7 posts tagged “rent”

So, this one time a bunch of years ago I was at this Christmas tree festival with my mom and grandma.  It's not as weird as it sounds; it used to be that every Thanksgiving in Muncie they would have this so-called "festival" that was really more like a showcase of Christmas trees; local businesses and organizations would decorate fake Christmas trees with a theme, and then they would be sold or auctioned off.  (I'm not entirely sure where the money went, but I think it went to the community.)  I always loved going to those because the trees would always be so cool, and there was always a little shop that sold weird tree ornaments that my family would always buy.  Sometimes local singers or choirs would perform songs while people were looking.

Anyway, I was maybe twelve or thirteen at the time, and I was at this thing wandering around just looking at the trees, when this girl about my age or a little older came up and started to sing this song; I guess she was the entertainment for that time slot.  I wasn't paying very close attention to what she was singing, since I didn't recognize it, but I remember thinking it was a pretty cool song and having bits of it stuck in my head for the rest of the day, although I didn't remember any of the lyrics.  Afterward I wondered vaguely where I could find the song, but since all I could remember about it was that it was pretty and involved numbers in some way, I didn't get very far, and eventually forgot about it.

Fast forward a few years to when I was maybe a freshman in high school.  I was at the library looking through some CDs, trying to figure out what in the sparse collection of soundtracks would be worth looking at.  I finally ended up checking out a soundtrack about which I had heard only enough to know it probably wouldn't suck.  (It turned out to be only the second disc of said soundtrack; I have no idea what happened to the first disc.  Maybe the library lost it and didn't realize it.)

I took the CD home and stuck it in my CD player, and I was amazed when the first track on the CD was the song I had heard years before at the Christmas tree festival!  I still had no idea what the song had to do with Christmas, but I was so excited I ran downstairs to tell my mom (who had no recollection of the song in the first place, so that was kind of anticlimactic).  I then proceeded to listen to the entire CD straight through, having no idea what was going on plot-wise; a couple of the songs jumped right out at me and I played them over and over, while others were considerably less catchy and it wasn't until I understood the plot that I enjoyed them.

I find that story kind of funny, considering how much of an impact that particular soundtrack and the show that goes with it have had on my life in recent years.

(And yes, in case you were still wondering, the mystery song was "Seasons of Love".)

I'm about to spend a pleasent rest of the evening with my bead kit and and as-of-yet-undecided movie, but first I must rant about this weekend.

In a good way.

I saw the national tour of Rent at the Fox in St. Louis with some of my best friends; recipe for fun to begin with.  It was me, my mom and Janna, Aviva and Erin, Mer, and Paul.  (All of us sat in row K, except for Mer, who through a strange twist of serendipity, had her ticket ordered separately and therefore got a better seat.  Lucky bitch.  XD)

I honestly don't have too much to say about the show itself other than the fact that it was the best version I've seen so far (this was the third time I'd seen it).  Only part of that had to do with the fact that Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp were two of the principals; there wasn't a single actor that I had any complaint about, which never happens.  I think the performers made some really fun and interesting choices that added a lot to the depth of the characters, Joanne and Angel in particular.  One of the other actors I was looking forward to seeing (Gwen Stewart, another original cast member who didn't have a major role but still had a solo that I was hoping to hear) turned out to be understudied during that performance, but even the understudy did a great job.

The high point of the performance was "What You Own", during the second act, since that was the only song in which Adam and Anthony had a song all to themselves, and I had been waiting to hear it through the entire show.  Let's just say I had a slight nerdgasm.

Afterward we all traipsed out to the stage door.  The first performer to come out was Nicolette Hart, who played Maureen.  Everyone was very happy to see her, and she signed every scrap of paper that was thrust at her (illegibly, but still).  Anthony Rapp was the next - and only - one to come out.  Of course, the cheering was uproarious.  He was very brief and did not stop to pose for photographs, but did sign anything anyone gave him, and thanked everyone for coming to the show.  (Not so Adam Pascal; we heard later that he routinely sneaks out alternate entrances to avoid his fans.  Jerk.  But I have also heard that he's been pretty sick lately, so...)

