like demitri martin's important things, but more awesome.

so the other day i got to see john mayer for virtually no cost and it was awesome.
yesterday, i got to see Bryan Fenkart play Huey Calhoun, the lead in Memphis the Musical for free. i already got to see this happen, but on a scale of one to awesome, it was still an awesome and a half. and it also made me wonder why i ever paid for things.

my sister got to come, too, which was exciting because she had yet to see the show, nevermind Bryan as the lead. the electricity of the weekend crowd was palpable, standing ovation and all.

after the show we got to go backstage to see Bryan and meet some of the cast. hours before i was in post-gym sweat pants planning on not doing anything for the night. this is the same scenario as john mayer. i think i have lucky loungewear. suddenly, i was standing on the stage of the Schubert theater to meet up with my friend who was just a lead on broadway. the "i can't believe this is happening" moment lasted for hours. and suddenly once the house was confirmed clear they opened the stage curtain.

we were on stage at the Schubert theater looking out at the empty house, suddenly seeing what it was like from the perspective of the performer. what a different world. when you are in the audience everything seems so seamless--the tediously planned lighting scheme, the carefully choreographed path that each performer must take, the immense musical mansion that each voice has to fill--they all mesh together into one fantastically simple looking stage spectacle. but from the stage you can dissect every component of production. you can see how every piece contributes to the puzzle.

it's kind of like being on the inside or the outside of a situation in life, except reversed. when you are on the outside of a situation, it's like the performers view (inside of a show). you can see the situation for it's black-and-white self; you can see how each piece looks on paper, how it piles up to work as a moving entity. you can see where it goes right, where it goes wrong, and why everyone is acting and reacting the way that they are. when you are in the middle of the situation, it's like being an audience member (outside of the show...also i have the song Inside Out in my head). it all fades together. it's one overwhelmingly complex situation that moves so fast you barely have time to think about what is really going on. you are just following the story and reacting scene by scene. you can't tell who are the heroes, villains, and tragic fools until the end. and you certainly can't tell if there is any correlation between these roles. everything is grey, everything is hazy, and you can't see the situation for what it really is even if you think you can predict the ending. you can't hammer out every detail, and once you do, the plot takes a twist.

as we left the cheers from fans blasted Bryan's exit out the door. he was a musical theater nerd's rock star. there are a lot of situation's that i feel like i am an audience member in right now. i can't see straight through some things. but maybe stepping onto the stage at the Schubert theater was a glance at what figuring out looks like. and as praise rained down on Bryan from adoring fans, i realized that in that moment, all i needed to know was how fortunate i am to have one hell of a night.

-k.