the actors who were part of what I fell in love with. The buyer's remorse that we previously experienced has now gone so far away that I have to strain just to remember that it is there. I have freaking goosebumps. They first come out on stage, and before they utter a word or sing a syllable, the whole crowd goes insane. There are times during the show that I was literally overwhelmed by what I was experiencing and couldn't take it all in with my ears and eyes and just had to sit back and breathe in the whole thing. I wish that I had the words in my vocabulary to do justice to the experience, but I truly do not...and those of you who think that I have done an adequate job need to take it to an even higher level. I laughed (there were some really good line interpretations), I cried (the I'll Cover You Reprise gets me everytime!!)...I was just in awe. At one point, Mimi comes out to sing Take Me Out Tonight, and her mic doesn't work (they had ear mics), and she is just singing her little heart out (and it was little, she really needed to eat something) but no one can hear her...fortunately a stagehand is ready and gives her a handheld mic...then Roger gets one and they sing their duet with hand mics and it was just amazing. It was the greatest theater experience of my life to this point.

At the end of the show, we went outside and a large mass of people is waiting towards the stage doors...Bex and I decide to sit there and see if anyone is going to come out. Who comes out but Anthony Rapp himself?!!! I got tons of pictures and he signed my freaking Playbill!! I seriously doubt that today could have been any better than it was.

Tonight we pick up one of Becca and Jake's friends from Madrid and head out to Roti Boti again. The food is exactly the same as it was on Saturday, but I enjoy infinitely more because I have gotten accustomed to the spicy after one trip. We watch Love Actually (one of my favorite movies ever) that night and hit the hay. Best day of the trip yet, and worth the entire amount of money for transportation just for today.