I found a new home.

I'm pretty sure that if you don't know how I feel about RENT and Spring Awakening, you've either not been reading my blog very closely or living in a cave for the last three or four years. I was devastated when RENT closed, but I told myself I would have Spring Awakening when I moved to the city, and I'd be okay, because I may talk a good game about liking RENT more, but they're pretty equal in my book, and RENT is a little more emotionally draining than SA anyway, and it was harder to get cheap tickets. I prefer rush to lotto. With rush, you are pretty much guaranteed a ticket if you're willing to work for it. Like I wanted to see Next to Normal today, so I dragged my ass out of bed at 5am so I could get there before the line got long. With lotto, it's the luck of the draw, and we all know how my luck is. Anyway, SA had rush, RENT had lotto, so SA would have been more convenient.

But I digress. Anyway, what I'm getting at is that the fact that I would still have Spring Awakening softened the blow of RENT closing. Then a month or six weeks or so after RENT closed, Spring Awakening's producers posted a closing date. Laaaame. Okay, it wasn't actually lame. I was devastated. But I went to the last show, and it was epic, and sometimes I still see Blake Daniel (we have another date next week, haha), so it's okay. Actually, it's really not. My random and not-so random run-ins with cast members and TGOers lately have made me really miss the show, and I've been struggling with it being gone more than I'd ever admit to anyone, even though it's been seven months.

So the moral of the story is that I lost my shows and my homes on 41st and 49th. When you see shows as much as I saw those two, and develop an emotional connection to them, the fanbase, and the cast members, the theater does actually start to feel like home. It becomes familiar and comforting, and when I accidentally walked by the Eugene O'Neill last week for the first time since January(yeah, oops), I hated seeing it without the Spring Awakening signs. So what I needed was a new show and a new home. So here it is...

This is the Booth Theater on 45th St. Right next to Junior's, Dad and Keena, where we ate. Currently, my new show, Next to Normal (not a new show, it's been in workshops since 2005 I think, but it's new to me), is playing there. I went on Thursday night and I LOVED it. I needed to get out of my apartment today, so I did rush, and got a front row, center ticket. Totally different angle on the show, and it's exponentially better from there. The content is really really heavy, and I was pretty much shaking and convulsing by the end of it. Sure, I cried the other night too, but being that close to the actors made it worse.

Next to Normal was nominated for the Tony for Best New Musical. It didn't win (stupid Billy Elliot), but it probably should have. And Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey DID beat ELTON JOHN for Best Score. Alice Ripley, the lead actress, also won.

This is J. Robert Spencer, who is one gorgeous older man. Honestly, and I have friends who will kill me for thinking this, I think his performance is the most powerful in the show. He slayed me tonight. Alice Ripley is a great actress, but Bobby really does me in. He was actually nominated for the Tony for Best Lead Actor in a Musical, but lost to the three kids who play Billy Elliot, which I'm bitter about (although not that bitter. Kiril Kulish is some lovely 14 year old jailbait, and I want to see Billy Elliot, but only if he's on for Billy that night. Otherwise, no desire). I understand why the Billys won...young, triple threat, blah blah blah, and they're adorable, so it's fine, but this man gives one of the most compelling performances I've ever seen in any musical. This is also my favorite non-Blake stage door picture ever.

This is Kyle Dean Massey. He's um, good looking. And I'm pretty sure he's gay, but it's fine. We'll ignore that. He's not actually the original actor who plays Gabe. Aaron Tveit took a leave of absence to work on Catch Me If You Can: The Musical (yeah, I know...). He'll be back Sept. 7, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the role, but I love Kyle. Kyle will be going back to Wicked when Aaron returns, so I suppose it's time to bite the bullet and see Wicked, because he's awesome. He was also on fire tonight. He's a great, underrated, up and coming actor, and he plays a haunting and complex character brilliantly.

Those were all of the stage door pictures I got tonight. Louis Hobson came out first, and it always takes me a minute to warm up to asking people for pictures, Jenn Damiano didn't come outand Alice Ripley wouldn't do posed pictures tonight because she was too tired (understandably: a show on Friday and two yesterday and today), and she was blocking me when Adam Chanler-Berat came out. I'll get them eventually (and a better one with Kyle where my chin isn't cut off).

So anyway, Next to Normal is brilliant and amazing, and everyone should go see it so it never closes. All of my shows leave me. So I should pretend to hate this.

Next to Normal sucks. I hope it closes soon.