Explain this to me!

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:19pm

Okay, here's a thread for all of you out there who don't understand something about a show, its plot, or anything. Just ask a question (or two or three or four) and it shall be answered.

Here's some stuff I'd like explained about Rent:

- If Mark is Jewish, why does his mother call to wish him a merry Christmas?
- Why does Roger frickin' explode at Mimi during "Another Day"?
- If Joanne is a Harvard-educated, successful lawyer, what's she doing on Avenue A with starving bohemians?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:23pm

Your subject line is so descriptive.

[Rudy2]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:23pm

What is that makes Herbie abandon Rose? Is it the fact that she is willing to sully her daughter by turning her into a stripper, or just the fact that she still wants to press on and not throw the towel in?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:25pm

I'm fairly certain Mrs. Cohen never wishes Mark a Merry Christmas. The first time she calls she just calls to say she loves him. The second time she wishes him a happy new year.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:29pm

We wanted to call and say we love you
And we'll miss you tomorrow
Cindy and the kids are here -- send their love
Oh, I hope you like the hot plate

Though she never explicitly wishes him a Merry Christmas, she implies that they are having a family Christmas celebration tomorrow and that she sent him a gift. I suppose they could either be a half-and-half family, or the first night of Chanukah could have fallen on Christmas Eve coincidentally (heh heh).

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:31pm

- If Mark is Jewish, why does his mother call to wish him a merry Christmas?
The cultural predominance of Christmas? That's always been my guess with that one.

- Why does Roger frickin' explode at Mimi during "Another Day"?
No real clue here. Unless it's just that temperamental artist interrupted thing.

- If Joanne is a Harvard-educated, successful lawyer, what's she doing on Avenue A with starving bohemians?
Doesn't she do work for the Legal Aid society or something like that? It seems like she likes doing some additional(?) pro-bono work. Plus she's in love with Maureen.

Those are my guesses.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:33pm

I'm a Jew, and live in a predominantly Jewish town. I haven't "celebrated Christmas", nor has anyone I know, since I was 9 and hated watching all my friends set up their Christmas trees. So that can't be it.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:34pm

I don't know... I know some Jews who "do cultural Christmas", but they're not really orthodox, so... I guess it depends on the person/community.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:35pm

She never says Merry Christmas. I think you're looking way too much into it. It's probably just a holiday get together with the family. Not a Christmas celebration.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 10:55pm

Chanukah never overlaps with christmas?

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 11:00pm

i am not religious at all and i celebrate Christmas because it's a holiday. presents, pretty trees with lights and decorations, a ****load of food, holiday spirt. it's not religious for me.

although, they do make it seem an awful lot like she is wishing him a Merry Christmas, so i understand why you'd question it.

as for Joanne i'm not sure that they explain how she and maureen got together, they could have met anywhere.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 11:03pm

-Why is the Flesh Failures called the Flesh Failures?
-What do the f*cking lyrics to the Flesh Failures mean?
-In 'The Wiz' movie, what happened to Todo! He just disappears!
-Why is Elphaba singing "I'm not that Girl" and complaining about how she's not good enough after Fieyro just heavily flirted with her?
-Where is 'All That Jazz' supposed to take place?

Sorry for my awful spelling. The computer I'm using does not have spell-check.

Updated On: 6/8/09 at 11:03 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 11:06pm

Corine does both, why can't Mark? Although a hot plate is definitely more of a Chanakuh present than an Xmas one.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 11:08pm

Why is Elphaba singing "I'm not that Girl" and complain about how she's not good enough after Fieyro just heavily flirted with her?"

So 12 year old girls can have a song to listen to while crying and looking at the picture of the "cool kid" in the yearbook who thinks she's a freak for showing up green every day wondeing why she has no friends.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 11:17pm

"I haven't ccelebrated Christmas', nor has anyone I know, since I was 9 and hated watching all my friends set up their Christmas trees."

I'm sorry to hear that. As my grandmother used to say: "No child should be without Christmas."

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 6/8/09 at 11:35pm

If Mark is Jewish, why does his mother call to wish him a merry Christmas?
I don't think it's Christmas. My Jewish friend celebrated Hannukah with her family on Christmas Day this year.

- Why does Roger frickin' explode at Mimi during "Another Day"?
Because he's still very vulnerable after the suicide of his girlfriend, April, not too long before Mimi comes along. He is afraid to get involved again, and people who are afraid often react in unnecessary anger.

- If Joanne is a Harvard-educated, successful lawyer, what's she doing on Avenue A with starving bohemians?
It's clearly stated that she works for Legal Aid, likely as a higher moral calling. She wants to help people with her law degree. While dealing with the clientele she does, she was likely around the area where Maureen lived, and they met.

-Why is Elphaba singing "I'm not that Girl" and complaining about how she's not good enough after Fieyro just heavily flirted with her?
Well, I think it's not his lack of interest, but her insecurity about her own appearance and personality. She feels like she doesn't want to get her hopes up as long as G(a)linda is around Fiyero, as she believes that since G(a)linda is blonde and pretty, etc, that she will lose Fiyero to her everytime. It's this fear that comes through in I'm Not That Girl.

Flesh Failures: I found a description of the meaning of this song. Basically, it has a lot to do with Shakespeare's writing, and I believe "Flesh Failures" itself was directly quoted from Shakespeare.

