August 9, 2010

• Viva La Vie Boheme!

  What a week!  After arriving from Africa, Darlene & Jay left California on Monday and Rob arrived on Tuesday.  It was a whirlwind week, and he made me realize I’m not as young as I used to be.  I think I slept a total of  six hours all week!  We had a great time though, as these photos will attest.  It was exciting to have him here on Wednesday when the California Supreme Court finally ruled that Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage, was unconstitutional.  My feelings on this are well documented.  It was nice to be able to attend the rally in West Hollywood with Rob and celebrate this small victory on the road to equality.  For those of you who don’t agree, please watch this:  :) 

  
  

  The Colbert Report	Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
  How to Ruin Same-Sex Marriages
  www.colbertnation.com

  
  For more of my photos from Wednesday’s Prop 8 Rally in West Hollywood, click here.  For last year’s star studded rally (where Chazz met President Obama), click here.

  
  The fabled sign will never be the same!

  
  Psychedelic Rob!

  
  Hooray for Hollywood!

  
  At the historic rally, listening to Ted Olson, David Boies and Chazz’s buddy, Dustin Lance Black

  
  We even managed to meet Thai Elvis at The Palms!

  
  Our friend August’s back yard in Perris, CA was stunning!

  
  Apparently guns are allowed in Perris! :)

  
  August making a ninja catch!

  
  Trying not to laugh or move!

  
  At The Abbey with Ryan & Claudio

  
  It’s late!

  
  Snuggle buddies!

  
  Here’s to good times at The Hotel Careyfornia!

  
  Click here for the best of the rest…

  The week was topped off last night with a performance of “Rent” at the famed Hollywood Bowl.  Directed by Neil Patrick Harris, who originated the role of Mark in L.A. in 1997, and starring Vanessa Hudgens, Nicole Scherzinger, Wayne Brady, Tracie Thoms, Gwen Stewart and other Rent veterans, the show was a dazzling, sumptuous feast, set amongst the tranquil Hollywood Hills. Even though this was my 16th viewing (in 7 countries and 5 languages), it never gets old. “There’s only now, there’s only here. Give in to love, or live in fear. No other path, no other way. No day but today.“

  

  The underlying themes in Rent” have resonated with me for nearly 15 years.  When I first saw the play in 1996 in New York City it spoke to me like nothing I had ever seen.  The story is an old one, 159 years old to be exact.  1851 was the year that Henri Murger published the book Scènes de la Vie de Bohème a story about his friends; so called “Bohemians” or “starving artists” living in the Latin Quarter of Paris in the mid 1800′s.  His friends had the same names as the central characters in “Rent” (with American updates; Rodolpho became Roger, Marcel became Mark, etc.).  50 years after the book was published, Puccini turned it into the famous opera La Boheme, which in turn, 100 years later became the musical “Rent“.  The central themes of all three were the same, though the times, plagues and vices were different.  Wikipedia presents this chart:

  Character in La bohème	Character in Rent
  Mimi, a seamstress with TB	Mimi Marquez, an S&M dancer with AIDS
  Rodolfo, a poet with TB	Roger Davis, a musician with AIDS
  Marcello, a painter	Mark Cohen, a filmmaker
  Musetta, a singer	Maureen Johnson, a bisexual performance artist
  Schaunard, a musician with TB	Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay cross-dressing drummer with AIDS
  Colline, a philosopher with TB	Tom Collins, a gay computer whiz and Anarchist philosopher with AIDS
  Alcindoro, a state councillor	Joanne Jefferson, a lesbian lawyer
  Benoit, a landlord	Benjamin ‘Benny’ Coffin III, also a landlord

  No matter how hard the characters try to fight it, they all come to the realization that love is the strongest force we know.  Stronger than heroin, AIDS or even death.  Be it the “starving artists” in the Latin Quarter of 19th Century Paris, the American Bohemians like Jack Kerouac in the 50′s or the drug addled, AIDS victims in Jonathan Larson’s masterpiece “Rent”; they all knew this “fact”, and they lived their lives accordingly.  Even in this age of social networking and a truly wired global technosphere; it’s good to be reminded that we are all connected by the powerful force of love, and that a broken heart universally hurts.  “We don’t own emotion, we rent.”  How ironic, that Jonathan Larson, the composer and playwright of “Rent”, dropped dead of an aortic aneurysm the night before the show opened on Broadway in 1996.  After all, “Rent” is about living for today, because you never know what tomorrow might bring.
  

  Last year I had a conversation with an acquaintance I first wrote about in this post, entitled “Perceptions” three years ago (she’s also an evangelical Christian).  She told me that I would be proud of her, because she finally watched the movie, based on the musical “Rent”.  I asked her how she liked it, and she basically thought it was “disgusting”.  At first I was taken aback by her response.  I know the movie wasn’t nearly as good as the play, but it was unfathomable to me how anyone could find these ageless, central themes anything but life affirming and beautiful.  She admittedly shed tears at the sad parts, but implied that all of the tragedy and sadness of the movie was a result of the characters (“Lesbos” was one of the words she used), not seeking the “love of God”.  They were seeking love in the wrong place.  Their addictions, (heroin) and diseases, (AIDS) were their own doing.  I fail to see the Christ-like thinking in this sentiment and told her so.  Coincidentally, the initial person I referenced in the “Perceptions” post in 2007, whose family fled from tyranny, starred in the ensemble of “Rent” this past weekend at the Hollywood Bowl.  A full circle moment.
  

  “To sodomy
  It’s between God and me.
  To faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross dressers too.
  To me….To you….
  To people living with….not dying from disease.
  Let he among us without sin,
  Be the first to condemn.
  La Vie Boheme.
  Anyone out of the mainstream.
  Is anyone in the mainstream?
  Anyone alive with a sex drive.
  Tear down the wall.
  Aren’t we all?
  The opposite of war isn’t peace.
  It’s creation.
  La Vie Boheme.
  Viva La Vie Boheme.”

  Here are some photos and a video from last night:
  

  
  Sorry for the shoddy video…I was trying to be discreet…but you get the idea!

  • 11:51 pm
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