"Let He Among Us Without Sin Be The First To Condemn...La Vi Boheme"
So, on Friday I was lucky enough to take a trip to Los Angeles and watch an amazing performance of the musical RENT performed at the Hollywood Bowl. As a theater junkie I'm embarrassed to say that though I know all the songs and have watched the movie a million times this was the first time I'd seen it performed live on stage. I can not begin to describe just how great this experience was. I decided that a post on FB was not going to be enough so I decided to blog about it instead. Originally I had just planned to just critique it and tell you all the good and bad things like how Vanessa Hudgens just couldn't pull off the role of a junkie or how Nicole Scherzinger surpassed EVERY expectation I had and completely won me over or just how hot Aaron Tveit was. But as I've been thinking of the experience all day I think I'd rather tell you about how much I love the musical itself instead.
To me, RENT embodies the desire to create and to live for the beauty, passion, and joy that comes from being an artist and a free thinker; something that I can relate to...a little. I've kinda always wanted to be a poor starving artist living in New York City spending the little bit of money I had to support my art. Okay... so I can't relate to that at all...seeing as I work at a bank and have no particular artistic talent whatsoever. But hey...at least I'm poor. I guess what I really mean to say is that the idea of living for No Day but Today is incredibly intoxicating and romantic even if it's impractical. But for those two hours I sat in the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night, myself and 18,000 other people felt like we were part of something beautiful and inspiring. As I mouthed every line (I wanted to sing but I figured the nice couple in front of me didn't pay $50 to hear a terrible off key version of Take Me or Leave Me) to every song, it was like I was part of that group of Bohemian artists.
I also admire the fact that while there are several homosexual relationships in the musical it is a non-issue. There is no talk or trace of discrimination or hate against the characters because of their sexual preference. I think this fact in itself inspires tolerance. The main message is focused on the point that the characters loved not on who they loved. To me Rent does an amazing job of showing all the sides and importance of love. It shows that loves is hard and sometimes nearly impossible, that it hurts and can push you to the very edge of sanity. It does a great job of never once leading you to believe that love can fix anything...but at the same time that love is what makes life worth living.
Jonathan Larson, the man that wrote RENT died the night before it open on Broadway. I would like to think that if he could have seen the performance I saw and gotten to watch 18,000 people mooing along with Maureen during her performance piece he would have been not only been proud but amazed at the legacy he left behind. All in all it was a great way to end a great week even if I didn't get to make out with NPH.
"The Opposite Of War Isn't Peace...It's Creation!"