Our funny story of the day - one that has forever turned an unfunny phrase funny - involved Janna's quest for an autograph.  Boo Boo had mentioned the day before that at concert-type events she's been to, people who brought weird things to be signed got more attention from the performers.  So Janna pulled out a giant rubber duck from her collection and brought that to the show.

When Nicolette Hart saw the duck, she said, "I assume there's a story behind this?"  There wasn't; Janna just likes ducks a lot.

When Anthony Rapp, saw it, however, his face looked like this:

 

His exact words were, "...What is that?"

Janna replied, "It's a duck."  She refrained from adding "Duh."

She then spent the rest of the evening repeating her "conversation" with Anthony Rapp, and the rest of us have been popping up with "What is that?"  at random intervals throughout the past two days.

 

As for me. I had both actors sign my giant Rent book, and then proceeded to get entirely giddy and fangirly, in the sense of "AHHHH OH MY GOD ANTHONY RAPP WAS JUST WITHIN SIX INCHES OF ME AHHHH!"

 

I am not ashamed.

And no, I'm not including the one listed in the below post, because that would be rather redundant.

1)

I first heard this song at a dance concert last fall and immediately fell in love with it.  If you like slow, soulful songs in general, you will, too.  I can't really say anything about it except that it makes me tear up a little every time I hear it, it is just that pretty.

Notable lyrics: "I'm dancing in the room as if I was in the woods with you / No need for anything but music / Music's the reason that I know time still exists."

 

 

2)

 

This song goes on my lists of songs that I love solely for their intro.  There's nothing that says "awesome driving song"  like a steady repetition of the same recognizable guitar chord.  Coupled with the fact that a) just about everyone recognizes it, and b) it finds a perfect place on the Benny & Joon soundtrack, that pretty much rounds it up for this song. 

That, and it's a love song in which, although the sentiments are simple, you realize that sometimes that simple proclamation is all you need.

Notable lyrics:  "When I'm lonely / Well, I know I'm gonna be / I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you / And when I'm dreaming / Well, I know I'm gonna dream / I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you."

 

 

 

 

3)

 

Simultaneously mellow and bouncy, this song is deceptively buoyant while the lyrics are actually part love song and part lament.  (I can't quite figure out what she's lamenting, but her choice of words makes it obvious that she is indeed lamenting.)  It's a good song for a spring or summer morning, along with a bit of Belle and Sebastian.  There should definitely be sunshine involved when you listen to this...or maybe not, as it might cause you to go into a diabetic coma from all the sugary snuggliness of the whole experience.

Notable lyrics: "Suppose I never ever met you / Suppose we never fell in love / Suppose I never ever let you / Kiss me so sweet and so soft."

 

 

 

 

 

 

4)

 

Okay, yeah, this song has been played to death by every DJ in history, except maybe for the indie and hip-hop types.  But there's a reason for it, and that reason is that people like it.  The lyrics might be vague and not immediately applicable to most audience members, but there's something about the chords that come in right before the chorus that just energizes the way that very few other songs can. 

...Plus, everyone knows the words, even if they don't think they do.

Notable lyrics: "Don't stop believin', hold onto that feelin' / Streetlights, people, oh oh oh..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5)

 

MIKA has a wide variety of musical styles on his one studio album, but I like this one the best (even more than the bouncy "Lollipop" that first introduced me to him) for reasons I can't explain.

Notable lyrics: "I can be wholesome, I can be loathsome / Guess I'm a little bit shy / Why don't you like me, why don't you like me / Without making me try?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6)

I realize that most of the songs I've put on here so far have this same sort of bouncy, sunny, fluffy component to them, and I'm not entirely sure why that is.  That's certainly not my personality, and I certainly enjoy a lot of music that doesn't have this component.  I guess that, since this list is mainly songs that always cheer me up, they would have to be like this.

