Pic(s) Of The Day - 12.01.15 - World AIDS Day

Legacy Community Health-Montrose hosted a community-wide World AIDS Day Candlelight Observance. Several people spoke and names were read of the deceased. Opening and closing the event were cast members of RENT from Theatre Under The Stars' Humphreys School of Musical Theatre.

Pic(s) Of The Day - 09.19.15 - No Day Like TODAY

The Humphreys School of Musical Theatre presented RENT. This was the original version of the show and not the high school version.

I was amazed at the cast. Some of the members really embraced their characters. Part of their character development included hearing people from Legacy Community Health discuss the work they do with HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and education.

. It has been 14 years since I've seen the stage production. If I find an email that I sent to TUTS, I'll update this post. It explains my emotional attachment to show and was written while I was still reeling from the production.

525,600 minutes

We are about to receive a new batch of 525,600 minutes. That is the number of minutes in a year.

2010 has already arrived in Sydney, Australia. I posted a question on Facebook to a friend of mine who lives Down Under and I asked him, "What does 2010 look like?" I haven't received a reply yet.

source: Getty Images

I'm meeting a friend for lunch and will be with friends tonight. And in there will be a couple of walks with The Calvinator and a run to the grocery store. That is how I will spend my last minutes of the 525,600 minutes that were given to me in 2009. What will you be doing?

One of my least favorite holidays of the year...

...is just a few days away. There has always been a build up to New Year's Eve that I have never understood. There have been a few years when I have said, "Bah humbug!" and stayed in and went to bed. There have been years when I have been at parties and left shortly after the stroke of midnight. I think the best time I have ever had was a black tie event put on Bayou City Boys Club at The Warwick. Everyone was dressed up, there was great music, and a wonderful midnight breakfast. Many people that I know were there. Another memorable year was the black-tie dinner in Wayne's backyard in a tent. It was a catered event and a small crowd. With the exception of those two years, I can't say anything else is memorable except for the year that I de-friended someone before the stroke of midnight.

And don't worry, I'll be at a party this NYE with some friends. Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper will have to party on without me in Times Square.

And now that 2009 is about over, how many of you were successful in keeping your resolutions? I stopped making resolutions because I could never keep them.

So yes, I'm in a funk because NYE is just a few days away. And why aren't there any peppy songs about NYE? Just askin'.

525,600 minutes

I realize that as I am posting this we have already lost some of our 525,600 minutes in 2009. Don't worry we're still in the 500 thousands so we still have time to spend in 2009.

A few years ago when I went to NYC during the Christmas season, I was invited to attend a Saturday matinee performance of RENT. According to the friends on the trip, RENT was all the rage that year. It was new and it was the latest thing on Broadway.

I had been really busy with work that year and hadn't paid much attention to what was happening on The Great White Way. So, I said sure. It's a musical. It's on Broadway. Why the hell not?

I fell in love with RENT and have seen it several times since, including the movie. Everytime I hear Seasons of Love, I get a lump in my throat. And once again, here is a good example of performers giving it their all.

Happy New Year everyone!

There's A Little Bit Of Broadway In Everyone

Don't have much time to say much of nothing. I do want to remind you that tonight at 7:00 p.m. (CDT), CBS will be airing The Tony Awards!

Although I have not viewed any of the nominated shows, I will still watch because the awards can help determine which shows get an extended run on Broadway and which shows will also go on tour. Plus, they're doing a tribute to RENT since it is closing in September.

Oh...and La LuPone will probably win for her role in Gypsy. I like her. :-)

Seasons of Love

I was reading Brechi Reborn and he provided a link to Ryanaceto who posted about RENT.

He brings up a good point. RENT was about a period in time. Even if you're not a fan of the musical, how can you not get moved by this song?

The RENT is due

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The award-winning Broadway musical "Rent" will end its 12-year-run in New York this June, according to an announcement on the production's Web site.

The musical, composed by Jonathan Larson, chronicles the struggles of a group of young artists in New York.

"Rent" won a raft of awards following its April 1996 Broadway debut, including a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, four Tony Awards and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.

Larson never lived to see the success of "Rent," dying at age 36 of an undiagnosed heart condition on the eve of its pre-Broadway opening night at the New York Theater Workshop in January 1996.

A spokesman for the production was not immediately available to explain why the show was closing.

Ticket sales for "Rent" had been soft for some time, according to data from the League of American Theaters and Producers. Box office figures showed it was playing to a little over 50 percent capacity in recent weeks.

I first saw RENT on a trip to NYC with P1. I didn't know much about the show but P1 and his friend Big Nick wanted to see a Saturday matinee so sure...why not? While I really liked it and was moved by it, I didn't really start appreciating it until I purchased the Original Cast Recording and listened to it over and over and over. I've seen a stage production of RENT at least 4 times...maybe 5. The movie version wasn't as good as the stage production.

I still get a lump in my throat when I hear Seasons of Love and I'll Cover You -reprise.

RENT has it naysayers and I'm fine with that. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. This blogger will be sad when the RENT is paid and the theatre is vacated.

Did someboday say showtunes?

I found out yesterday that Broadway Across America/Houston is adding two shows this year. They're considered extras.

Mamma Mia! will be in Houston September 25-30. This musical was put together around the songs of ABBA. Str8UpWithATwist first saw this musical in 2002 while on holiday in Sydney. And saw it twice in the same week in 2003. (Can we say addiction?)

The other show that has been added is RENT. Str8UpWithATwist has seen this show 4 times. Twice on Broadway and twice in Houston...as well as the movie. (Can we say addiction?) RENT will be here in the Bayou City Nov. 16-18.

For more information: Broadway Across America

Earlier this week, Towleroad reported that Priscilla, Queen of the Desert may be making its way to Broadway or London's West End.

from Towleroad: "Local critics praised this lavish, $6.5 million spectacle when it opened here last fall. Since then, it's caught on with disco-loving straight women, ages 20-40. They're repeat customers whose enjoyment of the musical increases in direct proportion to the number of 'Priscilla-tails' (cosmopolitans in glow-in-the-dark martini glasses) they consume before, during and after the show. They have one hell of a time. 'Priscilla' is aimed squarely at the 'Mamma Mia!' market, which is about as lucrative as it gets. The ABBA musical has grossed $2 billion around the world. 'Priscilla' ain't in that league yet, but its Australian producers have begun laying the groundwork for London and Broadway. With 23 tons of scenery, 514 costumes and enough glitter to entomb Liberace, a Broadway production could cost as much as $15 million, industry sources estimate."

Riedel notes that the musical, whose Australian production has been troubled by a poor script, would most likely need to be re-written for American audiences.