Stories from an ordinary life

I paid my Rent

Rent is definitely rentable. Joelle and I went to see it and we were thoroughly unimpressed. However, for anyone who has never known and loved the Broadway production, you should see it just to hear the songs and watch the original actors play the characters. They seem to fit into the roles like a second skin. Props to Rosario Dawson and the other new chic (she plays Joanne) for having incredible singing voices, but you could tell they just didn't fit with the rest of the cast, the six originals.

For a really great review, check out one of my favorite blogs by a Hollywood insider, Chad Darnell (he writes about it in his Nov. 23 entry). I agree with most of what he says, except I really disliked Maureen's performance piece. I thought it was really weird. On the stage it was funny and enjoyable. One of the great things Chad rants about is the commitment ceremony between Maureen and Joanne. I thought that totally didn't fit. I mean come on, it's supposed to take place in 1989. People then didn't have commitment ceremonies, their parents were not totally cool with them being gay and they certainly didn't have big parties to celebrate it in nice country clubs.

I guess that's what bugged me most about the movie. It's like Chris Columbus couldn't decide whether to update it or leave it the way it was. When I saw the play it didn't bother me that all the people with HIV were living with the fear of their certain death in a very short period of time. In 2005, that's not the case anymore. People are living fuller, longer lives with HIV these days. Yet instead of letting that just be a part of the story, they kind of hit you over the head with the virus in the movie, like during "La Vie Boheme" when Collins writes "Fight AIDS" on the chalkboard. But none of the characters with HIV bothered to put on coats when they went walking in the freezing cold and snow -- way to take care of yourselves!

Despite all the little things that irritated me, I enjoyed hearing the musical numbers again. The interpretation of "Tango Maureen" was great, and Maureen's movements in "Take Me, Baby" made me really want some pleather pants. And all day I've been singing "Out Tonight."

Ok -- if you couldn't care less about Rent, here's how the rest of my holiday week has gone. Despite my dad's bitchiness I survived a trip home for the holidays. He gave me some big lecture about how blogging is going to get me killed because someone could track me down with the information I've put out in cyber-space. Right. Like there aren't thousands of white 4Runners in Charlotte -- I saw 2 others exactly like mine in the movie theater parking lot!

I managed to do some shopping online to avoid the insane crowds. I still have a few things to get, but I can work on that Mon. and Tues. I really need to get some sleep because today was exhausting at work. I had to catch the website up on all the stories we've been running since early Friday since Mike only worked a few hours in the morning. Now I just have to make it through working Christmas. Woo hoo.

posted by This one time . . . @ 11:25 PM