[you're gonna be my bruise]
So, okay, The Young Veins "Change" is about what I expected it to be. It's really not my type of music and I don't love it, but I like it more than I thought I would. It probably wouldn't interest me if it wasn't Ryan, but it IS and I am devoted, so. There you go. I'm such a Fever girl and I will always and forever be really sad that Brendon and Ryan have drifted so far apart musically,* but they're not seventeen anymore and of course they've changed and, if anything, hearing the two singles makes the "musical differences" reason for the breakup all that much more believable. I mean, for the sake of narrative tension we'll have to make up other, more dramatic reasons for fic purposes, but in real life I'm really, really hoping that, at heart, that's really all it was. That's mostly how I feel about that.
Tonight I went and saw Spring Awakening at the Kennedy Center and now I am completely emotionally exhausted. The music was great, but I already knew I loved that. The production was really excellent too. I didn't know much about the play itself before I went in and there were definitely things about it that seemed very abrupt. There was a lot going on and there were a lot of elements that were introduced and then dropped very quickly - the child abuse, the bdsm themes. There was definitely a build up to Moritz' suicide, but Melchior's expulsion and Wendla's death happened fast and sudden. It felt sort of like scenes were missing because the ending felt so abrupt and I'm not sure if that was the play itself or this production since I was with a friend who saw the original cast on Broadway and she said that the whole thing seemed much more meditative when she saw it there. (Additionally, I read some consent issues into the Melchior/Wendla sex scene that I'm pretty sure weren't really supposed to be there, but my friend who saw it in New York assured me that that was the production and that she got that here too and definitely didn't get that at all the first time she saw it.) Also, as zephyrprince and I were talking about after, I really wish that the queer themes hadn't been played for laughs. Hanschen and Ernst sing the SAME SONG that Melchior and Wendla do and for Melchior/Wendla is so romantic and intense and for Hanschen/Ernst the whole scene was definitely lighter. In all fairness, though, I think some of that was the way the audience responded and not necessarily the production - though only some of it. Some of it *was* the production.
So those are my complaints and it sounds like there are a lot of them when I write it out that way, but overall, I really enjoyed it and I'm glad we went. It was just really so built up in my head that I think it would have been difficult for it to completely live up to expectations. I love the juxtaposition of the rock opera style and the setting. I love, love, love the music and the cast was really strong despite being, for the most part, really young. (Just out of high school in at least one case). After some of the songs I definitely had moments where I just sat there blinking at the stage going "holy shit." It's an *intense* show, but in a good way.
Jake Epstein from Degrassi played Melchior! I don't know what that means, but one of the friends I was with was very excited (as were some people who commented in my entry this morning *g*). Christy Altomare played Wendla. I had never heard of her before tonight, but I was thoroughly, thoroughly charmed by her. She looked about fourteen on stage (she is not, in fact, fourteen) so I felt a little skeevy being so charmed, but anyway! She is also a recording artist with an EP! Her website, with her music, is here. Check it out! She is charming there as well!
Now I kind of want to go to bed because the play was so emotionally exhausting, but instead I have to clean my apartment because my parents are coming in tomorrow. They aren't even staying with me, but still. If it's dirty they will notice and silently judge me.
*And of course I have not been outlining tinhatty drawer!fic for days about them collaborating again, or anything. No, of course not.
Tonight I went and saw Spring Awakening at the Kennedy Center and now I am completely emotionally exhausted. The music was great, but I already knew I loved that. The production was really excellent too. I didn't know much about the play itself before I went in and there were definitely things about it that seemed very abrupt. There was a lot going on and there were a lot of elements that were introduced and then dropped very quickly - the child abuse, the bdsm themes. There was definitely a build up to Moritz' suicide, but Melchior's expulsion and Wendla's death happened fast and sudden. It felt sort of like scenes were missing because the ending felt so abrupt and I'm not sure if that was the play itself or this production since I was with a friend who saw the original cast on Broadway and she said that the whole thing seemed much more meditative when she saw it there. (Additionally, I read some consent issues into the Melchior/Wendla sex scene that I'm pretty sure weren't really supposed to be there, but my friend who saw it in New York assured me that that was the production and that she got that here too and definitely didn't get that at all the first time she saw it.) Also, as zephyrprince and I were talking about after, I really wish that the queer themes hadn't been played for laughs. Hanschen and Ernst sing the SAME SONG that Melchior and Wendla do and for Melchior/Wendla is so romantic and intense and for Hanschen/Ernst the whole scene was definitely lighter. In all fairness, though, I think some of that was the way the audience responded and not necessarily the production - though only some of it. Some of it *was* the production.
So those are my complaints and it sounds like there are a lot of them when I write it out that way, but overall, I really enjoyed it and I'm glad we went. It was just really so built up in my head that I think it would have been difficult for it to completely live up to expectations. I love the juxtaposition of the rock opera style and the setting. I love, love, love the music and the cast was really strong despite being, for the most part, really young. (Just out of high school in at least one case). After some of the songs I definitely had moments where I just sat there blinking at the stage going "holy shit." It's an *intense* show, but in a good way.
Jake Epstein from Degrassi played Melchior! I don't know what that means, but one of the friends I was with was very excited (as were some people who commented in my entry this morning *g*). Christy Altomare played Wendla. I had never heard of her before tonight, but I was thoroughly, thoroughly charmed by her. She looked about fourteen on stage (she is not, in fact, fourteen) so I felt a little skeevy being so charmed, but anyway! She is also a recording artist with an EP! Her website, with her music, is here. Check it out! She is charming there as well!
Now I kind of want to go to bed because the play was so emotionally exhausting, but instead I have to clean my apartment because my parents are coming in tomorrow. They aren't even staying with me, but still. If it's dirty they will notice and silently judge me.
*And of course I have not been outlining tinhatty drawer!fic for days about them collaborating again, or anything. No, of course not.