RENT!

Last night we went to see Rent at the Oriental Theater downtown. We've seen Rent four or five times, but this production was waayyy different: it starred Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp, the original Roger and Mark. One word describes the production: Unbelievable. I can't even begin to describe how last night's performance blows all past performances out of the water. Those two were meant to play those roles.

I first fell in love with Rent in high school. My best friend at the time, Alli, and I would drive around in her Lebaron convertible and sing along to the soundtrack at the top of our lungs. Naturally, that activity was very cool (or at least we thought it was). Since then, Rent has always held a very special place in my heart (and iPod), and I still listen to it, even though I have pretty much worn out disc one of the two disc set.

After the performance, the cast did a little auction to solicit money for an AIDS charity, since living with AIDS is one of the musical's central themes. The item up for bidding was an evening backstage with the cast and crew, getting ready for the show. It ended up going to two different bidders for a total of $5,000. John and I are really working at being fiscally responsible, but had he not been there to hold me accountable, I would definitely have been tempted to put in a bid (especially since they took Visa--aka "free money").