No day, but today.

Ever since I can remember, I've been madly in love with stage production. Working backstage, performing onstage, watching it all come together...it's seriously a rush! It started when I was about 6 years old. For almost a year, I attended and watched practices for an original stage production that my church had called, "30 Years In the West." I was in so much awe. These people, these brethren, they put countless hours into practicing their numbers. They spent even more hours off practice and recorded their vocals for the musical numbers...and not to mention, they weren't professional actors or singers. They did it for the fun. I remember the first musical number that brought me to tears...it was from tha very production. The emotion on the actors' faces, the deep lyrics, their everything...it made me very emotional. A few years after that happened, my mom forced me to join yet another church production. It wasn't an original, but it was a classic. We did our interpretation of "Joseph and the Amazong Technicolor Dreamcoat." that experience was far from just watching. This production took us almost 2 years of practicing an perfecting. I spent every weekend at rehearsals, and sometimes the weekdays too. It was a lot for a little me to handle. But all that practice was so worth it. For when the days finally came for opening night, the audience was in awe. All that work paid off in the end. I'll never forget that thrill. I haven't had that thrill in awhile, because we haven't had a major production since then...but seriously, that's where my love for stage production started. It made me appreciate how much hard work can pay off in the long run.

There's one particular stage production that I want to talk about. It's not a Disney one, but rather...it's a musical about making it in life. It's about...even though you may not be the richest person, or the most perfect person in the world...ad long as you have your friends around you, you CAN make it. (something along the lines of that.) the musical that I'm, somehow, trying to talk about...and I love dearly is none other than RENT. This musical, this stage production has so much history behind it. I myself, didn't find out about this musical until my auntie told me about it. Like I wrote on tumblr, I'm happy she did. It was something about this musical that stuck. The first time I watched it (the movie version), I was...confused. This was back in 06. I didn't understand the essence of it at all. I said to myself, "umm...so, these people are pretty much bankrupt and their singing about it?" but even though I said this, I watched it again and again...i bought the piano score sheets and learned every song. I even watched all the interviews and documentaries on it's history. That was when it hit me. This musical...try applying it to your life. There were 6 main characters, all with different personalities. The starving musician, the girl next door, the independent film maker, the actress, the actresses hubbie, etc. Each had their own story, and it diverged into this one musical. I applied myself to the "independent film maker" at the time. He saw everything through the lens, and it's through the lens of his camera where he saw how much is going on in the world. He saw the reality of life...any of these characters, you can see how they saw life as, and you can relate to them fully. Even in the lyrics of each song that was sung...they had funky titles, but accurate. "Santa Fe," "Seasons Of Love," "Halloween," "I'll Cover You," just to name a few. Tr imagery that was used...you can really see it, feel it, smell it. I'll use "Seasons of Love" as an example. "525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear...how do you measure, a year in a life? How about love?" the song is the opening of the musical, so it has to be memorable. This is sung on an empty stage, with a beam if spotlight on each of the characters. That's it. It's so simple. Put the lyrics and the staging together, and you can fully understand tue concept of the song. You still don't get it? Basically, it's saying that life is simple. We measure a moment in our life through the technical things, numbers, minutes...why not measure it in something as simple as love? That's what we remember the most, right? How much we love a person? That's the kind of message a song should have. Not this nonsense we have nowadays where the message of a song is to love the way someone lies...what kind of person loves the way people lie? That's why I hardly ever listen to mainstream music. To put it straight, musicals > mainstream radio. And the fact that no overdose of autotune is used in recording. It's pure singing, with no edits. So thank you Jonathan Larson. Thank you for the inspiring music and musical overall.

All in all, I love the theater. It's something that I can watch that's somewhat classy, in comparison to watching a bootleg movie online. You get all the essence of entertainment into one big package. You got your singing, dancing, art, acting, writing...what more can you ask for? You know, I really wish that i can see a musical again, especially a stage production of RENT. That would be so nice. I also wish that I can do something with my life that had to do with stage production. The rush I get...it's the best feeling you can possibly get. It's my natural high, really.

"The heart may freeze, or it can burn,
The pain will ease, if I can learn.
There is no future, there is no past.
I live this moment as my last.
There's only us, there's only this,
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss.
No other road, no other way,
No day but today." -Mimi, "Another Day"

soul4soulcv.