Do I wake or sleep?

Holy crap, this is some funny, funny stuff.

"Goodbye Love" as performed by the Sims

So, Jason, Tesse (and a bunch of her friends) and I met at the Ziegfeld last night for the premiere of Rent. I got there a little before 11:00 and we discussed about going in, who was getting which ticket (I had an extra which we were going to try to save for Paula but in the end she wasn't able to meet us), blah blah blah and in the end we were all in the theater. Which is HUGE. I've never been in the Ziegfeld before--it's very big, with a nice old elegant interior. I would have loved to have seen a Star Wars movie there. The room hummed with excitement; a lot of people, like us, were sitting up/standing and chattering away. So many cute younger people there, who were just thrilled to be seeing the movie. I loved the energy; I wanted to hug those kids. Eventually they dimmed the lights to start the previews and a group of people entered the theater. An enormous collective scream of excitement arose, and we realized who had just come in--the cast. I saw Anthony Rapp's blonde thatch of hair myself. Yes, folks, we saw Rent at the Ziegfeld with the cast of Rent. I died. I was actually surprised at how calm the audience was--people were screaming but they didn't storm their seats. I would've liked to have said hi to Tracie but we were at the other end of the orchestra--extreme house right, and they were on the left, so I figured it would be too much hassle.

The movie started and the audience cheered for almost everything--names rolling in the credits (especially Jonathon Larson's), most of the numbers (one exception was Angel's funeral and the "I'll Cover You" reprise--you could hear sobbing and nobody clapped until about ten seconds into the next scene when there was some quiet applause). Now, normally at movies you don't clap because clapping is for a live performance, to show appreciation to the performer. Even at things like Star Wars premieres, you clap because you're excited but it's not a form of feedback per se, because George Lucas and the actors don't know you're there. But last night--the actors were there! They could hear us clapping! I just thought that was awesome--they knew right away how much we loved it.

Seeing it for the second time, I can think of things I would've done differently. I would've ended the number Rent differently--the police would've broken up that firestorm. I would've kept "Another Day" in the apartment, and I would've expanded "Will I Lose My Dignity?" to the rest of the neighborhood. Most importantly I would've kept a lot of the recitative. I just think it sounds better--it gets you into that other world immediately.

Rosario gives such a good performance in this. She really commands your attention, and she's so pretty. And Adam Pascal is HAWT with the loose long hair.

When we left, one of Tesse's friends said something along the lines of "you guys are too attached to the show and can't really evaluate it but that movie is bad." I gave her this annoyed sidelong glance, not wanting to get into a discussion about it. I don't want to know her name because I'll probably meet her at a party and she'll turn out to be perfectly nice, but the tone of that remark really irritated me. If you don't like it, fine, let's discuss, but your opinion is no more or less valid than anyone else's. Her tone was like "you poor benighted souls, I am here to take the blinders off your eyes," very condescending. It reminded me of why I don't post on "All That Chat"--there's a similar, can't-wait-to-prove-how-snidely-clever-I-am attitude there that really turns me off. One poster there sniped how silly it was that Roger and Mark throw their only source of heat out the window (in the opening number, as do the other denizens of Alphabet City, when Benny drives up). I have to say, if you don't get why Roger and Mark feel the need to make that statement at that time, you just...don't get it, and you probably should stay away from any movie that celebrates emotion over intellect. I do think there are flaws in the movie, but I love its message, and generally I think it's well-shot and the performances are fantastic.

(BTW, I had a great conversation with another one of Tesse's friends, the one who writes the Dry2Olives website. We talked about Sweet Charity and In My Life.)

I read this today (although it was posted a couple of days ago):

I interned at a major studio recently and I actually read a script for a film version of RENT. I'm not a huge RENT fan, but even I was offended at this incarnation.

The script began when April was still alive and Mark & Maureen were still together. Roger sang "Rent" with his band at a club and they pulled Mark up on stage, so he was singing, too. None of the songs were written as typical musical songs. Some of the songs were in there, but they were performed differently. "La Vie Boheme" wasn't even sung by the main cast. It was sung by a random band at a bar. And "Light My Candle" was spoken. The lyrics became lines. It was ludicrous.

ANYWAY, after seeing that version I don't think that Chris Columbus can screw it up as much as that version that I read.

Interesting. Chris Columbus? Doesn't seem the type.

What a great past 12 hours or so!

First, I hurried home last night from work, because I wanted to get to an Office Depot that closes at 9:00. (Let's just sit and ponder that, Manhattanites--a store that actually accommodates the 9-5er.) I get into my apartment and am greeted with the beautiful sight of my air conditioner ensconced in one of the living room windows, humming away merrily. Yay! We have cool-off! Now that corner is CLEAN and not all CLUTTERED. It looks great. My window unit is small too so I can still see out the window.

Happily I ran out the door again over to Office Depot, to purchase a plastic filing box so I can file headshots and other career stuff. On my way back to my apartment I passed a long line formed outside the new Coldstone Creamery on 42nd Street. Temptation beckoned and I joined the line. Coldstone's big thing is their fold-ins--they have a dizzying array of yummy items (M&Ms, gummi bears, Oreos, Butterfingers, peanut butter, fruit...) that are folded into the ice cream and mixed in. I got Sweet Cream mixed with Butterfingers and Oreos. Yummy. I love chunky ice cream.

Got back and was able to file the the headshots and career stuff under my computer, so now my desk is NEAT. And then I finished the manuscript for Carol, so I can send that off today.

But the best thing: Yesterday my realty office called--one of my two big checks that I wrote to them when I signed my lease (either first month's rent or security deposit) was lost by their bank. So I had to write another check, and I mentioned I still hadn't gotten my security deposit back from the old apartment. I stopped by today to write a new check and pick up the security deposit. I was expecting one month's rent which, when I moved out, was around $850. I was a little worried I might not get all of it back, because of picture hanging, etc. I looked at the check after I left the office--it's more than twice as much. It's HUGE! I guess they deposited it and it collected interest but frankly, I have little faith any landlord would do that. And that's a heck of a rate of return, especially with these interest rates!

Money! Auugh! Money!