Anyway, yeah.

Notable lyrics: "Well, you are the one / the one who lies close to me / Whispers 'Hello, / I've missed you quite terribly' / I fell in love, / In love with you suddenly / Now there's nowhere else I could be but here in your arms."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7)

 

Look!  Something not-bouncy!

 

So, I've recently gotten into swing (and by recently, I mean like in the past three years or so), and this is basically the most badass swing song I've found.  It may not be bouncy, but it still works as a mood elevator, since I tend to jump up and dance around like an idiot whenever it comes on shuffle. 

And then, of course, there's the added bonus of sharing lyrics with one of David Bowie's songs from Labyrinth.

Notable lyrics:  "Oh, hocus pocus, alakazam / Save us from that evil man / With buggy eyes and a bulgy neck / Save us from the man with the hex.

 

 

 

 

 

8)

How can I make myself more clear on this?

IT'S THE FREAKING TIME WARP.

Plus, this version includes an extra dance sequence along with snippets of dialogue from the movie.  And it's longer, which means

 

Notable dialogue: "With a bit of a mind flip / You're into the time slip / And nothing can ever be the same / You're space out on sensation / Like you're under sedation / Let's do the Time Warp again!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9)

It's true that every song from Rent has a place on my list of favorite songs, but this one, along with "What You Own" (which I didn't put here because imeem doesn't have the movie version for some reason) is my favorite of the moment.  It's perfect for both dancing like a maniac and cranking up the volume with the windows down, and it's got that element of impatience that everyone's felt at some time or another.  Sometimes you just want to go out.

 

Notable lyrics:  "In the evening, I've got ot roam / Can't sleep in this city of neon and chrome / Feels too damn much like home / When the Spanish babies cry / So let's find a bar / So dark we forget who we are / And all the scars from the 'nevers' and 'maybes' die."

 

 

 

 

 

 

10)

If you've heard this song before, you probably heard it through the highly amusing music video that circulated for a while.  I have seen this video, but the first time I heard this song was when three friends of mine did a dance to it a few years ago at KDI, with scarves and saris.  Consequently, when I play this song, not only do I enjoy an energetic Bollywood dance hit, I also flash back to the dance they performed.

If you have not seen the music video yet, I recommend you go do so immediately.

Notable lyrics:  Since I do not understand the language, I cannot tell you what any of the lyrics are, other than phonetic guesses at random phrases.

What do you most hate sharing with other people?

Dessert.

To a lesser extent, the spotlight, but I've mostly gotten past that.

 

God, today is so weird.  Not that anything particularly weird has happened, but the air outside is misty and chilly, and I somehow feel kind of detached.

I'm just kind of depressed right now because I've realized that there are two big things I want to do this summer, and they are on opposite sides of the country and would both require 1) airfare, 2) lodgings, 3) costumes, and 4) tickets that are probably set at an astronomical price.

One is Rent, which, I have been informed by Lauren, is extending its run by another fourteen weeks.  The other is an event known as LOJ, or Labyrinth of Jareth, which takes place in Los Angeles and is essentially a masque ball with undertones of wicked faery.

Incidentally, I am indebted to Lauren for information about both of the above.

I know for sure I won't be able to afford to go to both events; it's questionable whether I'll even be able to afford to go to one, depending on a) if I get a summer job and b) if so, how much it pays.  I could also conceivably sell my plasma, but the money I would get for that would be a pittance when one looks at the overall prices...

From Travelocity, using St. Louis as the starting point:

To New York City (JFK), early to mid-June: $354 (round-trip)

                        (LaGuardia), "     "    "  : $348 (round-trip)

                        (Liberty), "    "    "  : $341 (round-trip)

                        (NYC),  "    "     " : $341

To Los Angeles , mid-July: $350 (round-trip)

 

And that's just the airfare.  I haven't even looked up the costs for convenient hotel rooms, tickets or material to make a proper costume for the LOJ.

