In the fall of 1997, I heard the first of a play called RENT. At the time, I knew nothing of it. Just the name. As a Senior in high school, I chose to blow off a trip to France for a trip to NYC. I never actually saw RENT until a year or so later.
RENT was a show unlike anything that I knew of. It spoke to me...in a matter of speaking. (Haha)
Ultimately, it was my first exposure to adulthood. But more important, to drag queens. Angel will forever hold a place in my heart as the first drag queen I fell in love with.
I saw RENT with my friend Lynne. And afterwards, I told her that I could relate to it. Although, the how at that time I was still working out.
Fast forward a few years...
I was working with kids. And I passed the torch, accidentally. Most of "my kids" would say that RENT was good for them. It helped in some small way to make things make sense. And it brought us together. Obviously, this play has had a lot of impact on me.
During the roughest patch of my life, it was absent. More because I'd forgotten I had it than anything else. At the time I most needed to connect, I detached. I'd forgotten my old friend Angel and her carefree love, when I should have turned toward it to help me remember to always put love first.
My point, is that RENT popped back into my life. One of my kids told me it was playing in Waldoboro. And if that wasn't enough, my friend Elizabeth was in it. She wanted to surprise Elizabeth, with me. And we did.
The show was good. Collins was amazing. Angel was great. And since they're my characters, they were the ones I needed to have be good. I'll admit, I had low expectations, since it was a community theater production. But, it reminded me. I love the show. I love the music. And I love Angel.
And I need to remain connected to people in real life, in a way that can't be achieved via the internet.
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