Dan and I went to see RENT: The Broadway Tour at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on Thursday. It was the first time seeing a musical live for both of us (I was born in New York City but I’ve never been to Broadway!), so I’ve been anticipating this since I bought the tickets last month. The cast features cast members from various periods while RENT was on Broadway, including original cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp! I’d fallen in love with RENT when I first heard the songs growing up and saw the 2005 movie, and was really sad when I’d learned I’d missed the show when RENT came to Virginia Tech back in fall of 2003. Anthony Rapp had also graced Tech with a speaking event for VTU and LGBTA back in October of 2006. I was thrilled that I could watch the performance with two of the original members who had made the musical so legendary.
The show was nothing short of amazing. Each number was perfectly executed and the cast members had amazing voices. I was surprised at how closely their voices matched those of the original cast. We had front seats in the mezzanine so we had a great view, although I’m sure it would have been even more exciting to be in the orchestra seats. RENT is touring in cities around the country, and they’ve been here for a little under two weeks. Definitely try to catch them while the tour is still going!
Here is an interview with Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp on the local show View from the Bay.
GLAY’s US Tour this year ended on Saturday, September 12 with their second night at the House of Blues. Two of my friends were at each of the LA shows (one the first night, the other the second) and they both told me they were awesome. It seems like the final concert was the craziest and most climatic, according to TERU’s blog post. Apparently, at the LA concerts, the audience was allowed to have cameras, so there are some good photos and video of the show out there. So jealous! I wonder why cameras were allowed at the House of Blues and not at The Fillmore… I wish I had been allowed to capture those moments on camera.
GLAY just posted a video to their MySpace, which they had shot just prior to their final show at the House of Blues on September 12th:
TERU writes in his blog about how much love he felt during this tour, and how they were happy to be able to come to see so many of their fans who don’t have the opportunity to go see them live in Japan. One thing he expressed regret about, though, was the fact that none of the three shows sold out. Apparently The Fillmore had been about 80% full, and House of Blues at about 90% both nights — so close, and yet not quite enough of an audience to pack the house. I think that the fact that the show was on a week night in San Francisco (Wednesday night) is partially to blame…. TERU writes that it was tough to be confronted with the reality that, after just having performed at a sold-out concert in front of 140,000 at Nissan Stadium two weeks prior, they could not even reach 1,000 attendees at any of their US shows. But he accepts that it is a reality, and that it reminds him of the days when they had just debuted fifteen years ago and were trying desperately to sell out their first concerts at Shibuya Public Hall. In that sense, he was reminded of their starting point and how there are still challenges that they want to continue to tackle as they move forward, towards a worldwide stage. Unfortunately, I think there is a huge obstacle for Japanese artists to garner attention and a substantial fan base (outside of the typical anime otaku crowd) because of the language barrier, and the fact that the lyrics just cannot be understood. (Whereas English-speaking musicians stand a better chance, since English is a more commonly accepted universal language.) Still, despite the fact that these GLAY concerts attract hundreds of members of the local Japanese American communities, there’s also a substantial number of non-Japanese fans that can be seen at their shows as well. It’s not an impossible dream for them, just a difficult one that will not come very easy…. Although the lyrics may not be understood (which is a pity, since TAKURO always writes such poetic songs), the music itself is so good that it can even stand alone and win an international audience. There just needs to be an extra push — more aggressive promotion and perhaps a street team (which I would happily head up!) — and they will be able to sell out their international concerts, no problem. I hope that they won’t let this get them down and that they’ll continue to return to slowly but surely expand their audience beyond Japan.