 

Sigh.

Have you ever had a day when you woke up one morning and just knew it was going to be a bad day?

It's really gross outside.  It's damp and windy and sleeting and my mood would be much improved if I could just curl up with a book and some hot chocolate, but no, I have one other class to go to today (for which, I might add, I am supposed to be reading Song of Roland, but Stephen King and blogging are so much more appealing).

Aviva joined my folk dance class.  While that is a great thing in general, since it means I'll get to see her at least twice a week, which I haven't been able to do all year, it also means that particularly today, I miss KDI more than ever.  It's impossible not to think of KDI when two-thirds of the dances we've done are ones I've been doing for years, especially when the teacher is also someone I've known for years through the same venue.

I need to get a job, but I can't yet, because to even apply for one on campus you have to have proof of citizenship, which means I have to wait until my passport gets here later this week.  I didn't need a job last semester, and not finding one now wouldn't be such a big deal, except for the fact that the only way I'm going to get a new iPod now is out of my own pocket.  Plus, I have to pay for the Tegan & Sara concert ticket I bought last night (!!!) and probably save up some money for a trip to the Nederlander this spring, if such a thing is going to happen.

But this announcement from Site For Rent made me feel as though Jonathan Larson is dying yet another untimely death.

 

"Producers Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum and Allan S. Gordon have announced that the landmark Broadway musical RENT will close at the Nederlander Theatre after the evening performance on Sunday, June 1, 2008, after playing 5,012 performances and 16 previews. RENT is the seventh longest-running show in Broadway history.
RENT, written by Jonathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif, opened at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on April 29, 1996 following a history-making, sold out, extended limited engagement at off-Broadway's New York Theatre Workshop.
RENT's young creator, Jonathan Larson, never got to see his show's success, having died of an aortic aneurysm early morning on January 25, 1996 after the show's final dress rehearsal the previous evening.
RENT is the winner of 18 major awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 4 Tony Awards®, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, 6 Drama Desk Awards, 3 Obie Awards and a Drama League Award.

RENT launched the careers of an incredible group of young performers, including Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Stars from the world of pop music joined the RENT cast at various times throughout its run, including Joey Fatone of 'N Sync, Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees, Melanie Brown of the Spice Girls, and Frenchie Davis and Tamyra Gray of "American Idol."

None of this would have been possible without you -- the dedicated fans of RENT.  For the past 12 years, you have waited outside the stage door, mooed with us, shared your stories, cried for Angel, and cheered for us. Now, we want to say thank you. See RENT one last time before the lights at the Nederlander are dimmed. "

 

 

The English language cannot express the fervor of my need to go to New York and see this show at its birthplace before it closes.  I'm willing to commit homicide and pay the highest price.

Or rather, not enough of it.

I shouldn't let my shields down.  Problem is, I don't know how to prevent it.

After a few weeks of school, my subconscious said, "Okay, you can't miss people this much anymore, because it's interfering with your life."  It then proceeded to build a wall around my destructive emotions and shove them to the back burner.

This weekend I saw a great number of my friends for a brief period of time (read: half an hour in the chamber choir classroom), and now that wall is completely gone and everything's coming back.  It had actually begun to come back the minute I left school on Friday, but the prospect of the next day's activities, as well as the "purgation of emotions" that occurred during Act II of Saturday's show (more on that later), prevented it from showing its true colors until today.

I'm not sure whether I'm glad or sorry that there is nobody else in the room.

As for the actual weekend activities, here's a play-by-play...

THURSDAY

Woke up half an hour before class, which was definitely later than I'd meant to.  Returned to my dorm, escorted Jason upstairs and set him to looking at my LOLcats while I packed.  Frequent distractions were had.  Aviva showed up at about 3:30; the grandparents came at 3:50.  We actually left at 4, right on schedule.  The grandparents drove Aviva and me to Terre Haute, where we met my dad and enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at Olive Garden.  Dad then proceeded to chauffeur us the rest of the way to Cape.  We arrived very late, but I was unable to fall asleep for a long time simply because I was enjoying the sensation of lying in my own squishy bed so entirely.

