Sunday, April 27, 2008

I saw something really special tonight.

Hostageawq1

The brainchild of my good friends and colleagues Kyle Jarrow (best known for the SCIENTOLOGY CHRISTMAS PAGEANT and his kick-ass band THE FABULOUS ENTOURAGE) and Clay McLeod Chapman (best known for the PUMPKIN PIE SHOW and his books) joined forces to create the musical HOSTAGE SONG.

I won't belabor the plot and circumstances: read about it here, here, and here.

We went to the closing tonight, and it was absolutely riveting. So often I see very good downtown shows that celebrate language and structure over passion, that embrace image and motif over the vibrant human stories of our times—this is a production that swims against the tide. The actors have their hearts in their hands at every moment on stage, and it's fantastic to see their real, raw risk—the risk they take that they will look like fools as they pursue this conceit down to the end, and it is because of their dedication and determination that they triumph.

We both gave a standing ovation at the curtain and I couldn't have been more moved by this pocket musical—incredibly tiny, but bursting with a life and vital joy that reminded me why I'm doing this.

Thank you.