Stuff I Love: With a Thousand Sweet Kisses

I spent the summer of 1996, the summer before my senior year in high school, sitting in the theatre office in my high school, planning the upcoming season (I was in my second season as Business Manager), hanging out with my friends, and listening to the original cast recording of RENT on repeat. I'm surprised we didn't wear the CDs out (it's a two CD soundtrack) given the amount of times we listened to it. Something about the musical and the story of its creator, Jonathan Larson, completely captivated me and my friends. What did suburban white girls (mostly) have in common with the hip, cool characters of Larson's East Village? Quite literally nothing. I hadn't even been to New York when we started listening to the soundtrack. I didn't know anyone who was a junkie, although I knew kids in my high school who did drugs. I didn't drink in high school, and I was the mom of my friend group at 17. Which is cool I guess. It usually translated into always having easily accessible snacks for the group and making sure everyone made curfew.

But I knew every word to every song. I could sing the show in my sleep (and still can). Before the days of instant access to everything, I bought every magazine and paper I could find that had any information about the cast and Larson. Larson died the day before the off-Broadway opening of RENT, which only makes the show even more beloved. My parents bought me tickets to see the show on Broadway as a graduation present (we saw most of the original cast), and yes, I did sit next to my mom during the song "Contact." My parents knew what they were getting themselves into when they bought those tickets.

RENT is a lot of things: it's a modern day La Boheme, it's the precursor to many of the modern rock musicals, it's one of the most beloved musicals of all time, it's revolutionary. It makes you laugh and cry, often within the same song. It's about love and community and inclusion. It gave a face to the parallel epidemics of HIV/AIDS and crack and the impact both had on generations of young people. It's about art and politics and being your authentic self and creating.

I might not have had any life experiences in common with the characters in RENT, but I was young and believed that I could do anything. I was at the point in my life where I was about to head off to college and become whoever it was I was supposed to be. I was going to fall in love and create great art. I was going to have my "one song glory" like Roger (although it wouldn't be a song since I don't sing and can't play any instruments, but you get my point). I would find my tribe. Pick a song in the show and there's at least one lyric, maybe more, that speaks to my soul. It's that sort of show.

To say I was surprised that a live version of RENT was going to be on Fox last weekend would be an understatement. I had zero idea this was coming. I'm sure there was an announcement, but since I rarely watch network television anymore, I probably missed it. I'm ambivalent about these live musical broadcasts networks seem to believe we want. On one hand, my musical theatre nerd self gets so excited about a musical. I mean, I used to borrow cast albums (on vinyl) from the library and make up my own dance routines. I love musicals. On the other hand, these experiences almost never go right. The productions The Wiz and Hairspray have been the most successful of the fully staged productions, and Jesus Christ Superstar was an amazing concert/musical production. I've set the bar super low for these productions so I'm not disappointed, just like my Grandma K taught me.

I didn't hate RENT, but I didn't love it either. I DVR-ed it because I can't stay up past 9 pm on a school night. And it wasn't like I was missing an actual live broadcast. Because of a cast member's injury (more on this in a moment), only the last 15 minutes were live. The rest of the broadcast was from the recorded dress rehearsal the night before. The sound was terrible, but it's never good on these shows. The live studio audience was too loud (not a concert, y'all) and the cast, overall, was underwhelming. The set was impressive and cool, appropriate for a live broadcast, but was too overwhelming for this production. I really loved Roger's first pair of pants. No joke, not only do I want to see Brennin Hunt wear them again, I'd like a pair for myself. That's how good these pants are. Brennin Hunt was my favorite of the cast. He's definitely a Roger for 2019. Vanessa Hudgens was pretty good, better in "Take Me or Leave Me" than in "Over the Moon." Valentina was really pretty. I admit to fast forwarding through a lot of the recording. I skipped to my favorite songs, watched the awkwardness that was "Contact" on broadcast tv, and cried during "I'll Cover You - Reprise" because I will always cry during that song.

The lesson we learned from RENT Live! is to have an understudy. Hunt seriously injured his foot during the dress rehearsal. Rather than have a backup option of another actor, the production went forward with the recorded version until the last 15 minutes of the show. The climax of the show is staged in a way that Roger (Hunt) can sit pretty much the whole time, so that's what he did. And it was fine. The show ended, the curtain came back up on the original Broadway cast and "Seasons of Love" played as God and Jonathan Larson intended. Adam Pascal, the original Roger, and Jesse L. Martin, the original Collins, have gotten even hotter with age. I wish Adam had decided to jump in and play Roger; that would have been some amazing live theatre. If not Adam, what about one of the guys in the chorus? Trust me, they've all wanted to be Roger since they were 17. The last 15 minutes of the show, the actual live part, was the best part. It showed what this production could have been.

The next morning, I did what any RENT fan would do and listened to the original cast recording in my car on my drive to and from work. I sang along, because I always sing along, and I listened to the show as adult me, not 17 year old me who was in love with Adam Pascal. I still get chills during the certain songs and I laugh at Anthony Rapp and Idina Menzel. Wilson Jermaine Heredia's Angel will always be the heart of this show. What I was struck by on this listening and the "live" production, was the realization that the thing that Benny wanted, CyberArts, is now a thing that artists and tech people do all the time. Collaborative/multipurpose art spaces are super popular. Co-working spaces are a great example of people from all sorts of career fields working in a shared space, often stumbling into new ideas and creative endeavors. When I was younger, I loved Taye Diggs (I mean, come on), but disliked Benny. He was the villain, he was the living embodiment of Allison's comment from The Breakfast Club "when you grow up your heart dies." I still don't love Benny, but the original idea that Benny and his former roommate had, is now the norm. I have to wonder if Jonathan Larson was writing this show today, what would be the CyberArts of today? What would be the thing that took the heart out of art and creativity and innovation and revolution? I don't know, but I've been thinking about this all week, while humming random songs from the soundtrack.