FRIDAY

Decided to make a visit to the high school and see my old chamber choir friends, among others.  Easier said than done, however.  After much wheedling and sighing and making deals with assistant-principals-slash-former-scholar-bowl-coaches, I finally made it to the choir classroom and amused myself by parking myself behind friends and seeing how long it took them to notice that I didn't usually sit there.  Many hugs happened, as well as a few Random-Book-worthy quotes.  Apparently, I have a "randomness mojo", according to Quitman.  I then left to take Aviva to Grace Cafe and My Daddy's Cheesecake.  We enjoyed lunch, made a trip to Younghouse for costume supplies, then went to get Janna from school, at which point I made my final visits.

Janna and I dropped Aviva off at the house, then went to visit Aunt Emma, which was sad because she can't sit up and can barely talk.  I'm coming to terms with the fact that unless something really weird happens, this was probably the last time I'm going to see her.

I then took Janna to dance and spent some time talking with Miss Kara and Miss Sherry, after which I went home and Aviva and I watched some Whose Line.  At some point in the evening, the Bishops showed up and we ate delicious salmon and Texas cake, after which all four of us girls went out to the mall, where we randomly ran into Megan, and then to Cozmo's.  Boo Boo spent the night, as she usually does, and we watched Rent in preparation.

SATURDAY

We left the house at 10:00 sharp, with Megan in tow, and reached St. Louis in time for lunch at Whole Foods, where they were having some sort of party that included free food, kittens and face painting.  I had some huevos rancheros in honor of the death of Bohemia.  We then drove downtown to the Fox, tucked and rolled with our tickets, and I headed straight for the bathroom to change into my Angel costume.  (Pictures to come when I get my camera in a couple of weeks.  Long story.)

The show = GANZ FANTASTISCH.  I pretty much bawled my eyes out.  (Boo Boo, you lied...that eyeliner was so not waterproof.)

Characters: 

Mark = okay singer, good at harmonizing, ADORABLE.

Roger = amazing voice; his South Africa accent came through every now and then, which was funny.  Screwed up the lyrics once, but not so it was very noticeable.

Mimi = somewhere between Daphne Rubin-Vega and Rosario Dawson on voice quality.  Good singer - no smoker's voice, which was much appreciated.  Kickass dancer.

Angel = voice was kind of annoying, but he was just so cute and endearing it didn't matter, because he's Angel.  Duh.

Collins = actor was apparently on American Idol, which meant he was an amazing singer, but improvised a little too much.  Had ridiculously long dreads.

Maureen = sounded exactly like Idina Menzel most of the time.

Joanne = so-so.

Benny = pretty good, but I didn't notice him much.

Ensemble = amazing.  Steve, the guy with the solo in "Will I?" was the best singer in the cast, and the bag lady/solo in "Seasons of Love" had so much power.  Everyone harmonized beautifully; "Christmas Bells" and "Life Support" gave me chills.

The acoustics could have been way better; the balance between the singers and the band was way off, so the lyrics were really hard to understand.  I'm glad I have the show memorized.

At intermission, I bought a Rent button (of course) and a program, which happened to come with a nifty little drawstring backpack.  I plan to carry my acting clothes in it.

After the show (which left me wanting more, more and more), we hitched a ride from the Bishops to California Pizza Kitchen, where we parted ways with Boo Boo and settled down to some strange pizza.  I got some strange comments from people when I was walking around Urban Outfitters in my costume.  We then departed for the mystical CITY MUSEUM of St. Louis.

Surprisingly, I don't really have much to say about the City Museum, except, of course, to say that it was awesome.  I found a pin in the gift shop that says "KNOB".  Now if only I could find one that says "TIGER", my life will be complete.

 

Needing emotional release,

~Carly