2. People Don’t Realize That Loneliness…It’s UNDERRATED

This is what I think of as the opening credits of the show.

Gabby Dean watches on as the cast does her choreography proud.

In version 1.0, this actually opened the entire piece. I imagined Johanna (Van Gogh’s sister-in-law) walking onstage, nodding to the conductor…very Rent…and the drummer counting it off. Clean. Direct. Loud.

But during the rewrite, I realized I wanted to ease the audience in theatrically, then knock them back in their seats. Again…Rent is a reference point.

A lot of this show works that way. Things I love revealing themselves after the fact. Influence is sneaky like that.

The song title was originally “Full On Rage,” after the consistent lyric.  That title though evokes that kind of third reel turn after a big emotional beat.  You can’t start a show at that level of anger without earning it first. The song was doing it’s job perfectly…but that title made a promise the music wasn’t delivering on yet.  So the title shifted into its current, very-long, very-2000s form.

It’s a quote from High Fidelity, one of my favorite books. Rob says it to unconvincingly himself at a moment where everything feels lost, even though he has all the tools he needs to move forward…he just doesn’t know how yet. That’s Vincent here. Standing still. Waiting for permission. Needing proof of validation.  The chorus keeps returning to the same question: where does that leave you?If this is the state you’re in…if this is what life is…then where does that leave you?

The final chord of the song is unresolved.  I absolutely wanted the audience to be left hanging at the end.  Eitan Prouser (a brilliant guitarist you’ll be hearing much about) suggested, when I was debating how to orchestrate the ending, doubling the piano with harmonics on the guitar.  As per usual his idea was exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.  Collaboration is cool, kids.