And that's what makes watching the "live" production valuable. In addition to having an opportunity to watch a show about love, diversity, inclusion, community, and creativity on broadcast tv during prime time, I revisited one of the formative artistic creations of my youth and am thinking about it in a different way. At 17, I wasn't a fully formed human yet, and I had no idea what I'd be or do in my life. I'm not sure I'm fully formed human at 39, but I do know who I am and what I value. Listening to RENT makes me realize a lot of those things can be found in the songs and characters of this show. And that, is the power of art.

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You can't stop the beat

Hairspray is my favorite John Waters movie. I don't recall the first time I saw it but I remember loving every thing about it. It was my John Waters gateway movie; after Hairspray, I went back and watched all the earlier films and have been a fan ever since. Released in 1988, Hairspray told the story of Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) a "pleasantly plump" teen in 1962 Baltimore. She dreams of being on a local dance show, The Corny Collins Show, and going steady with the dreamy Link. Her mother, Edna (played by the divine Divine), is basically an agoraphobic who takes in laundry and scolds Tracy for having ratted hair. Running along side this plot is a focus on segregation in the 1960s; the Corny Collins Show show is segregated and Tracy makes it her mission to integrate it. All sorts of famous faces make appearances (Debbie Harry, Pia Zadora, Rik Ocasek, Sonny Bono, Jerry Stiller, and Ruth Brown) and Waters's regulars Mink Stole and Alan J. Wendl round out the cast. Fun fact: Vitamin C plays Amber, Tracy's rival (she's billed under her real name, Colleen Fitzpatrick).

The original film is campy and charming all at the same time. I'm pretty certain that Divine was the first drag performer I consciously recognized as a drag performer. There is something magical about her as Edna; I don't know if it's the Baltimore accent, her sort of soft gruffness, or the fact that she owned every scene she's in (both in and out of drag). There are certain lines that pop into my head in Divine's voice all the time: "Could you turn that racket down? I'm trying to iron in here." or "It's the times. They are a-changin'." Divine is my favorite part of the movie followed closely by Sonny Bono and Debbie Harry as the von Tussles. I believe I learned how to Madison by watching this movie; this is a skill I no longer have and it would never, ever have been useful since I was not alive in 1962.

I was cautiously optimistic when I heard that Hairspray was being made into a Broadway musical. John Waters had given his blessing so I knew it would be safe from what happens when musicals are made from other source materials. And let me tell you, it's a wonderful show. It's fun and joyful and touching and relatable. The music and songs are some of my favorite from more modern musicals; they fit into the show as well as the time period being portrayed. Every now and then, "You Can't Stop the Beat" pops into my head for no reason and refuses to leave...in a totally good way. The musical was nominated for 12 Tonys, winning 8 awards.

The musical was eventually turned into another film starring Nikki Blonksy as Tracy and John Travolta as Edna. It's not my favorite of the versions of Hairspray but it features some amazing performances by Blonsky, Queen Latifah as Motormouth Mabel, James Marsden as Corny Collins, and Elijah Kelley as Seaweed. James Marsden is probably my favorite part of the movie; he captures the wholesomeness and inappropriateness needed to play Corny Collins. I hoped at some point during this season of Westworld, Teddy would break into "Nicest Kids in Town" with the rest of the hosts. That would have made my life. My biggest complaint with the film was Travolta; I thought he was terrible. Harvey Fierstein, who played Edna on Broadway, should have been cast. Thankfully, the recent broadcast of Hairspray Live! rectified this situation; all of America (or at least the parts that watch live musicals on NBC) got to see Fierstein slay the role of Edna as Divine and God intended. I watched the broadcast earlier this week; Fierstein was one of the highlights along with an adorably awkward Ariana Grande as Penny, Martin Short, and Jennifer Hudson showing us all what it means to really live in a song.

Hairspray is about a lot of things but at its heart it's about diversity and acceptance. Tracy Turnblad was about body positivity before it was a thing. As Tracy exclaims in the original movie, "Now all of Baltimore will know... I'm big, blonde and beautiful!"(which is an amazing song in the musical). She didn't think being "pleasantly plump" as a problem; it made her unique and who she was. It didn't change the fact that she was a bad ass dancer or stood up for her friends and what was right (integrating the dance show). She got to dance with the cute boy. She wore dresses that made her feel special and pretty. She used her voice when others around her could not.

It's also about the message of inclusion and accepting diversity as part of the fabric of life. The 1960s were a tumultuous time in our history and Baltimore, like other cities, was front and center in the Civil Rights movement. When you first start to watch any of the versions of Hairspray, you think you're just getting a fluffy teen dance show movie/musical but it's really social commentary. Waters's movies always focus on outsiders and Hairspray captures that in a way that I don't think I thought much about when I was younger but now seems even more important. Listen to the song "I Know Where I've Been" - yes, Jennifer Hudson killed it on Wednesday but I love Queen Latifah in the movie so much that I'm using her version instead:

The lyrics resonate as much today as they would have in 1962. I couldn't help but think about recent protests as I watched the live broadcast on Wednesday. The signs might look different (maybe not entirely) but the sentiment is the same. As I wrote back in November, we have a lot of work to do in this country. We can sit by and let hate and fear take over or we can be like Tracy and her friends and stand up for what's right. Or maybe you prefer to dance for what's right; that's cool with me. I'll be over here pretending I remember how to Madison and singing along with "You Can't Stop the Beat."