Rent Live-ish, Maisel season two & Waitress
Ever since Fox's production of Rent was announced, my family of musical theater lovers was nervously awaiting its arrival. Once the cast was announced in October, the excitement started to build and I began to anticipate the Sunday evening event for weeks. While some are counting down to Sunday's Super Bowl, I was counting down to the guitar-tuning strums that indicate the start of Rent. On Sunday night, my family group text was exploding and all of us ended up in an hour-long pre-Rent phone session, where we discussed our fears and hopes for the production. In the hour leading up to the show, after it was announced that Brennin Hunt (playing Roger) had broken his foot towards the end of the dress rehearsal the night before, we hypothesized about what Fox was going to do now that they were down a leading cast member, with no understudies planned. We joked that Adam Pascal would have to don the iconic plaid pants once again to save the day. We talked about how Grease live had included pre-recorded portions and we didn't even notice. We discussed whether or not a dress rehearsal recording would capture the magic of a live production. The texts were peppered with Rent movie gifs and reluctant excitement from my dad. And on January 27, 8 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, the show was on.
For the next three hours, I sat spellbound by the TV, while also texting my family, talking with friends and checking Twitter for everyone else's thoughts as well. Musicals are magical. And there's something extra special about Rent, which is unique, raw and unpolished in the best possible way, with a strong following among theater-lovers everywhere. In many ways, Rent is sacred text. The show's creator, Jonathan Larson, died suddenly the day that Rent was supposed to have its first Off Broadway preview performance. While most shows go through edits, song changes and rewrites during the preview process, Rent stayed as it was, a tribute to Jonathan Larson's legacy and powerful message of love. Adaptations tend to stick pretty close the original production. The movie version made a number of changes in order to rework the show for the big screen, eliminating songs and adding in dialogue. I was relieved to hear that Fox would be moving forward with the stage version of the show, albeit with edits made to clean up some of the show's language. When I saw Rent during last year's touring production, I left the theater in tears, incredibly moved by the show's closing moments (even though I knew exactly what was coming) and full of energy. TV adaptations of musicals can sometimes stifle that energy, but that was not the case with Fox's Rent. Despite the fact that almost the entire production was the pre-recorded dress rehearsal (due to Brennin's injury), the concert-like, theater-in-a-round-style staging, the live audience cheering along, the relatively young (and super talented) cast and inventive choreography gave this production of Rent a fresh spark. It was electric, and I loved all of it. The cast was incredible. From Jordan Fisher's smoother, yet still awkward, Mark to Brennin's (who has no acting experience!) take on the angsty Roger to Vanessa Hudgen's dramatically hilarious Maureen to Tinashe's bold and vulnerable Mimi to Kiersey Clemons' confident Joanne to Valentina's loving Angel to Brandon Victor Dixon's caring Collins (his I'll Cover You reprise was incredibly moving) and Mario's pompous Benny. Performers like Vanessa, Jordan and Brandon, with previous TV musical experience, were standouts of course, but the newcomers were equally impressive, especially Brennin and Tinashe, as they continuously have to switch from loving to emotionally unavailable on a scene-by-scene basis. The Broadway production's original cast came out to sing with their counterparts for a final verse of Seasons of Love, and Jonathan Larson quotes were sprinkled throughout the broadcast, reminding new and old viewers alike about the show's roots. While other reviews were mixed (mine clearly isn't), Rent should be celebrated for standing in a category that is unique from other TV productions. Broadway.com's Editor in Chief, Paul Wontorek, tweeted "Has anyone considered Rent didn't triumph on Fox cause it's the most subversive musical about queer love, AIDS, drugs, gentrification, protest, stripping, rock n roll, gay bashing, fear, death, loneliness, etc. that any network has dared to air? Critique it for sure, but cheer it too."
I've seen some reviews asking how people are supposed to "measure" a version of the show that was never supposed to be seen. I'm going to take a page out of Rent's book and measure it in love, and what I saw on TV on Sunday was an outpouring of love and passion for the show's message of acceptance, living life to the fullest and the value of embracing new and old friends. The cast of Rent was so eager to put on a show that they ended up performing a concert-version of the production for those in attendance for what was supposed to be the live filming. Watching some of the concert-version songs that Fox (and Twitter) released, it's clear that the cast was just as excited to be performing in Rent, as the theater-loving audience was to be watching. As my family got on a phone call conference line to debrief after the musical concluded, we excitedly chattered about how impressed we'd been with the production and how well it honored the legacy of the show. I felt a post-show adrenaline rush that is usually only reserved for live productions, and I felt filled with love.
Bonus Pick: If you're interested in reading more about Rent's journey to the small screen, you can check out the Hollywood Reporter article, which gives some background into Julie Larson (sister of Jonathan Larson) and the reason she felt now was the right time to move forward with a TV adaptation.
