Think About the Sun
Just went to see the dress rehearsal for "Pippin". I forgot how much I rather like this musical, 'specially since I only ever had the soundtrack on cassette (a problem I am now remedying by way of iTunes).
But yeah, I enjoyed ^__^ The costumes were fantastic; when the curtain first went up I had to look really hard to recognize Morgan and jake0 (both members of my acting class). After a while noticing Morgan wasn't hard at all though, since she was at the front of like every dance number--crazy-awesome dancer that she is. :P And jake0 was completely adorable as the über-British noble :D
The orgy scene was, uh. Sex. With a capital S. O_O
And the ending they used? Was a million zillion times better than the one I knew. Like forserious. I was "looking forward" to Pippin's last line with trepidation (if you don't know what I'm talking about, trust me--it's a cop-out). But DUDE. According to the guy sitting in front of me, it's an actual alternate ending that was written after the show first went up. Rock on, book writer.
The old ending has Pippin's love asking how he feels, and he answers: "Trapped, but happy." He turns to the audience. "Which isn't bad for the end of a musical comedy. G'night!" And they bow and that's the end. LAME.
This one--after the MC walks off scoffing, "Try singing without music," Pippin re-sings the bit about wanting magic shows and miracles, and how he's found the closest thing to what he wants in finding a family. They turn to leave, and Theo (the boy) lingers behind. In silence he begins singing: Rivers belong where they can ramble, eagles belong where they can fly. An echo of Pippin's first desire to find his purpose in life, the journey that nearly ended in his death. The magic players, seated above on a scaffold, reach out to him in the darkness--and Pippin steps forward, puts a hand on the boy's shoulder and silences him, gently, with a finger to the lips. Then they turn, and walk away offstage.
Also, since we're in spoiler-space, I don't remember whether they cut this bit out when my high school did it or if I just forgot it--but there's a total implication that the players have done this performance before, with other boys who have willingly gone to their glorious deaths just like Pippin doesn't. And that, my friends, is twisted and awesome.
Wheeee musicals.
And a recent amusing exchange:
Kara: Hangover plus small children does not seem like a great idea.
Me: It's a hilarious idea.
Kara: I would end up punching a small child.
Me: Hilarious.