No Day But Today

Have I mentioned that I have a great flatmate?  =D

For my birthday, Kenny got me a fabulous gift:  tickets for us to go see a local production of RENT!  It wasn't until June, so I had a good amount of time to look forward to it.  Finally, the night arrived...

I got all dressed up (well, a wee bit dressed up, anyway) and we walked down to the Arts Centre, enjoying the warm summer evening.  We had seats in the third row, and settled in.  I was so excited, almost as much because Kenny had never seen RENT before.  I hoped he'd like it.  He did.  =)

It was an amateur show, with a cast of kids who looked like early twenties uni students.  There were some issues with the sound (we couldn't hear Roger during most of the opening two songs), and there were some issues with the singing (some of the cast were, um, not the best). But it is a great show, and it made me happy to see it on stage again. 

If you want to know the details, here they are.  If not, feel free to skip my critique.  Mark was a fine singer, but a terrible actor.  Both Roger and Mimi were quite good, and the only characters that didn't feel like amateur attempts.  Joanne was so-so;  Maureen had the proper spirit but wasn't a great singer.  Angel was pretty good, although a wee bit too much over-the-top, I thought.  Collins was not great, which was disappointing to me, as he's one of my favourite characters.  Benny was fairly bad, actually, both acting and singing.  And most of the background characters (who double as several different people throughout) ranged from pretty good to cringe-worthy.  But they all were obviously having fun.  The weirdest thing to me was that every single cast member was white.  Not just white, but really white.  Somehow, it just doesn't quite work as well that way.  It was quite distracting to me, honestly.  Overall, though, I really did enjoy getting to see it, and see it with Kenny. 

After the show, we headed out to Thistle Street to find the elusive Baskin-Robbins.  We finally did find it, parked the car, and started walking back to the store.  When we'd driven by looking for parking, all the lights were on and people were purchasing goodies.  By the time we parked and walked half way back to it, the sign light went off.  The door got locked.  We were out of luck.  It was quite disappointing, really.  I mean, we were right there!  Next time, I guess. 

If you aren't familiar with RENT, I want to highly encourage you to check it out.  In 2005 they made a very good film adaptation of it, featuring most of the original Broadway cast.  Be warned, though:  it is a bit risque at times, many of the characters in it are homosexual, and it deals with other difficult issues such as drug use, AIDS, and homelessness.  It is, all in all, one of my favourite musicals.  The cast, the score, the lyrics, the staging, the issues-- it's brilliant.  It makes me laugh and cry and love. It reminds me that family isn't just biological, and that every moment matters.  It inspires me to be fully in the moment, to be fully in community, to be fully all that I am created by God to be.  It is amazing, and I hope you will watch it, if you haven't already.  I'd love to hear what you think about it. 

Thanks, Kenny, for such a great birthday gift!  You know me so well, and are such an insightful gift-giver.  I am blessed to have you for a flatmate!