Ken
and I had planned to arrive at the Palace Theatre
no later than 12:00 noon. I had just seen the show
the night before and so I was someone tired, but I
got up and took a shower. After putting clothes on,
I gave him a call. No answer. I sent him an IM and
still no answer. I wasn't too worried because it was
still early. I also knew that he had gone to a club
the night before to see one of the cast members play
with his band. I decided to just go to breakfast with
my roommates and if he called then we'd go. If not,
I knew I had seen two great shows in the days past.
During
breakfast, I got a call from Ken apologizing that
he had not called. My suspicions were correct and
he had been recovering from the night before. He said
that he wasn't sure if he was going to rush or not,
but he would give me a call. I figured it wasn't going
to happen so my roommates and I went back to our dorm,
went into the basement and played ping-pong. My cell
phone gets no reception in the basement so when I
went upstairs I got a message from Ken saying that
he was downtown and in line. He said that there was
still room for me to buy tickets for Jen and I but
I had better hurry up and get down there. I called
Jen, who wasn't in the dorm, and told her what was
going down. Much like Ken, she was out of it. She
said that she wouldn't be able to make it down there
in time and that she wouldn't be going. I wasn't mad
at all because I still wanted to rush.
I took
the bus downtown and met up with Ken at about 12:30.
His friends had also canceled on him so it was just
him and me. Around us were a diverse group of people.
There was a bummy looking guy with a blanket and missing
teeth. There was a nice, middle class looking man
who was also in front of us. Behind us was a man and
his wife and behind them was a rather small black
guy who was waiting alone. Ahead of us was a rather
large group of annoying RENTheads who were like fanatics
of the show. They brought the RENT bible (contains
all the information of the show, including interviews
with original cast, libretto etc.) Ken offered to
just buy my ticket for me since he was allotted 2
tickets. I gave him my money and we waited.
The
group spent most of the time just talking, what more
could we do? Conversation ranged from different Broadway
Shows to how clean downtown Columbus was. Time seemed
to pass like the wind, not to fast not too slow. Ken
told us some stories about his past rush experiences
where he was forced to sit outside. We were fortunate
enough to wait inside the theatre. He also told us
how one time, it was raining and the only shelter
he had was a sleeping bag. I was having a ball just
listening to him.
Something
strange did happen. A guy who looked no older than
me walked into the theatre dressed in hip-hop gear
and talking on a cell phone. He walked up to the bummy
looking guy and started talking to him. Now, I had
been wondering why this bum was in line. I knew that
RENT attracted some strange people, but this guy was
more than out of place. We didn't hear the two's conversation,
but we had concluded that this young guy paid the
bum to stand in line for him. Sure enough, we were
right and I didn't know if that was a punk way out
or really smart. The whole fun in rushing is getting
to know the people around you and then seeing a really
great show with them. This guy came in half way and
had a spot. It didn't help that he looked like a 17
or 18 year old who looked like his parents spoiled
him to death with his nice clothes and his Ford Explorer.
The bum left and this guy replaced him. Ken being
the nice guy that he was began conversing with him
and boy was I wrong about him. He was actually 32
or 33 years old and an author. He had his own business
and a book out. He, like Ken, had traveled a lot to
different country and was actually a nice guy. He
even gave us his card with information about his book.
During our wait time, there was a matinee going on.
One of Ken's friends, whom I knew, had come out during
the intermission and said hi. They both went out for
a smoke.
The
time flow by and soon it was time for us to get our
tickets. I gave Ken my money and he purchased my ticket
for me. We were both hungry so we went to the nearby
mall to pick up some food. Accompanying us was the
couple who waited behind us. We knew what place we
wanted to go to but didn't know exactly where it was
so we ended up walking to mall searching for it. During
that time, we met up with a few of the cast members.
They knew Ken because he had been to the show so many
times that week. They all spoke to each other like
they were old friends. It was just psyched to meet
them. We finally found the place to eat and we all
got burgers. We soon saw two more cast members from
the show who knew Ken. He also ran into another cast
member in the bathroom who also knew me from the night
before. It was certainly very interesting seeing so
many of them in one period of time.
It was
soon time for the show and we made our way back to
the theatre. Ken and I talked about Columbus and he
pointed out some places that I might want to go to.
Our seats were nice. I was center and he was just
next to me. It was strange being so close. See, when
you rush, they set up seats where the orchestra pit
generally is. Since the pit is covered, basically,
we are on the main floor. Soon, the people we had
spent 6 hours with were showing up and taking their
seats. Ken went through his traditional stage stretch
where he leaned against the stage and took in the
view of the house. I did the same. I was just enjoying
being so close.
The
show was amazing. Although the audience was not so
hyped, the cast was. They put on a great show for
us. One cool note. One of the cast member smiled at
me when he saw me in the audience. No, it was not
one of those, he looked in a general direction and
smiled and I took it as him smiling at me. I am not
a groupie like that. He actually saw me, I smiled
and he smiled back. We chatted for a while after the
show and he said he saw me cheesing in the audience.
The entire cast was so nice and stayed awhile to talk.
The
night ended with Ken talking me back to my dorm. He
is a great guy and since that day, he has been watching
my back here in Columbus. When I didn't go home for
Thanksgiving, he invited me to dinner with his family.
I am glad to know the guy. I plan to kidnap the guy
so we can see the show in Cleveland in January. You
guessed it. I plan on rushing there too. Maybe Jen
will come since it is her home.
