The Official Adam Pascal Love thread- Page 448

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 3:26pm

There seems to be a dearth of discussion lately, so let me bring up something. In my Aida googling (love to google, if I haven't mentioned that already), I came across an article from around when Aida opened concerning Sondheim's criticism of current musical theater. It mentioned Aida rather critically in passing. The writer said that the show was aimed at "adolescent girls and theater queens" and referred to Adam's "unthreatening male sexuality."

After stopping to consider whether that meant that I, a grown woman, was still wallowing in adolescent emotions (I wouldn't totally discount that), I wondered what was so negative about male sexuality being unthreatening. Must a man seem like a borderline rapist to be considered a valid male presence? It's a common criticism to refer to a performer as "unthreatening," and I've never questioned it before, but upon examination it seems rather strange.

On the other hand, I didn't see Aida until near the end, so don't know how accurate that comment might have been at the time, but I definitely felt a sexual threat in the early scenes between Radames and Aida. Not a nasty or creepy one, but still something of a threat.

I do agree that Aida is somewhat the theatrical equivalent of a "chick flick." It has a story that appeals to women, not just girls, in my opinion, and that's a wonderful thing for us. I don't know about the "theater queens," by which the writer means gay men who like Broadway, I suppose.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 3:42pm

Yay - and AIDA discussion. Fitting, since tomorrow will be three months, and since I don't feel like doing my laundry.

Anyway, I agree that it is a bit of the equivalent of a "chick flick." No matter how much I beat to death my own opinion of its merits, it is, at its core, a sappy love story.

As for the (un)threatening sexuality.... I do have to say that when I saw Richard Blake as Radames, there were a lot fewer 'rough edges' to the character. He was a lot less commanding, and a lot less dominating than Adam's Radames. Adam's was those things, but he also had an inherent attractiveness to him - he carried himself like the cocky, confident soldier that Radames is (or at least begins as), and I always felt like it gave off a lot of sexual tension. Anyway, I never thought that Richard was quite able to fit into the role particularly well, even though at that point I only had a few fleeting memories of Adam by which to compare him. I think especially in those early scenes (around The Past is Another Land) there are definitely undertones of threat, but I'm not too sure that I'd classify them as purely sexual. Radames is the captain, and Aida his slave, but in that sense alone, there are a lot of different ways pieces of dialogue and some of the actions could be taken. I think that because of his nature, and the nature of the way that Adam portrayed him, the threat may have been somewhat sexual, but not entirely. And, be that threat sexual, it's not in a harmful sort of way, but in a way that begins those sparks of attraction. In my sadness, I spent a while talking to people about the things in the show that *did* invoke thought, one of those things being why Aida would ever fall in love with Radames. I always said that it seemed like Aida was everything that Radames wished he could be; he saw in her his own faults, and fell 'victim' to them. In the end, his love for her wasn't one of sexuality and lust, but one of respect. As for the comment you posted, Chloe, about Adam's "unthreatening sexuality," I'd venture to guess that that was the point; if he was really, truly a threat to her, they wouldn't have fallen in love, but rather there would've been a one-sided affair of lust.

Updated On: 12/4/04 at 03:42 PM

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 4:06pm

"In the end, his love for her wasn't one of sexuality and lust, but one of respect."

Absolutely. It seemed to me to start out as physical attraction but developed into love based on respect. As to why Aida would fall for him, part of that could also be her recognition of his *not* using the power he had over her. But I don't consider this a "sappy" love story, just a love story. Maybe I'm overly sentimental.

This article also made me think about the fact that Adam does have a lot of young fans, like a lot of you are on this thread. (Though I think his older fans like me might be pretty numerous, just not nearly so visible.) Why do you think that is? I have some ideas but want to hear other opinions too.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 4:17pm

All I can picture in my head is the Adam/Heather "Elaborate Lives." The chemistry between those two could light a fire. Towards the end, he got more and more relaxed about just how steamy that scene was.

