Real Patrons of the Arts

A few minutes after 6:30 last night, Stacia and I were sitting in a bright blue row of seats, ten rows back from the stage, breathlessly waiting for the show to start. Casually, out walks Anthony Rapp, clad in his trademark maroon sweater and striped scarf, to open the musical Rent. Within a few more minutes, the first big number has begun, and the bass on the speakers is pounding as Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, now Mark and Roger, kick off three hours of energy and raw emotion with the titular song. I sit back to enjoy, as this is the show we’ve been waiting to see. But it was a long road to get here, in more ways than one.

The most immediate wrinkle was the ticket fiasco. We’d planned to get to the Civic Center early to get situated, and had found a parking spot around 5:40. Just as we were about to get out of the car, I realized that our tickets were sitting on the kitchen table of our West Des Moines condo, 13 miles away. After a few obscenities, we threw the car into drive and high-tailed it back home. Stacia ran in, got the tickets, we zoomed back downtown, and made it to the Civic Center no later than 6:10. Let’s just say it was a good thing there were no speed traps on I-235 last night.

But the real story starts some time earlier, in my sophomore year at Iowa State. Stacia and I had essentially just met, living in the same dorm, and weren’t even dating at the time. I’d never even seen a play that I wasn’t acting in, much less a musical. Then an interesting series of events led to us going to see Cabaret together. Our affable RA wanted to plan an event for the floor to do together, and was perusing the schedule for the Season at Stephens Auditorium, and was leaning toward some upcoming philharmonic orchestra. Then serendipity stepped in.

Stacia happened to be nearby and was asked what she thought of the idea. Now, while I had no previous experience with musicals, Stacia had acted/sung in them, and had been to Iowa City to see a touring production of Rent and was a huge fan. Not so much a fan of philharmonic orchestras. So she quickly glanced at the schedule, found Cabaret and suggested that as an alternative. The invitation went out to the entire floor, and although I had no particular penchant for the show itself, I did have some interest in going to whatever Stacia was going to. So I signed up.

We did the whole getting dressed up thing, and headed out to Stephens to see the show. I can’t really claim that it was a magical moment where I discovered that I loved musical theater (Cabaret still isn’t my favorite, but that had more to do with a lame attempt to look cool than with the actual show), I did sort of enjoy it. Our seats weren’t spectacular, so I can’t recall too many of the details of the show, but it did leave me open to the prospect of seeing musicals in the future.

Over the course of the next several years, Stacia and I dated, got engaged, and married, and Stacia’s interest in musicals became ours. We saw (in approximately chronological order) Cabaret, A Streetcar Named Desire, Rent, Fiddler on the Roof, Aida, Rent, Chicago, The Color Purple, Sweeney Todd and The Civil War. And, within the past five weeks, we added Wicked and Rent to that list. That sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that Stacia and I have been together in one way or another for six years, and that tickets were half price when we were students. Things really got crazy with Wicked and Rent in back-to-back months, but neither one was skip-able, so we decided just to go for it.

In the seven years since the first show we saw together, naturally lots of things have changed, but it seems my appreciation for these events has just grown more. Naturally I have overcome the “cool dude” act where I’m just going to the show to make Stacia happy, and I am now willing to give more praise than “it wasn’t too bad – you know, for a musical.” In a good musical, there is such visceral, raw emotion being broadcast, that I think it takes a true cynic to not feel touched. Granted, I tear up watching Rudy, so I’m not exactly the frostiest guy out there, but I contend that you can’t honestly watch Rent dry-eyed the whole way through.

After a whirlwind month of shows, I think we’ll take some time off before our next one, especially since the last two have been so great. Wicked and Rent (featuring the original Mark and Roger) are my absolute top two shows; at home I’ll play “La Vie Boheme” or “Dancing through Life” for fun energy while doing things like washing dishes, and I blast “Defying Gravity” or “One Song Glory” for inspiration if I’m feeling downtrodden. And while I can’t imagine that the next one we go to will be up to the standards of those two shows, I’m willing to give it a chance, whatever it might be. After all, it took me trying something new to find out that I like musicals, so I had better keep an open mind for the next evening out. That, and remember to bring the tickets.