As Seen on Screen
Last year, I raved about the first season of Amy Sherman-Palladino's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which has since gone on to dominate the awards circuit in a number of categories. It's a much-deserved triumph for Amy Sherman-Palladino, who never received such recognition for Gilmore Girls (never forget). Season two of Maisel was released in December, and thanks to the urging of my boyfriend, we dragged out our viewing of the episodes over the course of about six weeks in order to savor the series. Season two is (dare I say it) even sharper and funnier than the first and allows audiences to really dig into each character of the series. This means we spend more time with Midge's parents, played by the delightful and supremely talented Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle, and attempt a redemption arc for Michael Zegen's Joel. Without giving any spoilers away, I won't say whether or not that arc is successful by the time we get to the semi-cliffhanger ending of season two. We also get some fresh character pairings, including Susie with Midge's family (in a particularly hilarious scene that had me laughing out loud), Abe and Joel, Susie and Sophie Lennon and Benjamin (Midge's new beau) and Joel. One of my favorite parts of the second season is the development of Susie and Midge's relationship, which blossoms into both a stronger friendship and a more fraught client-manager one, as they grapple with their very different personalities and backgrounds. In a couple particularly good scenes, Susie calls Midge out for the safety net and privilege that allows Midge to make decisions that don't always result in more gigs or more money, something that Susie depends upon to survive. These two get into all sorts of shenanigans on their delightful east coast comedy tour, in the mountains of the Catskills and of course at The Gaslight. Speaking of location changes, Maisel truly steps up the visual game this time around, filming on location in Paris and upstate New York (with the fashion and hats to go with each trip) with some truly stunning shots that are permanently etched in my brain (unpacking their luggage in the summer home! dancers on the street in Paris! Midge walking alone after a heartbreaking phone call!). And speaking of Midge, while it's true that she sometimes takes a more reactive role in the early part of the season, she comes around in the end, taking ownership of her decisions and what she wants. I'm excited for season three, when she can finally embrace her comedy life without any doubts.
Haven't You Heard?
Last spring, I wrote about seeing the touring company of Waitress. When I found out Sara Bareilles (who wrote the music and lyrics for the show) would be coming back to the production for a month-long stint as Jenna, I decided I must see it again. And when it was announced that Gavin Creel was joining her? It was a no-brainer. Sara Bareilles has long been one of my favorite singers, and I had the pleasure of seeing her live once in college, where she put on a truly memorable show (she sang a beautiful Elton John cover and swore in many between-song anecdotes). I've been a Gavin Creel fan since I saw him in Eloise at Christmastime for the first time many, many years ago, and I met him at a stage door in NYC a few years back. When I asked if we could take a picture, he enthusiastically said yes, gave a gallant smile, grabbed my phone, put a filter on it and took a selfie of both of us. Seeing these two together on a Saturday night on Broadway was so much fun. Obviously Sara can sing, but her acting was equally superb, and Gavin brought a newfound humor and care to the role of Dr. Pomatter, who is pretty underdeveloped in the show's book, making me root for his happiness, as well as Jenna's. We also had the pleasure of seeing Christopher Fitzgerald, who originated the role of Ogie in the musical's original production and is featured on the soundtrack. He had the whole audience in fits of laughter throughout the show, as well as some of the cast members. If you still haven't seen Waitress, grab a slice of pie and head on over!
Bonus Pick: I love when people I see in productions together are friends in real life and that turns out to be the case for Sara Bareilles and Gavin Creel. Check out this cute interview with both of them, where they talk about their mutual love for each other and an impromptu trip to Hawaii.
Required Reading
After another crop of male directors dominated the The Academy Awards nominations and the overall number of female-directed movies in 2018 declined, the women (and hopefully their male allies) of Hollywood have decided to take matters into their own hands. As part of the next wave of the Time'sUp Initiative, Dr. Stacy L. Smith announced the Time'sUp 4% Director Challenge urging people in Hollywood to make a "commitment to work with a female director within 18 months to increase the number of female directors in the 1200 top grossing films which has been sitting at 4% since 2007." I'm excited at the possibilities of this initiative, as stars including Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Paul Feig, Franklin Leonard, Amy Schumer and many more have already voiced their support, and I can't wait to see the amazing films that blossom out of these opportunities. After hearing about The Farewell and Late Night's Sundance premieres, I'm itching for these female-directed flicks to come out right this minute. Fortunately, there are already a number of female-directed films already scheduled for 2019 theatrical releases, including Captain Marvel (directed by co-directed by Anna Boden), Miss Bala (directed by Catherine Hardwicke), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (directed by Marielle Heller), Little Women (directed by Greta Gerwig), The Kitchen (directed by Andrea Berloff) and more.