Hmm.... as for the part about the age of fans - as I've been slowly absorbed into this sort of "community" I'm definitely seeing it does run the gammut. I feel like I'm sort of caught in the middle; I'm not that much older than the "young" fans, and signifcantly younger than the "older" fans, but (aside from the lax comments I've been known to make online) I find myself able to see both sides of the coin, I think. I was never really crazy about him when I was thirteen, fourteen or fifteen, and I think that maybe because I was older when I finally did see what was so special about him, that my "fandom" isn't purely based on the notion of "wow, he's gorgeous." (That's not to say that if you're young, that's what you're going to base it on, but to say that the "younger" fans *often* are most vocal about physical appearance.) I was talking to TGIF about this the other day, saying that in the past few months for us, this all has become a lot more of a personal thing than just seeing some attractive man strut his stuff on a stage in a huge theatre, and I think we attributed that to his music, and in the end, to respect for him as an artist - something which the *very* young fans may not be able to draw from yet. I also think that, in that hormone-ridden teenage stage, you're just more prone to want to express whatever you're feeling about someone like this... and, personally, like I said before, I see both sides. I see wanting to giggle a bit about him, and I see wanting to talk about the art that I love watching him create.

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 4:42pm

"Towards the end, he got more and more relaxed about just how steamy that scene was."

Do you mean it got less steamy? I have nothing to compare with what I saw last August. If so, why do you think that happened? By the way, a co-worker with backstage connections said she heard rumors that he had a crush on Heather Headley, but I have a feeling that it was the other way around.

Of course young teenagers are going to be all about the screaming, that's how it's always been, going back to Sinatra and beyond. My theory about young fans is related to all that stuff I started out talking about - he has sex appeal that is very warm, positive and emotionally available (and in that sense "unthreatening"), which is just what I think young girls need as they sort of venture out emotionally into this uncharted and sometimes dangerous-looking territory. That's a long and roundabout way of saying he seems like a nice guy, I suppose.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 4:52pm

Someone (I think it was NTG) shared a funny anecdote with me about Adam and his chemistry with the women who played Aida. At the stage door, someone was complimenting Saycon on her singing, and asked her how she held out those long notes, alluding somewhere to the idea that it must be rather difficult to breathe. Anywho, she responded "Stand next to Adam and you REALLY won't be able to breathe." Apparently he heard.
Adam and Heather were incredible to watch, both in character and out of character, and even years after she'd left the show. You could tell that there was an extremely deep connection between the two of them, and that they really loved and respected each other. Rumors flew for a while (mostly in the first year, I think) about stuff between Adam and Heather, as well as between Adam and Sherie. Who knows?

But yeah, I meant that it got less steamy. He never did it like he did with Heather with anyone else. He and Saycon were also great together, and there were times that I saw where he looked like he was at least trying, and times I saw where he looked like he didn't feel like bothering. I forget who it was that I saw him with, but when the lights came up after Elaborate Lives, he was just sort of flopped over next to her, barely kissing her neck, while I remember him quite blatantly being ON TOP of Heather. Perhaps the fact that he's not the world's best actor leaked in, mixed with whatever their off-stage relationship was like.

And.... nice guy? I'd certainly say so. The thing that's fun to see when you watch watch "Adam as Adam," not playing another role, is that although he is absolutely, stunningly gorgeous, there's a really sweet, accessible, "warm and fuzzy" side to him, and it's NOT all about the looks... from what we can tell, anyway.

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 5:37pm

Hmm. I guess I'd prefer to believe that Adam doesn't fool around, but, as you said, who knows? People like to talk, whatever the truth may be. (And I really am a sentimentalist, aren't I?) Anyway, the reason I thought my co-worker might have remembered wrong was that she had the idea that it was Heather who was married back then, so it seemed like she'd gotten it turned around.

Funny story about Saycon

I'm really enjoying Anthony Rapp's posts about the Rent rehearsals. That story about the cast going to his show was nice. I remember your mixed feelings about Adam doing this, but really, he doesn't seem to have ambitions to be a film star. It's a chance to put a final stamp on this part, reunite with important old friends, get his name out there and make some money. Would he want to leave his family for extended periods and have a lot less time for his own music by pursuing a film career? I doubt it. Doing Broadway shows is kind of ideal for him in that he doesn't have to leave home, has a fair amount of free time and makes a decent living.

[insomniak]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 5:41pm

I don't feel qualified to jump in and talk about Aida, but I just want to say thanks to Chole for that about him not being a famewhore and to the both of you for the intelligent posts that I've gotten to read.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 5:44pm

Wait... yeah. Heather just got married like a year ago... Adam's been for a couple of years. I forget when. Either way, I suppose there could have been feelings, but people do like to talk, ESPECIALLY, I'm sure, after seeing those two on stage.