Verse by verse:
The first refers to people looking at each other desperately for answers that are not coming from the government. We stand proudly together in this horrible situation (the reference to winter is a reference to death usually in Shakespeare).

The reference to wearing smells from laboratories is very obscure but I suspect is a consumerist reference specifically referring to forms of colognes or other chemicals we use that would give us that smell of things constructed in laboratories - basically we are all trapped in the consumerist American culture built on things that are artificial like the chemicals we douse ourselves in every day.

Facing a dying nation of moving paper fantasy listening for the new told lies refers to the lies the government told the American people refers to the thousands sent to die to Vietnam and the lies the government told the American people about them that were told through a paper based bureaucracy.

With supreme visions of lonely tunes I can only hazard a guess refers to the godliness of man that is often alluded to in Hair and Hamlet, but while we are listening to the government's lies we look for the truth that is found in the beauty of man and in art and song - but the truth is each of us is lonely on this Earth and like Hamlet, we are alone in action and eternally seeking the truth.

The rest is easier:

The second verse refers to the beauty of man and the unknown equation that is life - Hamlet says "conscience doth make cowards of us all" (in reference to our inability to take our own lives rather than exist with the pain life brings). Instead of saying though why don't we kill ourselves, this poses people as being gods capable of greatness. I fashion my future on films in space refers not to "Film" like in a camera but is a more cosmic reference to the thin that creates our reality - this is a much more hippieish belief that we have control over our reality.

Silence tells me everything is a duel reference. It is a reference to learning the truth of the universe in death (this is echoed by the shakespearean reference to "the rest is silence" which refers to death). It is also probably (but not for certain) a reference to the truth learned in the silence that is found in meditation where one experiences the true self - this is a belief that is found in Eastern philosophies and is substantiated by the evidence of other similar philosophies sprinkled through the play (the Hare Krishna song, references to astral projection, etc.).

The reference with Claud making references to Romeo & Juliet & Hamlet ties him to the meaning of those plays more but more embraces the finality of his death as he embraces what he was in life but also that his stint on this world has ended.

The verse about singing our space songs on a spider web sitar is a reference to how all of the play prior has been a natural part of the cosmic existence as is Claud's death.

The reference to Timothy Leary doesn't fit quite as well but I submit that it has to do with whether Claud's use of drugs in life (and probably referring to his "trip" in the second half of the show) were real spiritual experiences that expanded his consciousness into the future, or were the hallucinations and drugs just that - I think it's saying that these drugs were positive and did let Claud expand his mind and spirit into the future.

The final bit is a plea based on the concept of Flower Children and also eastern philosophies where light equals truth and life (Love & Light is a frequent wish people who believe this wish each other). They say it 3 different ways reinforcing the importance of letting the truth into our lives, seeking it from the government, and a wish for peace in the world - that if we could all just let the sun shine into our lives, we would not fight, and we would not have to die like Claud did - so bring that message home with you.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 10:46am

"Why is Elphaba singing "I'm not that Girl" and complain about how she's not good enough after Fieyro just heavily flirted with her?"

Because G(a)linda also wants Fiyero and at first takes more initiative to try to win his heart. Because of that, Elphaba feels less confident in herself because she has green skin and G(a)linda has more desirable looks. Perhaps Elphaba did not pick up on the flirting as well.

"-Where is 'All That Jazz' supposed to take place?"

Well, in the movie, it takes place in a night club. In the musical, I am not sure.

Updated On: 6/9/09 at 10:46 AM

[Jon]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 12:04pm

"All That Jazz" takes place on the stage of a Broadway theatre, where a group of performers are re-enacting the story of Roxie Hart.

In the same vein, "Magic To Do" takes place on the stage of a Broadway theatre, where a group of performers are re-enacting the story of Pippin.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 12:28pm

Why do good things happen to bad people?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 12:35pm

In Shrek, Fiona sings about kiving in the tower with nothing and "very little headroom", but then later, she claims to be a gifted bowler...

Where does she bowl when locked in a tower?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 6/9/09 at 12:37pm

She probably bowled before she got in the tower...?

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 6/29/09 at 10:51am

In Wicked, what does the set in the opening (and closing) have to do with the show?
What is the point of the dragon?

In Spring Awakening, why is Hanschen masturbating to female?
What does the lyric 'I'm Gonna Bruise You' mean (I've asked that question before and I've never gotten a straight answer)?

[rwlevin]

Posted: 6/29/09 at 11:02am

The dragon clock is insanely important in Wicked the book. Elphaba's born in the clock. The Grimmerie comes from the clock. The clock is the exposition machine and fills in the loopholes of the Wicked mythos. In some ways, the dragon clock is in the musical just to say "see? this is based on the book. We even included the clock."

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/29/09 at 11:17am

Hanschen isn't necessarily gay. He's an equal opporutunity sexual predator.


I'm gonna bruise you is simple: This is the begining of something big....and I'm going to get my heart broken and you are going to break my heart. First love....but still realizing it's not forever.

And I know I've answered that question here before.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 6/29/09 at 11:23am

^

I think you answered that for me, but I was still kind of confused because someone else had answered that question differently. Maybe that's the point of the lyric, to be interpreted in different ways.