I watched the Filipino musical
Mula sa Buwan - From the Moon
It was stunning
Watching this youthful exuberant company of performers singing and dancing in 1940s Manila
I kept thinking about Abuela and Abuelo
How they had loved zarzuelas
Abuelo had even been in one I think
Or at least a play
With the man who became known to us as
Tito Conejo because he had played a rabbit
How they were teenagers in Manila
During the Japanese occupation
The atrocities they saw
The heartbreak they lived through
And how all that was so poetically captured on the stage
Two, maybe even three, generations away
The way the Filipino flag became the Japanese imperial flag
My heart caught in my throat
The framing device of theatre
The way we tell stories
The power of letters
The power of love
The power of music
I want to learn Tagalog
I want to visit Manila
I miss my grandparents
Perhaps they are dancing on the moon.

The athleticism
The exuberance
The sexiness
The skin tight costumes
On taut athletic sensuous bodies
The sparkles
The music
The choreography
So very Fosse
But remixed, turned on its head
Made relevant for 2023
The joyful fun quirky sexy angular fluid unexpected satisfying thrill of it
The unapologetic pride of it
The way the dancers look like they’re having the time of their lives
The way they dance full-out for a full two and a half hours
With a myriad of costume changes
While singing their hearts out
Grips your heart your throat your soul
How do you do that 8 times a week?!
They must take hour long ice baths
The physio bill must be astronomical
You think about the collective number of years
These athlete performer superstars
Have spent in class
Twenty performers all in their twenties, maybe thirties if they’re lucky
Probably dancing since before they could walk
In class since three or five or seven
Say twenty years on average
Four hundred collective years of skill
On rapturous virtuosic display
What a thrill to see it.

The music of Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler
A celebration at 54 Below
Streamed into your living room in New Jersey
It is delightful
It is fun
It lifts your heart.

What a treat it is
To interview writers and composers
On the podcast
To learn their stories
And share their work.

You’ve seen RENT dozens of times
Can’t even count the number of times you’ve listened the cast recording on repeat
It’s been a while between visits
You go to see a high school production
To support one of your camp kidlets
And walking down the hallway to the auditorium
You’re moved by the messages scrawled in black sharpie
On the white plastic drapes adorning the walls
No day but today!
Today 4 You
ACT UP!
And the production itself is astonishing
A bare bones set
With a giant rectangular platform in the middle of the stage that with some ensemble muscle
Becomes a revolve
The vocals blow you away
You almost forget these are high schoolers
And then you catch a glint of silvery braces
And even though you can still recite every lyric from memory
They make you see the show in a whole new way
With their original line deliveries
And subtle contemporary hints
Like La Vie Boheme with Cups choreography
The girl playing Maureen (who already has a Broadway credit to her name)
Delivers the most epic Over the Moon you’ve ever seen
The energy of it
The vocal gymnastics of it
The comedic timing of it
The way the audience got to participate
Like we were in the lot
MOOOO!
And although you love their energy
And the spirit they bring to the show
It’s funny to side with Benny now
“A state of the art, digital, virtual interactive studio
I'll forego your rent
And on paper guarantee
That you can stay here for free”
Excuse me
Did Benny just offer these bohemian artists a rent free loft apartment in the Village with studio space for making art and high tech equipment?!
Sorry Maureen. The protest is off.
At the end of the show, the audience leapt to its feet
In the lobby, the buzzy energy of kids on a post-performance high
Proud parents and older siblings carrying bouquets of flowers
You hug your camper and tell her proud you are
What a joy it is to see her shine
And you head home
With a lightness in your step.

​when your friend
posts a truly delicious
​performance of
poor unfortunate souls
#SheDo.

Oh what a joy it was
To be able a stream
A brand new musical
Performed in St Louis
From the Metro Theater Company
While I’m in New Jersey.

It was delightful and fun
And made me laugh out loud
And the glowing magic bottles
And shiny oversized fish
And ridiculous pirates
And sparkly mermaid --
With a belt from here to high heaven
And the actors playing instruments
And all the make believe
Made my inner child and grown up self
Feel oh so happy. 

What an enchantment to be under
If only for an hour
On a Sunday afternoon.

​Remember when you discovered
Annie Londonderry
In a book
A chance find at the library
In London (aptly enough)
And you fell in the love with the story
Of the Latvian Jewish mother
Who cycled around the world
And was the first woman to do so

And fast forward a decade
And you are in New Jersey
Watching a musical filmed in London
And it is exciting
And powerful
And the vocals are mind blowing
​And the production is gorgeous

And the story
Grips your heart
The bravery of a young woman
Seeking something bigger
Seeking a different life

She ended up in New York
If I recall correctly
Annie
She ran a garment business?

The lives we lead
The places we pause
The places we shift
This journey we are on
What a ride.

How can it be twenty years
Since you started uni
A thousand lifetimes go
Pre-cancer
Pre-Aaron
Pre-London
Pre-walking the Camino
Pre-going overseas for the first time
Pre-Kris
Pre-knee surgery
Pre-Richie
Pre-living out of home
Pre-social media
Pre-smart phones

Watching the video
Of Snoopy!!!
The musical you did
Back Then
In the olden days
When you had promised your boyfriend
You wouldn’t do any more shows
Because he was frustrated at not getting to spend time with you
And then you did another show immediately after
When you had long hair
When you didn’t leave campus for longer than a week for four years
Because oh how you fell in love with uni life
(Even though it was the site of your worst depression)
It was transformative in so many wonderful ways

The happy memories
Of rehearsal in the old army barracks
That they later tore down
(Weren’t they heritage listed?)
And Studio Four
With all the old productions
Sharpied on the wall
That they also tore down
The familiar faces
Pascal and Lara and Daniel and Shu and
Angie and Lexie and ChrisBob
Ann and Flip and Tom and
Jarvis and Jasmine and Holly and
Monali and Teegan and Pat and
Zaza and Blake
Mike and Jinny and Jeremy 

​The glow they give you in your heart.

What a thrill
To see a bona fide
Broadway legend
Do their thing
With such joy
And passion
And commitment
To the words
And story-telling
And, of course, musicality.
To be able to watch it from home
And feel safe
And still be a part of it
I’ll drink to that. 🍸