I know you are busy prepping for your two day season premiere Whitney Houston interview, and goodness knows that is like opening a hot box of crazy, so I will keep this short.
I think I had one of those "aha moments" you are always writing about in your magazine; moments that take you to level of understanding about who you are and further define your purpose. (Every time I hear or say the word purpose, I sing "gotta find my purpose" from Avenue Q in my head. Shout out to Avenue Q, who closed their Broadway run yesterday, BUT announced they are reopening at New World Stages in 3 weeks!)
It happen halfway through The Toxic Avenger tonight.
Ironically, this "aha moment" did not come during the "Choose Me, Oprah" song- though I suppose that if it had happened during that song, it wouldn't be ironic so much as it would have been poetic.
So Memphis composer David Bryan and Bookwriter Joe DiPietro have two shows in New York. The Toxic Avenger, which is currently playing Off-Broadway at New World Stages and Memphis which begins performances next week (!) and opens October 19th. Joe and David were so generous and invited the entire Memphis cast to see Toxic tonight.
Fun Fact: Memphis cast member James Iglehardt reminded me that the first NYC reading of Memphis took place on March 21, 2007 in Stage 1 of New World Stages. This is the same theater where Toxic is currently playing. I'm not sure if that is ironic, poetic, or just, cool.
Anyway, my "aha" moment came during "Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore" (yes that is the name of the song) while Nancy Opel proved she is:
a. a genius
b. a comic revelation
c. fierce
d. all of the above
Fun Fact: I'm pretty sure that my dog (Samson) met Nancy Opel's dog (Momo) on 9th Avenue last week. But, due to my inability to talk to people whose talent I appreciate and admire, I just let our dogs do their thing which mostly involved a lot of smelling.
Back to Nancy. The cast of Memphis gave her a standing ovation after this song and that's when it hit me; I think my whole life has been leading up to this moment.
That may sound trite or cliche, but I never thought that I would ever be part of theater in this way, knowing and working with people who are creating musicals. And it's pretty addicting. Dare I say, In-toxic-ating.
I could really get used to this. Being around amazing people. Talented people. Watching amazing, talented people do genius things in brilliant original musicals. Between Memphis and Toxic, my cup runneth over.
So Oprah, do what you have to do to come to New York to see Memphis and The Toxic Avenger. Call Gayle, send Stedman an email, let them know you are heading to the Big Apple.
Bring the dogs if you want- Samson would love to hang out with them.
Perhaps you too will leave the theater with a renewed sense of purpose.
Perhaps not, but I can guarantee that you will have a good time.
