RENT and a brush with fame

Went into NYC last night and met Nelson to go to see RENT on Broadway. Oh my god- the show was so incredible. On the one hand while I’m so bummed that it took me this long to get to see it, on the other hand the timing couldn’t have been any better. First of all, Adam Pascal (Roger) and Anthony Rapp (Mark) from the original broadway cast and from the movie version were back in the broadway show. Seeing them live was so awesome, I mean those boys can SING. Unbelievable. The actor who played Angel was great last night (so good that I didn’t miss the actor from the movie/the originator from the original cast), but I definitely prefered the original/film actors for Tom Collins and Maureen. Although the Tom in last night’s show did a great job with I’ll Cover You (reprise).  Now that I have seen both the movie and the show, the whole story makes a lot more sense- it’s a lot more rounded out. I think that the movie and show really compliment eachother in that each tells a part of the story that the other is missing.

Anyway, the other reason the timing couldn’t have been better was because during intermission, I looked over into the aisle and saw a very familiar face, but I couldn’t place it. After going thru the mental list of who she could be and why I knew her, I realized it was Tracie Thoms! She is the actor who played Joanne in the film version of RENT and she was sitting in the theatre watching the show! Once I realized it was her, I watched her during the second act singing along with the cast and dancing around in her seat and cheering like crazy. It was so fun to watch her sing along with such excitement and enjoyment. At the finale, some of the actors winked or waved at her. A few people asked for her autograph during intermission and she seemed very nice about it. I didn’t want to bother her but on the way out I kinda timed it so we would be exiting together and I told her that I thought she was incredible in the movie and that I loved her singing. And that I have my 8yr old twin boys listening to the RENT movie soundtrack in the car all the time. She seemed to like that and was very friendly and gracious- not to mention young, skinny, and so pretty.

So it was a great, great night. We even walked back to Penn and made it just in time for the train home (which was so packed due to the Jimmy Buffet concert at the Garden so we had to stand all the way home on the local train-yuck). As soon as the show was over, Nelson asked what we were going to see next. Maybe Spring Awakenings? Any suggestions?