The Official Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, part two- Page 4

[Shiksa Goddess2]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 2:04pm

He's such a great actor, I can't wait to see him live.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 2:13pm

I saw the Company thread. It was asking why no one knew about it and I was listening to Company as I was reading it!

I can't wait to see Raul onstage again.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 4:50pm

Have you guys seen this before?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 4:51pm

Yes, but he looks amazing.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 4:55pm

I hadn't, so it's cool that you posted it.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 4:56pm

Thanks, but come to think of it, I have no idea how or where I obtained that picture...

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 5:05pm

[Shiksa Goddess2]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 9:33pm

SO CUTE!!!! *huggles Raul/Norbert picture*
Updated On: 1/28/06 at 09:33 PM

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 9:35pm

*joins the Raul love*

[ElphieDefiesGravity]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:04am

*kisses thread*

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:05am

Oh Gav! I haven't seen either one of those pictures. They are both fantastic! Thanks for posting them! I *adore* the one with Norbert!

ETA: I wish I had a really great picture of Raul and Michael Cerveris.

Updated On: 1/29/06 at 12:05 AM

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:35am

I found this on LJ.

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:36am

I've seen that floating around on LJ as well.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:38am

Not really so flattering.

[CanadianSnowbird]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:39am

I think it's cute.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:46am

It's weird. There are much better pictures of him out there to use as icons, and I don't see very many Raul icons anyway. Other than mine, I've seen one other the entire time I've been on LJ.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 12:48am

A lot of people make them, but not many use them.

What's yours on LJ?

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 1:51pm

No idea to post this, but I suppose that it’s tangentially related here. I finished Kramer's The Destiny of Me yesterday. I enjoyed it to some extent, but as I pointed out in my reflection/mini-review of The Normal Heart on the first Raul thread, I'm generally not a fan of plays as a form of reading... and this was the very sort of play that reminds me why. It's a very busy play in terms of so much going on all at once. I think I'd have much rather seen it live than read it and tried to imagine it in my head. This is also a play where character development is a problem for me. In a novel, it's possible to describe someone as a multifaceted personality, a thing which typically is difficult to do with dialogue alone.

On the other hand, I did enjoy the look into "Ned"'s early life and how he became his outspoken (understatement of the century) adult self. It still seems so bleak, though…. the Ned that we see in the play has (publicly, anyway) given up on fighting. He feels that most of it has been for nothing. The Normal Heart is the sort of play that will rip you apart with anger and heartache, but the style of The Destiny of Me somehow lends itself to emotional detachment. TNH was clearly written to wake people up and shake them out of complacency by any means necessary, but The Destiny of Me seems to be more of a play that Kramer wrote for himself as a means of reconciling with things from his past. It’s a very personal piece of theatre. There are parts of it that are very powerful, though overall it doesn’t make for as inspiring reading as The Normal Heart.

So, erm... sorry for the threadjack! Back to Raul... do you think that it'd be interesting to see him play this version of Ned Weeks when he's older?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 1:56pm

I love that play. A lot of people say it's the better of the two, simply because it's the more blatantly theatrical of the two. It's more conventionally theatrical, structure-wise, to me, whereas The Normal Heart is heightened intensity and in-your-face.

I saw Raul read an excerpt from it, with John Cameron Mitchell as Alexander. It was the part where he was remembering going to see shows, and singing a song from Showboat.

I always say that when he gets a little bit older, I'd give anything to see him play Ned again, in The Destiny of Me.

Updated On: 1/29/06 at 01:56 PM

[Bohemian1232]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 1:58pm

I read The Destiny of Me the day after I read The Normal Heart, and I liked it. I do think that TNH is more powerful and I enjoy more overall.

I'd love to see him play Ned again when he's older.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 1:59pm

I think that's definitely true about it being more conventionally theatrical, but that's also why I would more prefer to see it performed than read it.

Seeing Raul do that excerpt was probably amazing, I'd imagine.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 2:04pm

It was. Seeing those two sing together was like icing on the cake!

He just had that character so burned into him. I remember seeing the transformation happen like... RIGHT in front of me, and it was amazing.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 2:06pm

I read The Destiny of Me right after I read TNH for the first time. While I understand the idea that it's more theatrical, I kind of prefer TNH because it's real and it's in your face. I'm reading Angels in America right now and because everyone seems to group TNH and these plays together with "And the Band Played On" as like "The AIDS triology" or something ridiculous like that, I can't help but compare them. I guess because I'm more of a logical thinker, TNH had a much greater impact on me than Angels in America is having. Like, all the dreams and delusions and voices are almost too theatrical for me to be able to see the real-world relevance of it.

The Destiny of Me, while it's been a few years since I last read it, kind of bugged me because I expected it to be TNH: Part 2 and continue in that same vein. The fact that it completely switched gears and focused more on Ned's own issues rather than Ned's issues with society made it completely separate. I liked and agreed with Ned's issues with society, but I guess I just couldn't relate to him on a personal level.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 2:10pm

TNH had a greater impact on me than Angels in America, and I think it was for two reasons. One, obviously because I saw it happen in a theatre, before my eyes. Film usually can't affect me the way theatre can, as good and impactful as the AiA movie was. But also, I think that sadness affects me more. I remember getting an e-mail about TNH and thinking that I might like it because I loved AiA so much and it dealt with a similar theme. I had NO idea what I was getting into. AiA has a far more hopeful tone to it, and while it really got me, it didn't as much as seeing something as painful at TNH.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 2:22pm

Right! Exactly, Skittles, you pretty much exactly described my feelings about the play. It's a complete switch of gears, which is fine, but it's difficult to relate to the characters in TDOM. The societal issues in The Normal Heart bring the characters and audience/readers together automatically, whereas it's not necessarily easy to relate to them on a personal level.

I haven't read or seen Angels in America, although I should. I'm also one of those people who is more impacted by tragedy, Emcee.

I know that it's so stupid and nitpicky, but... the science in The Destiny of Me, is that for real? It seems to be a gross oversimplification of even an early-'90s experimental AIDS treatment. The way that they talked about the virus and genetics, it just.... yeah. I don't know if that's what they actually thought then (which is totally possible) but as a biology major I was defintiely scratching my head throughout a lot of the hospital scenes.