Confused about "I Am The One (Reprise)"- Page 3

[heo1128]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 3:03am

^Right, but (not that I subscribe to this theory, just to play devils advocate) Dan knows that Diana is seeing Gabe, and in an effort to show Diana that what she's seeing isn't really there and she needs to go back for more treatment, Dan pretends not to know what she's talking about.

However, I don't think ^ that was the intention. As I sort of mentioned earlier, I think Dan feels Gabe's presence, like having a huge weight on his shoulders that sort of looms over everything he does, but I don't think he physically sees Gabe as Diana does.
Updated On: 4/30/09 at 03:03 AM

[TheBoyDownstairs]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 11:07am

In all the times I've seen the show I've never thought that Dan sees Gabe the same way that Diana does, he is way too busy taking care of her and ignoring Gabe's existence.

When Diana leaves and his world starts to really crash all around him is when he is finally able to acknowledge Gabe, thats what makes the moment so great for me.

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 11:15am

i haven't read the whole thread, but i don't think dan really sees gabe. as well as what jordangirl said...

"Yankeefan007, I think you've got it. It's even hinted at in the lyrics of "I'm Alive" ~ "If you don't grieve me, you won't leave me behind.""

there is also the part in Song of Forgetting when Dan and Nat say "Memories don't die." i think he is just a memory and he doesn't actually see him. there are alot of clues that could go both ways with this question but from my opinion i'd say he does not see him.

[JazzSquare55]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 11:37am

FYI - "memories" can be visual/physical images, for certain people. Especially if they aren't totally right in the head.

think of the trauma Dan has gone through...

I think he DOES see him. But the only reason I think that is because every time I saw it, Dan NEVER looked at Gabe at the end (despite what everyone else is saying).

He either just stared away, turned to look & stopped himself, or even turned away. Trying to change up the emotional choices in that moment. I guess.

But it just adds to the confusion.

[clever name]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 12:04pm

TheBoyDownstairs, I saw it the same way. I was going to add to this thread almost the same thing you wrote!

..so,...what TheBoyDownstairs said.

[heo1128]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 1:57pm

JazzSquare that's interseting, because Dan NOT looking at Gabe would convince me even more that he doesn't see him. But I think when I saw it Dan did look at Gabe at the end, and I still believe that Dan doesn't see him.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 2:17pm

I never got the impression that Dan ever saw Gabe, until that final moment when he does finally acknowledge him. I saw Diana and Dan as extreme opposites when it comes to dealing with tragedy- Diana doesn't cope, Dan copes too much. And ultimately neither is healthy.

[JazzSquare55]

Posted: 4/30/09 at 4:48pm

good point, Kad.

heo - right. I agree. which is what confuses me, because why would he just be seeing Gabe now? Has he just been pretending not to this entire time?

[Harpz2006]

Posted: 5/8/09 at 10:53am

Ok, I just saw the show and I was confused too, but I think I get it now- I think a lot of us were taking the character of Gabe too literally. I think he is not really playing the kid so much as he is playing the loss that pervades the family, and when the dad says "Gabe" at the end, he is finally acknowledging that the loss is always with him too. When Gabe moves the purse so Natalie can get pills from it, it is representing how the loss affects Natalie and drives her to destructive behavior. I don't think Dan ever sees Gabe as a hallucination in the way Diana does, but he finally "sees" him in a different way in "I Am the One" (Reprise).

[lisaatje009]

Posted: 5/8/09 at 11:05am

I have another question about the 'I am the one (reprise)'. I'm from Holland so English isn't my first language, that's why I sometimes have a hard time understanding the lyrics.
Now, during this song I hear Dan & Gabe both sing the line:

I am the one who watched while you died.

I don't really get that. I can understand that Dan sings this to Gabe, but why does Gabe sing it to Dan?
This might sound like a really stupid question, but I just really want to know this.
Thanks in advance!

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/8/09 at 11:28am

Because in essence when Gabe died, who Dan was "died" in that that moment forever changed him. As he and Diana both sing in "How Could I Ever Forget" "The moment I lost you..." Both of them essentially died as the people they were before and were different people afterwards. And as he's been haunting the family, he's watched it continually crumble. More metaphorical death.

