Friday, May 06, 2011

“Is this the end or the beginning?”

I've found myself reading more blogs lately... Granted it's probably because I sitting at a computer 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. But its nice to catch up... almost like catching up with some old friends, meeting new ones. Lots of insight, perspectives, thoughts, opinions, etc...

Amongst the myriad of things that are going on in my life, I wanted to start with a nice and easy post... I surprised Michelle on her birthday back in March, with tickets to AMERICAN IDIOT. I knew it had won a few awards and heard some great things about it. PLUS... I grew up in the Nirvana/Pearl Jam/Green Day era. So take my love of the theatrical stage, add a Green Day themed show... AWESOME. Not only was it a Green Day themed show, BUT, we were catching it on its closing weekend... WHICH for those that followed, was starring BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG. He re-joined the cast for the last few months...



THE SHOW WAS SIIIIIICK!!! In the show I just worked on, RENT, my director spoke VERY highly of the show... in fact, so much so, she tried taking elements of American Idiot into the story lines of RENT. I only wish I had seen American Idiot BEFORE we performed RENT... but then again, if I did then perhaps I wouldn't have been able to see Billie Joe in the cast. So I'll take seeing the show post-RENT.

Maybe people relate this show to the 'RENT' of our generation. It's funny, I mean, you listen to American Idiot at face value, its a good album. But then you see some of the themes acted out on stage and it opens up a WHOLE new world. And it's a one way street... I can't just listen to American Idiot anymore. The songs have much deeper meaning. And for those that weren't able to see the broadway show, I challenge you to read some of the lyrics. I'm sure most critics would dismiss Green Day because of the punk, out-of-control type of rock feel... but its almost like a wake up call. I'm not going to go through the lyrics and break down what I feel the song's meaning is... you can do that on your own. But, these guys have come a long way... and who would've thought such an album could've come from a bunch of punk rockers from the earlier 90s...



I snagged a few images online, but as you can see, the show is visually INTENSE. The limitless energy that each actor exhibits is amazing. I mean, these are Green Day songs... and if you ever say Billie Joe live, you can imagine that energy in almost EVERY song.

The day also including using an app on Michelle's phone to find featured restaurants all around NYC. Famous Food... an app that you CAN use online, but it's more meant for a mobile device. It finds your location and gives you all of the nearby restaurants that were featured on a food show. Man vs. Food, Triple D, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Food Wars, The Best Thing I Ever Ate... its FANTASTIC. The day was full of donuts, walking around the city, stopping off at THE Life Cafe in NYC, featured in the show RENT, American Idiot, Sloppy Joes, Salted caramel shakes, Mini kobe beef burgers, rare beers, and ended with a concert performance by the Smith Street Stage Company's version of Jesus Christ Superstar. So proud to see my friends up there doing there thing... people including my sister Beth, very good friend Ruark, and others from college. The show was AWESOME... and I got to see it, not ONLY with my beautiful girlfriend, but my cousins Kate, Kelly and Sara came into the city too!!

And it was raining all day... but didn't even phase us. :)