RENT "Contact" Question

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 8:54pm

I saw the tour 2x this past weekend and I still don't get the song "Contact." I mean, I get what is going on in the song, but what are the actors doing? On stage right, there are three actors, and they're on the phone, what exactly is suppose to be going on? And the actors on the left are just grinding and doing some really laughable type dancing, any idea? I think I would prefer the song if they just had a big sheet on stage with the actors inside of it.

[tourboi]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:02pm

The folks on the phone are supposed to represent the phone sex lines...the people grinding are supposed to be at an explicit dance club...

Bottom line? Its abstract staging depicting sex.

[rbxprs]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:03pm

They are having an orgy aren't they?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:04pm

No. It's symbolic.

[TWSFan4Ever]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:04pm

what tourboi said...

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:30pm

No, yeah, I get the POINT of the scene, but I didn't get the phone thing at all. They were just sitting there staring off into space while singing. Maybe it was just poor acting, or maybe they themselves didn't really understand what they were suppose to be doing. Who knows.

[actor]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:30pm

The song "Contact" is about sex and death. The end.

[winston89]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 9:54pm

As someone that has seen the Broadway production 31 times I know exactally what is going on in that song. No one on the phone. At least on the broadway version Mark gets a call from alexi darling and he has the phone in his hands when she leaves him a voice mail. When she is done he just drops the phone. The actors on the wall are representing how AIDS gets transmitted. Guys having sex with girls, girls having sex guys, guys with guys and girls. The whole thing with angel is him on his way to heaven. The singing he does is supposed to be his life flashing before his eyes to the night he got aids. He ends his solo on high note cus thats supposed to be him getting an orgasam with his lover at the time.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:00pm

"The actors on the wall are representing how AIDS gets transmitted."

Maybe that's how you took it, but you're wrong.

They aren't showing how AIDS is spread, they are having sex (in a representational way).

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:06pm

my God winston HOW F-ING STUPID CAN YOU BE? You obviously need to watch it 31 MORE times, and then maybe, just maybe you'll get it........sheesh that is about the dumbest thing I've heard on these boards EVER.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:11pm

For the record, Winston is pulling this out of his ass. There's no official explanation for the stage directions and definitely nothing along those lines.

[wackjack132]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:12pm

Well hey, lets ease up guys.

First off, the tour is non-equity meaning they can change some stuff. They obviously added the guys on the phone, because I didn't remember it from the B'way show either.

And secondly, Contact is, as people have said, about death and sex. The dancers are representing the dark, promiscious sex. While the characters under the blanket represent sexual relations with a partner, they're safe and covered (protected from the dangers of sex) but they are also not having this wild provacative orgy the people on stage left are.


At least that's how I see it

[actor]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:17pm

There is NO need for a debate. The people against the fence are having sex. The End. There is no debate. The people under the blanket are ALSO having sex. Angel is dying. Therefore, the song is about SEX and DEATH.

There is no more need for a discussion.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:20pm

Actor, calm it down, we're not "debating." The questoin was what was the point of the phone.

Also, why is Mark under the blanket? Who exactly is he having sex with?

[actor]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:21pm

"Mucho Masturbation"

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:23pm

I will hunt down and stab the person that responds to that question with "mucho masturbation".

The phone is not used on Broadway; the other ensemble members (there's 3, I think) that aren't dancing stage left are just kind of standing downstage right, around where the phone is. They're singing along with the principles for purposes of having a stronger chorus sound. Their presence is for practical purposes, that's it.

ETA: actor, you're going down.

Updated On: 11/13/06 at 10:23 PM

[bwaylover86]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:29pm

I think this can be interpreted in many different ways and should be- Rent means something different, maybe similar, but different to everyone so that scene can be taken any way it wants to be. If there is no "official" reason given, then who knows who is right and who is wrong?

As for the phone, I have never seen a phone in the broadway production and I have seen it many times...

and as for Mark being under the blanket, maybe its because they just needed him on stage lol i dont think there is really an answer to that but I think its also supossed to represent the group as a whole and their friendship and when they take off the blanket and Angel has died they are all facing away from each other and separate because they are being broken apart by the death and all the other things going on.
He is not having sex with anyone necessarily, which is why people think it is an orgy I think. Maybe there is "mucho masturbation" going on

This is not to be taken as fact, just my opinion so please don't jump down my throat. As I said before, this scene can be taken a million different ways and is just opinion here.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:30pm

Well in the tour they do the same sort of thing skittles. I just didn't understand the directorial purpose of it. And I'm not sure I agree with it. And I still don't why Mark's under the blanket. I think it would have been stronger to have mark down stage right by himself. This would play up the whole "mark is alone" thing.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:31pm

Actor,

Your posts make my skin crawl.

If you haven't seen the non-equity tour, please don't speak as if you know it.

[wackjack132]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:33pm

Just fyi, I'm not jumping down any throats: But this post was about something seen in the TOURING production, not the B'way. So yes, there is no phone group in the B'way production, but there is one in the touring company.


I don't think it matters much...they just did something different with the people who were left kind of standing around during the song. I thought it added a nice touch and looked quite awesome.

[actor]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:38pm

I have not seen the touring performance...what is different about it (besides the phones)?? It was simply a joke...RentBoy86 said "Also, why is Mark under the blanket? Who exactly is he having sex with?" and I responded by saying that Mark was masturbating.

I don't understand why theatrediva said "If you haven't seen the non-equity tour, please don't speak as if you know it."

Can you explain this to me?

[tourboi]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:40pm

Someone *IS* on the phone. I speant six months on the road with RENT. Trust me.

They're supposed to be phoning a sex line.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:41pm

Look, all I'm doing is asking an opinion. If you thought it looked "awesome" - tell me why. I thought it didn't make any sense, but I guess they wanted the "sound." They should have just put the actors up above the band.

[tourboi]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:42pm

BTW...forgot...the purpose of the guys on the phone is to show one more way that people take part in sexual activity.

[wackjack132]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 10:48pm

Well, I thought it was pretty cool because it added a new twist to a song that already was really well coereographed and blocked. I'd only seen the B'way production twice (which I loved beyond reason) so I guess the fact that it was new was what appealed to me the most. Plus I thougth it was just another interesting addition to the Sex theme of the song. I mean...it was already INCREDIBLY sexual, but I thought it kind of covered the last way you could have sex back in the day. I mean you had the Phone Sex, Club Sex, and the Partner Sex.

And whoever said that if you've seen a non-equtity tour don't talk - or something to that extent - why don't you get off your high stool and get some taste? Sure non-eq tours aren't as "classy" or high-scale as the Equity productions, but they add new takes on the show, only some of the time, and give a bunch of new actors a chance to start a career.