Moo with Me...

So, I am spending the day working on some personal home projects. To pass the time I have thrown in the DVD player RENT.

I am at the part when Maureen is doing her protest. The moment in the film is what it is, but the memory of the play is what makes this part of the movie kind of thrilling. At the end of the protest, Maureen asks the audience to, “Moo with me!” After some encouragement, they do and shortly after the protest is broken up by the cops.

As silly as it seems, this was one of the great moments in the play. On screen, the audience is the main characters and a bunch of extras. But in the theater, the audience is THE audience. Even on tour in Houston, where I saw the show, it doesn’t take long for Maureen to get one person to moo, then another and so on until the whole theater is playfully mooing. I am sure even some of those older, stodgier Broadway Series subscribers were mutedly mooing under their breath.

So now, when I see the scene in the movie, I get a little thrill because I remember the experience in the theater. A moment that was truly theatrical. A moment when performer and spectator worked as one and everyone was part of the experience, not just witnesses.

RENT, the movie, has its high and low points, yet it still is able to remind me why theater is so important and why it can’t just be a sideline or a hobby. It is truly a part of who I am.