525,600 ways to ruin an evening....

An evening at the Cadillac.
Scene I sees Mother, Donna, Michele and I seated at a crowded booth at Petterinos. It's lovely to dress up and play Chicago socialite. Our server was akward and rude- reminiscent of my Nick's classic Fishmarket days. I think that's why I was so revered. I wasn't a robot- but that's in the long, forsaken past and I will not dwell on the many nights I filleted Dover Sole tableside. This entry has a much different purpose in mind.

Why was the family congregrated on a Sunday evening? In the thick of the loop? In tweed and skirt and smiles?

Well the obvious answer would be to see RENT!, the Broadway coveted musical of course!

The sister and I weren't all that excited. In high school I worked with many of the theatre kids. Hell, I dated a few of the gay ones, and I can have instant recall of their many, obnoxious and endless renditions of Rent! the Broadway coveted musical.
It... was.... hell in high school. On stage, after years of distance and consequent healing, it still is.

The subject matter- interesting.
The score or songs or whatever you refer to it as in musical theatre - decent
The costuming - fairly intriguing
The all encompassing package - TORTURE

I may be biased in that I'm a huge fan of all musicals Disneyfied. A natural progression of music meets talk, talk meets music. There has to be dialogue in this world. The sane can not handle anything but.

Endless, noisy, obnoxious repetition. A storyline that NEVER ends. A crowd that anticipates everything in loud, representative fashion (kind of creepy how they know everything that hasn't yet happened).

But a few highlights:
My sister, turning to me, rather audibly saying "Why don't they just get a job and pay the rent?"
My mother, rather audibly, saying, "Wait? Now who has AIDS?"
and my mother, ex-post show yelling through the crowds, "I left my stage bill in the toilet!"

It's not that it wasn't a good production. Good acting, fabulous stage presence, incredible music. It just tries too hard to be something it was once and should NEVER AGAIN BE.

I wouldn't recommend.

1 out of 4 Hula Hoops circulated.