Measure your life in love...

Last night we saw RENT, the final show in our 5th Avenue Theatre subscriber package. I really, really liked it, and Stewart thought it was okay. We both absolutely loved some of the song performances and I thought the entire thing was very well done. Stew struggled a little bit with the overall message of the show... let me try to recap his comments during our walk back to the car:

"Oh, woe is me, why should I have to pay rent? Why can't I just live here for free? I don't want to pay rent, EVER. I just want to sit here and play my guitar and whine about how oppressed I am."

I think that just about encompasses his summary. For the most part, I agree with Stew's thoughts, but I only went to the show for an evening of entertainment, and in that regard we both walked away satisfied. We particularly liked the characters Mimi and Angel, and of course absolutely loved the Seasons of Love performance at the beginning of the second act. That song always gives me chills. Light My Candle and Over the Moon are also two of my faves.

Now that I've finally seen the stage production, I'm anxious to go home and watch the movie again (it's been years) to see what the similarities and differences are.

So now you might be wondering, what's in store for the future?

We did a lot of thinking about whether or not to renew our subscriber package to the 5th Avenue Theatre. Our 2011/2012 season subscription included:

• Cinderella - I liked this one a lot because I remembered the songs from my childhood. Stewart wasn't a huge fan.
• Oklahoma! - This one was okay but I wouldn't say either one of us was a huge fan.
• Damn Yankees - My least favorite, Stew's favorite from the season.
• RENT - Probably my favorite from the season, Stew thought it was okay.

Some of the other shows we saw and really enjoyed were ones we bought tickets for outside of our subscriber package, like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast (Paramount Theatre), and Les Misérables. Even though we paid quite a bit more for these tickets, we enjoyed the shows MUCH more. So, considering that, we decided that we're not going to review our subscription at the 5th Avenue Theatre this year. Instead, we'll just buy individual tickets for the shows we know we really want to see. We've already got Wicked scheduled for November, and we've got our eyes on ELF - The Musical, Jersey Boys, and I think I'd like to see Flashdance, too. I also might take my grandma to The Music Man, since I know it's one of her favorites.

Overall I'm really glad that we tried out a subscription, and it was fun to see some shows that wouldn't necessarily have caught my eye otherwise.

We are so lucky to have so many amazing theater options here in Seattle!