No day but today

Last night, Puppy treated me to a viewing of Rent, featuring the Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp in the roles they originated on Broadway and reprised in the recent movie. I'd only seen Rent live once, probably nearly 10 years ago in DC, but I'm intimately familiar with the music from hearing it throughout my college dorm experience and from the movie, which I really enjoyed (I think I may have been one of a dozen who enjoyed it!).

It was interesting to see this show so soon after seeing Wicked again, and it reminded me what an excellent, engaging show can be like. Rent is really a far superior show, with well-written lyrics and very hummable music.

It really is a much better show to see live and made me realize that the movie doesn't even come close to capturing the energy and urgency of the live production. And the audience was very excited for the show. There were tons of kids who clapped along to the music and cheered loudly (and annoyingly) and there were many audience members of an older generation who probably experienced firsthand the sense of loss, love and life depicted in the show. I'm sure Puppy wasn't the only one in the audience who'd seen the show more than five times!

The two leads, unfortunately, haven't really held up as well. As Roger, Adam Pascal seemed totally robotic. Like he was going through the motions and a bit resentful that he's doing the same show he was known for nearly 15 years ago. Anthony Rapp's Mark was much more alive and his voice seems to have held up better, but the glaring bald spot on the back of his head belied his age. Basically, you have two men pushing 40, straining to act like they're in their early 20s.

Nevertheless, it was a very good show and now I have songs from it in my head!