Garbage and City Lights: The Epic 2-Day RENT Spectacularness.

I love this show, in case anyone was wondering or confused, and I love Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. When I saw the show last March, knowing that it was closing in a few months, I didn't think I would have the opportunity to see it ever again. It felt like the last time. Then they announced the tour and it had a stop in Rochester, so I got a ticket with Jamie for Wednesday. My friend Lauren Abelow wanted to go, and told me they were doing discount night on Tuesday, and Balcony tickets were only $17, and I really couldn't turn that down, so I ended up going two nights in a row. And I'm so thankful for that. In fact, Lauren and I are thinking of going back once more this weekend. She wants to see it again, as do I, and I also want to see my friend who lives in Rochester but is going to the show on every night that I am not. I want to take advantage of this show while some incarceration of it is near me. It's playing in Boston in July. I WILL go then, so I know last night wasn't the last time or anything, but frankly, with the exception of Bruce Springsteen, there is not a single piece of pop culture that I love more than this show, and I still want to see it as much as possible. I thought it would still be there when I got to New York. I thought Spring Awakening would be, also.

I really can't even describe how much this show means to me. I've learned so much from it, and there isn't a song or line that I don't relate to on a personal level, and the last two nights, some of them hit me kind of hard due to recent events that I won't go into. I honestly do not think I would be the person I am now if Keith hadn't forced me to go see the movie with him on December 5th, 2005 (yes, I remember the date- it was a life-changing event). It truly brought me out of one the deepest depressions I've ever been in and made me feel alive again. And then a few months later, Anthony Rapp published his book about his mother dying of cancer, and it was probably the most touching book I've ever read, and also helped a lot with what I was going through at the time.

Anthony and Adam have always been my favorite cast members, but they left the show in the late 1990s-way before I got into it. I remember thinking that I would have given anything to see them in those roles. And then by some stroke of divine fortune, they came back to reprise their role for 6 weeks in the summer of 2007. I went to go see them, and it was the first time I had actually seen the show, and it was one of the best days of my life (thanks again, Keena). I felt so fortunate that I had the opportunity to see them once, never imagining that by the time my RENT experience ends, I'll have seen them probably at least 6 times, and met both of them.

It may seem like Spring Awakening is my favorite show. I love them both. I've had a much deeper involvement with Spring, seeing every incarceration of the cast, meeting almost every cast member who has ever performed at the Eugene O'Neill, seeing the closing show. I came into the RENT fanbase too late. By the time I really got into it, RENT was celebrating it's tenth year on Broadway. I missed too much. I'm much more involved in the Spring Awakening fanbase, but I identify with RENT on a level that I don't identify with Spring Awakening on. Spring Awakening improved my life, RENT changed it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had a fantastic time in Rochester. Anthony and Adam were nothing but sweet at the stage door, I love every member of the cast (I mean, it's pretty much an all-star tour with some newbies thrown in, and I've seen a number of them before), I love everything about the show. The stage door was fun. I don't have any pictures to share, as those divas won't take pictures with their fans :-) I totally understand that. There's so many people there that it would take hours, and I totally appreciate the fact that they even come out and sign autographs in the first place. I'm not one of those people who believes that performers are obligated to stage door. I don't think they're entitled to sign autographs because fans pay their salary. They get paid to put on a good show, and that's all. What happens after is entirely up to them. But anyway, I really appreciate that they both came out and signed autographs, and I got this kick-ass autographed window card out of it.