I'm really starting to settle into this idea of the movie; it's really nice to be able to read Anthony's posts for a lot of reasons. I'm glad to know that Adam's safe and in one piece, but it's also so beautiful to read what he has to say about all of this. It's going to be an incredible experience for them to be doing this again together. And, the past few weeks has made it pretty apparent where his heart is. He'll be home soon.

ETA - didn't see ya sneak in there, nia!

Updated On: 12/4/04 at 05:44 PM

[insomniak]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 5:50pm

I'd like to believe that Adam doesn't cheat, but I really have know way of knowing, nor do any of us... but I wouldn't listen to everything people told me about him.

Agreed about the movie, Emcee. Anthony's posts are a little peek into what's going on. It's not quite the enigma it was in the beginning.

My two cents about Aida- It was good, but it had the potential to be great and didn't live up to it. The actors did a very good job with making the character's relationships believable.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 5:52pm

Three months. Manana. Time flies....

Anywho, probably just a rumor. I wouldn't worry. I read something about him once, describing his marriage (in the eyes of the fans) as "notoriously happy."

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:01pm

*Googler at work again* Adam got married in 1998.

Thanks, Insomniak!

Yeah, reading AR's posts almost feels like being there, doesn't it? I was particularly interested in the story about performing for the producers. It reminded me of something that happened on a movie that I'll hopefully be working on soon. The shoot was running over budget, so to reassure the studio, the editor put together a five minute sequence kind of in the form of a trailer, showing off the gorgeous cinematography and best bits they had so far. It seems to have done the trick.

I wish there were some chance I could work on Rent, but I think Columbus does all his sound work in SF.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:04pm

haha, I thought it was '98. Then I thought it was 2000. Then I realized that this wasn't information that really belongs at the top of my memory bank anyway.

Sounds like Columbus is doing as much as he can in SF, unfortunately.

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:19pm

"haha, I thought it was '98. Then I thought it was 2000. Then I realized that this wasn't information that really belongs at the top of my memory bank anyway."

One of my all-time favorite New Yorker cartoons (I think it's Roz Chast) is about how as you get older, you have to make room for new information. It shows a woman reading a magazine that says something like "Brad and Jen are splitting up again," while her "American history" file lies discarded in the nearby trash can. There's more stuff like that but... I can't remember. It's hysterical.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:20pm

And it seems quite true. If I only paid HALF as much attention to real, relevant things as I did to these kinds of discussions...

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:35pm

I feel like I have a trivia photocopier in my brain - every useless little tidbit gets stored away, but when it comes to remembering things like the name of a job from a couple of years ago, I tend to draw a blank.

[insomniak]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:40pm

Agreed. I don't remember 'important' things, but I don't really know much about celebrity gossip either. Which makes me wonder...

Just what is my head filled with?

Chole, if you do work on Rent or hear from someone who does, please let us know.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:43pm

My head is filled with tons and tons of random theatre trivia. I've always been really good at remembering random, useless stuff (why I love history so much, I guess) and everyone has an affinity for remembering stuff they like.
My friend makes such fun of me for how much random information I can spit out.

[insomniak]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:45pm

I LOVE useless information.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:47pm

Me too. The people who have to listen to it, however, do not.

[Chloe]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:48pm

"Just what is my head filled with?"

From what I can tell, a lot of witty and intelligent remarks.

"Chloe, if you do work on Rent or hear from someone who does, please let us know."

Of course - I hope someone I know gets to do it.

I'm afraid I bore people sometimes, coming out with an array of facts about native plants or ecology, for instance. I can't seem to help it.

[BroadwayDiva]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:51pm

Random, useless information is fun. I know WAY too much of it. But I guess everyone knows useless info about something.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:53pm

Yup, yesterday insomniak and I discussed the brain capabilities of goldfish. Vital info, if you ask me.

[insomniak]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:53pm

Aww, thanks Chole.

Did you know that .3% of all Canadian road accidents are caused by moose and that approximately thirteen people a year are killed by vending machines?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/4/04 at 6:56pm

Minor segue...

Book of Endings just rolled around on iTunes. You'll remember I posted about the 'little ones' at Adam's gig, rockin' out to this song? I read a post elsewhere today, where one of them was saying something like "Oh my God... it was like he was singing it TO US!" and was all excited about it. This is going to sound so awful of me, but I almost fell over laughing.