sometimes it really sucks being a chosen person. that is, it sucks to live on the one block in park slope that seems to repeatedly suffer from blackouts while the electricity is blaring not fifty yards away (that was my estimation of the distance of a block, i am very bad at estimating distances so please don't point out how wrong it is). anyway, i don't have any more to say about that, except that it makes me want to throw my self on the floor and throw a tantrum, shouting "it's not fair! it's not fair!"
i wanted to talk about this new musical i saw at the vineyard a few days ago, called [title of show]. it's a show about two guys writing a musical for a festival, who decide to make the show about making a show. they're all playing themselves, and have lines like "i didn't say anything because i didn't have a line until now." yes, it's very meta, and when i first started watching, i felt like it was just too in keeping with the current trend of such irony and meta-awareness, and that like most hipsterish things, it would sacrifice the chance of having any heart. but as it went on, it definitely did have a core, and actually a surprisingly sentimental one at that. the closest comparison i can make is to Jonathon Larson's (composer/lyricist of Rent) first musical, Tick...Tick... Boom! [title of show]'s inspiring message is to take action and create what you want, and not to let your vision be tarnished by critics (called "vampires" in the show). As I was watching this, I was struck with the way that the message of this show differs from another popular musical about 20-somethings, Avenue Q. Where [title of show] tells you that everyone has an artistic message to get out, Avenue Q says that most people are sort of muddling their way through life without a clear idea of what they want to do. I'm not sure which side I support. personally, i guess, i fall somewhere between the two. i've never displayed any sort of talent in anything artistic, but i've also never been one of those people who wanders around feeling purposeless and wondering what i'm here for. but i don't know about other people. do the people who left Avenue Q feeling consoled walk out of [title of show] ready to hang themselves? And do [title of show] fans storm out of Avenue Q in anger that the vampires are telling people not to find their purpose? i wonder, and yet i feel like most people, with the exception of extremes of radiantly passionate artists and lackluster layabouts, probably leave each convinced that the playwrights knew exactly what their fears and insecurities were, and feeling relieved and inspired, respectively. and both are things we need to feel, sometimes. anyway Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along lets us know what's in store once we're through with our tumultuous twenties. regardless of whether we're inspired or not, we will all end up sell-out alcoholics. ah well, enjoy the good times while you can.