RENT

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Yeah, I never met her but you (and I've actually heard from alot of other people) say she's really sweet, so I hope she'll reply

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Oh yeah, did anyone actually ever see the OBC in this? I would have LOVED to! I've seen Adam Pascal in AIDA, and really liked that, and -of course- Idina in Wicked! They're both excellent performers, and I'm so happy that I'm going to get to see them in the movie!

[ElphabaGlinda]

OOO!! i saw Adam in Aida when he came back before it closed!!

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Omg, same!!! I saw it on the 2nd of sept., I think... And I was in the 2nd row of orchestra, and was about TWO FEET away from him!!! Oh, alright, about 10 feet, but whatever. And during the finale, he was looking like right at me! Well, I later found out his agent was right in front of me, so thats probably who he was looking at, but hey a girl can dream... Oh, btw, I just heard that Kelly is leaving in March!!! I'm so MAD, I REALLY hope that that is either false information, or I get to see her again before she leaves!

[ElphabaGlinda]

omg! that better be false!!

[GoodWitchGlinda]

I know! 'Cause when I was reading it, it was from a new Kelly K. fanbase (lets just say we are not alone...lol) and they are all planning to go the night she leaves. They were saying it may be sometime in March, but it hadn't been confirmed...

[ElphabaGlinda]

whats the site? i would love to know!

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Its not a site so much as a LiveJournal thing. If you go to www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=maureen+johnson there are a bunch of links, one of which goes to Kelly Karbacz discussion kinda center. Thats where I read lotsa ppl's posts and found out the rumor that she may be leaving in March

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Theres also some other intresting stuff there, if ur intrested

[GoodWitchGlinda]

oh, yea, i forgot to ask, had u seen rent b4 u saw it jan 1st?

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Hey, sorry I'm posting so much, but I just found this very cool piece of news about RENT the movie from none other than Anthony Rapp (btw, this is from his interview on http://www.broadwayworld.com):
Hi all --

What an amazing night last night... The only unfulfilled aspect of last night's festivities was the fact that Idina and Taye weren't there too. They were certainly missed.

But we read through and sang through the whole film, for Chris and all of his department heads; the Larsons (including Matthew and Dylan McCollum, Julie Larson's sons, who were *very young* the last time I saw them and are now well on their way to being all grown up!); and six of Jonathan's closest friends, who made the journey out to San Fran especially for the event. Tim Weil played piano and I narrated the important bits of stage directions, and we all poured our hearts into it. Wow, does it move like lightning. The show always has had an incredible forward momentum, and it looks like the film will have that as well. The dancers we have been rehearsing with were all there as well, and after the reading they were all saying how much they were bawling their eyes out. I think they didn't really *know* how powerful this story is, how truly amazing the music is. It was wonderful to get to share that with them, since they will also be in the film, and are now even closer to its heart.

After the reading, we had the peasant feast, which as most of you probably know is a continuation of a tradition that Jonathan started for his friends back in NYC. He would cook a turkey and they would bring side dishes and share a holiday feast that they were all too poor to have on their own. In 1995, Jonathan held his last peasant feast, but instead of inviting his friends, he invited the cast and artistic staff of the Off-Broadway production of Rent, because he wanted all of us to know our job was to embody his friends, to honor them, and he wanted all of us to begin our road to lifelong friendship. It was a very special night, and after his death, his family took it upon themselves to continue the tradition for all of the future companies of Rent that they could get to. They have literally held them around the country, and around the world.

And at the feast, in addition to some delicious food, each of Jonathan's six friends shared some memories of Jonathan, in an effort to bring him even that much more present. It was very moving to watch them struggle at times to get through their own tears as they talked about how special he was in their lives, about how much they had seen him fight to get his work out there in the world, about how much he did try to live each day to the fullest. His friend Eddie Rosenstein talked about their fellow obsession with numbers, especially the numbers three and nine, and how perfect they were: three is the emobodiment of the building blocks of the universe (beginning, middle, and end; proton, neutron, electron, etc.), and nine is the embodiment of rebirth (it's "three on steroids," as Eddie said, and the length of human gestation, etc.). Then he fought back tears as he remarked that wasn't it perfect that this film was starting almost exactly nine years to the day of Jonathan's death, given Jonathan's interest in such cosmic notions?

At the end of the night, we got to watch a little bit of video of Jonathan performing songs from his one-man version of Tick, Tick... Boom! It never ceases to amaze me how full of life and anger and joy and talent he was, and it was right up there on the screen for us to see. He sang Johnny Can't Decide, Sunday Brunch, and Why, and as usual I was pretty much destroyed by the end of Why. It is such a cruel irony that he was gone right at the cusp of his life changing forever, after he gave so much of his life to his work. But his legacy will certainly live forever in people's hearts and memories, and now with the film, we have the opportunity to make it last longer, in an even more tangible way. We only get to do the film once, and Chris said to the Larsons that he promises to make a great film, and I am certain that he wouldn't make such a pledge if he didn't mean it.

Believe me when I tell you that most films would never in a million years organize a night like last night for its cast and crew. It might happen in a theatre production, but the film world tends to be a less close-knit community, a lot more transient and work-for-hire, in my experience, usually lacking a larger context for everyone to get wrapped up in while they're working. But Rent seems to work its magic wherever it enters people's lives. That is really a testament to Jonathan Larson, and to how he went about his life. He really intended to write a piece of theatre that would change people's lives, and therefore the world, and his show has done just that, again and again and again. Now we get the opportunity to have his show do that for a lot more people.

I'll get to everyone's recent questions in another post. I just wanted to share all of that with you.

Take care --
Anthony

[steamedartichoke131]

i havent seen Rent, can anyone tell me what its about??

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Sure, I'll PM you

[GoodWitchGlinda]

Omg, they arent' begininng to film RENT until mid-spring!!!! I know this is a stupid question, but did anyone else think it was going to start filming sooner than that? I know its coming out November 11th, which (if u think about it) is not TOO far away (well, yes it is. That's wishful thinking) and u would think it would take longer then about 1/2 a year to get it into theatres...Sorry, random though

[ElphabaGlinda]

only 282 days till the RENT movie comes out... wow im really obsessed