[kidmanboy]

Posted: 5/8/09 at 12:40pm

If we're going to take things EXTREMELY literally, then if Dan and Diana were both having hallucinations of their dead son, they wouldn't be seeing him at the same place, at the same time, saying the same things.

However, Gabe as a being is, I don't think, meant to be taken literally. He is a device to present the conflict in the other characters. The point isn't whether dan literally sees his son or not. The point is that he's trying to make believe that everything is OK and has ignored his own grief. Once Diana leaves, without the distraction of her illness, he finally has the chance to grieve for himself. It's one of the most touching, personal moments I've seen in the theater.

[lisaatje009]

Posted: 5/8/09 at 1:33pm

Thanks guys! That really helped. I am a huge fan of this show. Well, of the music, because I haven't seen the show yet. But I really want to understand it completely.

[DKBingaman]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 9:50am

This is what i got.
Dan had to be the rock and strong for Diana to help her. He could have seen Gabe or at least felt him there in some way but he had to pretend he wasn't in hopes that Diana would move on (and also for their daughter). When Diana left he is mad Gabe or his "spirit" did not leave with her, to continue 'haunting her' Then idk he comes to terms with gabe actually being there so he finally says his name then gabe could finally move on knowing his dad acknowledged him.

it makes more sense in my head haha. Again it is just what I got out of it. haha it could possibly he horribly wrong

[wendilin622]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:29am

I always assumed that Diana went into deep depression, hallucinations etc right after Gabe died. Because of her illness, Dan was never able to fully mourn his son. It wasn't until finally, when Diana left them, that he was able to realize the impact of what happened 16+ years ago. He finally LET himself mourn the loss of his son, therefore, through the mourning process he finally "saw" Gabe.

Granted, I only saw the show once, but I never got the impression that Dan ever saw Gabe until I Am the One Reprise. I thought that he felt Gabe, but that was more of an implication of Diana's illness than anything else.

This thread makes me want to go see it again.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:40am

There isn't a right or wrong as the WRITERS themsselves don't agree on how Dan "sees" him.

It's a matter of interpretation. My take is very much that in line with Wendilin's. (Gee what a shock!)

He's had to put his emotions on hold to deal with Diana. He THOUGHT he was ok with it and had moved on, and that he constantly thought of him BECAUSE of Diana's obsession/illness. He is suprised to find out that once she's gone, the memory of Gabe is still haunts him -- and now has to actually deal with HIS feelings of loss.

[steven22]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 11:49am

a side note:
according to Jessica Phillips facebook she is on today for the 3pm show! I would love to go into the city and see her but I can't!

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 12:12pm

I think that Dan has always been seeing Gabe but he just hoped he would eventually just go away. When he is forced to acknowledge Gabe, I no longer see Gabe as the antagonist for haunting Diana, I see him as being there to help them grieve. After "Hi, Dad", when he runs off, I think Dan will no longer see Gabe as he has gone to help Diana through the process of leaving her family. Once that is done, I think Gabe will go away and things will be peaceful.

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 8:52pm

Gabe is entirely a hallucination to Diana, and her mental illness causes her to literally see him. Dan is sane, and does not see Gabe as an 18-year-old;the last time Dan saw Gabe, Gabe was a very sick baby.

However, just because Dan does not see Gabe the way that Diana does doesn't mean that Gabe isn't present in his mind. In the "I Am the One" reprise, Dan is finally able to confront the fact that his son is dead, and in a way that leads to closure--previously, he has dealt with it by plunging himself into his work and into taking care of Diana. The reprise is not meant to hint that Dan has been hallucinating and now the hallucination is gone; it's meant to illustrate the fact that Dan has been able to accept the fact that his son is dead, grieve it appropriately, and move forward. The fact that the last scene before "There Will Be Light" consists of Dan talking to Natalie, and her turning on a light is meant to symbolize that Dan can now formulate a relationship with Natalie as his daughter, and not as a replacement-child for the one he lost.

This is all just my opinion, of course, and clearly I've spent way too much time thinking about this . . . but these are my thoughts on the reprise, anyway. I hope you enjoyed reading them!

[defygravity24]

Posted: 11/29/09 at 8:56pm

to Harpz2006: it's still in the show and I think he just hears Diana talking

[froggy2]

Posted: 11/30/09 at 3:19pm

LuminousBeing - I agree with you 100%. Maybe it's the english major in me talking, but I'm all about the symbolism!