Musical @ MindSay

Friday and Saturday I really did nothing except knit (finished the hat... will post a pic of the recipient wearing it when I can) but Sunday was amazing. jewfroart and I went to see Sunday in the Park with George at its Broadway revival and it was phenomenal. I mean, I already knew that I liked it, but this was my first time actually seeing it performed, and it blew me away... the acting, the singing, the special effects...

 

The premise of the play, at least the first act, is that the painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of Grand Jatte" is being created by an artist who is dropping everything, including the mistress who's modeling for the painting, to work on his great painting. You see the figures on stage... sometimes as real people that he's using as models, sometimes as the figures that he's created. And the whole while you can see the painting being created in pontillist brush strokes.

 

Anyway, anyone reading this should immediately pick up either the cast album from the 2007/ 2008 revival (the one that I just saw) or the one from the eighties that starred Bernadette Peters as the mistress and Mandy Patinkin (either 'Rube' or 'My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die' depending on which you like better) as George. Amazing. I cried like a baby. Hell, now I even cry just listing to the music in my car.

... we watched "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."  That wasn't a bad movie at all. In fact, we both love it -- despite the complete departure from reality. It's simply a great film where you could tell that they had a great time making it.

It was after "Smith" was over that I was flipping channels and ran across a film I hadn't seen but had wanted to for quite a while.

It has all of the ingredients for a great movie: the story was written in the nineteenth century and made famous by Puccini in the form of the opera La Boheme. A century later, the opera was "modernized" into Broadway musical which focused on a culture of artists living with AIDS.  It became one of the longest running musicals on Broadway, developing a cult following across the nation and around the world.  It's one of my favorites.  I used to listen to the soundtrack non-stop in the car.  And sing along. (Yes. I was one of those.)  I was blown away when I saw the production at the Mechanic Theater in Baltimore.

When they originally decided to develop a film version of the musical, Spike Lee was attached to the project. he eventually backed out, but they had a pretty amazing cast -- including many of the original Broadway cast members and stars of television and the big screen. The sets were luxurious. The outside shooting locations breathtaking.

With all that this movie had going for it --  I don't see how it could happen, but Rent just blows.

I really didn't want the movie to suck. Honest. The musical -- even just the Broadway soundtrack -- touches my emotions so much.  There's power and passion. There's chemistry. But this movie? It felt like a bunch of amateurs at a karaoke bar.  Deadpan amateurs. Even Rosario Dawson whom I can't get enough of.

The movie was made for middle America -- the folks that don't get to go to see Broadway-size musical productions on the stage. And, of course, for the RentHeads that would see any movie that was called "Rent" no matter how much it sucks.  I'm certainly glad I waited the two years for it to come out on cable to see it.

Awful film. Ick.

Strangely, however, I want to rent the DVD so I can see some of the deleted numbers which were part of the musical but not the film.   I guess it's a sickness...

Continuing our tradition lately of watching bad movies, this afternoon I have found myself watching "From Justin to Kelly" that cinematic classic starring the finalists of American Idol season 1.  I don't know what's better?  The bad acting, the spontaneous dance numbers, the oh-so hot chemistry between the two title stars, or Kelly Clarkson's tie skirt and pigtails.

What a great way to spend a rainy day off at home!

Is it the jacket?? What?

I went to our high school's production of Annie Get Your Gun. It wasn't terrible, but they really could have used another two weeks of rehearsals, maybe three. However, my amazing sisters were the stage manager and the student director for the pit orchestra. Props to the both of them, they are fantastic.

And boyfriend-points to Stabber, or whatever it is I've started calling him now. Well, perhaps not boyfriend-points, just points in general. Apparently me sister got him back to playing his bass again - he's actually quite talented, but for whatever reason dropped it. However, he joined them for their pit orchestra, despite the fact that this is not his high school in any way, and he's long since out of high school and has to put up with an orchestra and cast mostly comprised of juniors and seniors. I'm not sure why, but as it's his girlfriend and my sister who's directing, and he stayed with it, and just because musicians are cool in general (and bass players doubly so - although I think this is diluted in Stabber's case by the personality), points to Stabber.

I came straight from work, so I'm wearing khakis, my jacket, hiking boots. I really don't think it's the outfit...

Oh, today's lesson: Do not run in hiking boots. Even if it's 100 meters or less. Do not run in hiking boots. You will regret it later.

...but I'm standing outside the auditorium, congratulating the munchkin, and at least two people came up to me and said, "Hey, great job!" "Thanks! I was in the audience!" Pause. "Oh." I like to think that we don't look that much alike, but apparently the majority votes against me on this one - and I can still pass for a highschooler. Drat. :P

And lesson for me from today: Sometimes, I find myself in a filthy mood. Just shut down. I had a long day, no, nothing went horribly wrong. I don't want to talk about it, I just want to sit here and think about one thing at a time, preferably only one thing that has nothing to do with work or my day. I don't want to talk about work. I don't want to talk about relationships. I really don't want to talk about things I need to work on. In general, I don't want to talk. Just let me unwind.

If I am not permitted to unwind properly, a kind of resentment builds, where I find myself annoyed with every person I can think of. Knuter is almost always second on the list - this is because whoever's annoying me is first, and Knuter's usually the first person I think of. But it goes down the list further - every person I know and like will irritate me for some reason. And I convince myself that I don't want to see them*, and thinking about them just irritates me further.

However, there's always one person that I forget about. I get so focused on my bad mood - I'm not actually trying to hate everybody I know, it's just everyone who wanders into my mind sort of gets painted with the wrong colors. But I completely forgot my little sister this time (last time it was my Dad). So, over intermission, ran into her. And got hit once again with everything that's amazing about her, and how much I love her - I just about picked her up and twirled her around, I was so happy to see her.

Those chinks in my armor probably save my life.


*This has actually been proven false, we think. We're not totally certain. The only person I don't want to see is whoever's trying to get me to open up and talk about what's bothering me. Seeing Knuter immediately washes away whatever I was irritated with him about - usually because it's either a trumped-up charge, or it's such a small thing in the face of all the great traits he carries that it just seems ridiculous. Or maybe I'm just not built to stay mad, and I only need to be reminded of what's important for it all to go.