#10: We’re Not Gonna Pay

I’m long belated and a little out of order, but I think that’s alright, because adventure #10 was all about breaking the rules and sticking it to the man.

Musical theatrically, that is.

As part of adventure #7: Win Week (which I’m still working on), I boldly retweeted for a chance to win two tickets to the Boston Conservatory production of RENT.  A few hours later, the seats were mine.  I polled the adventuring masses; that night, Rebecca and I headed to South Boston for the show.

I’d never seen a production of RENT, although I was very familiar.  I tend to like theater lovers, and theater lovers tend to like belting choice ballads at the top of their lungs several times a road trip.  I love my friends unconditionally, but I had no such standing agreement with the songs: they were cows and seasons of love and restaurants in Santa Fe that I couldn’t quite parse.  Without any real RENT experience of my own, I only knew the images which were iconic to the point of parody.

I did see those images in the Boston Conservatory production, but I also know enough about the show to know that they made it their own.  I wasn’t just impressed–I finally got why my friends always turned those songs up when they came on shuffle.  The acting was great, the casting different enough to keep me on my toes, and because the venue was such a huge, open industrial space the whole shebang seemed organic there.  I also don’t think I would have discovered that theater if not for winning the tickets.  It was all kinds of a learning experience.

Advertisement