This past week marked a milestone in my life. Twenty years since I met Ed Briggs. The most amazing many I have ever met.I am happy to say, now husband. I am looking forward to the summer with the Supreme Court makes us legal across the land.I met Ed in 1993 at the National March on Washing for Gay and Lesbian Rights, Or the March. Although he had been at a party I hosted the night before, so were 1800 other men. When we did meet, it was literally a one in a million chance. According to estimates there were a million people on the Mall that day to march for GLBT equality.
There were groups marching representing differing geographic locations, fetishes, sports and gender preferences. I was looking for people with the leather community when I ran into some men that I had met at a FFA party on Thursday night. Although hot, hot, men, by the time Sunday rolled around I was just plain wiped-out . That along with the fact that I had a dozen people staying in my small basement apartment meant no privacy.
In an attempt to make a graceful exit, I notice a cute little stud on the hill about 50 feet away. Feigning surprise I told the guys that I just spotted a friend that I had net seen in years. I made a bee-line over to him, gave him a hug as I whispered in his ear; “I’ll give you $20 bucks if you pretend that you know me and walk out of sight of the guys behind me. He did, we walked away together and have been walking together every day for the past 20 years. He never did ask for the $20.
The funny thing is that later when Going through pictures I had taken that day, I found a picture of him from before we met.
We spent the rest of the day together having dinner at Mr. Henry’s on Capitol Hill. In one of the first signs of Synchronicity, one of the people staying with me during the march had been dating Ed’s friend he came to the march with. Having spent almost 19 years with this man I will have more to write about and the things I have learned. But as a quick introduction, when we met Ed was active with the Spartan Wrestling Club in Philadelphia where he lived. For the first year, one or the other of us made the trip to Philly or DC every weekend. We finally moved into together in Philly then a year later moved to Florida.
To celebrate the occasion, We spent a week in Spain. Maybe it’s a sign of age, but I preferred the city of Madrid to Barcelona.
About twenty years ago I went to Mardi Gras and stayed with my oldest (long term) friend Scott Newman. Scott had been after me to come try this card reader. He was trying to figure her out because she was so good and on target. He thought she was the real deal. As a person who has seen and talked to dead people since I was very young I love to debunk frauds and others when ever necessary so they don’t do harm. He took me to Jackson Square where she has a booth and I paid my $20. She did a tarot spread which I recognized from doing my own readings. She looked at me and then the cards and back at me. FInally she asked if there is some one in my life – name beginning with the letter “J”. I responded “Lady that is not even a 1 in 12 shot since there are are more Jack and Judy and Janet’s than Xenna’s. She blurted back ok Jeff. I was taken back. Jeff was the name of the kid I was dating at the the time. Seems like every time one of us wanted to settle down the other one did not. Went on like this for two years. I responded back to the woman “Maybe”. not wanting to give to much away. She said that he and I had been at it for 5000 years and we still couldn’t get it right. Along with some other things she said I was convinced that she was the real deal. Before I left she said my life would be changed in a month or so. A month and a half later I met. Ed.
The story doesn’t end there. I went back for Southern Decadence that year and was walking through Jackson Square. The woman recognized me from six months earlier and wanted to read my cards again. (I don’t think she need cards to read.) I went over to her booth and was told that I was not dating that kid anymore but had indeed found a soul mate. By that time Ed and I were and solid item. So maybe after twenty years I still believe that I have a soul mate and I can relax a bit.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to see both shows as part of my anniversary present from Ed. Never has my reaction to back-to-back shows been so dramatically different.The shows were chosen by Ed. Ghost for it’s part in our first dust-up as a married couple. Spiderman because Ed is a Marvel and DC geek and we had heard that it had been retooled and was much better.
When I see a Broadway Musical I am not expecting a deep, thought provoking message or revelation. I am expecting to entertained and walk away with a song in my heart (or at least the head). Neither of these show attempted to be shows like Les Mis, Rent or Chess. Both were billed as fun entertainment.
In judging a show I look to Story, Songs, Cast and Crew.
The STORY:
My picture of the Theater housing Ghost.
Ghost. The Story of Ghost is well known to most. (Except to me as one of the dozen people who had not seen the movie). Sam is shot and killed and then tries to save Molly from harm from the killer. The sub plot involves the work “ditto”. Simple, Straight forward, and easy to follow.
Spiderman. The Story of Spiderman was more convoluted. The play started out with a scene or two about the mythos of spiders and a lesson in entomology partially set to music. The story then changed to Peter Parker being bullied, becoming Spiderman getting revenge on bullies then losing uncle and getting an arch enemy and a girl. It was difficult at best to follow the story since the sub plots would bounce around and be interrupted by songs that did not fit the scene or add to the story. That brings me to Songs.
SONGS.
Ed outside the theater of Spiderman
Spiderman. The songs in Spiderman were written for the most part by Bono. To be fair, Bono has had some hits and a few good “story-based” songs (Sunday, Bloody Sunday or Still Haven’t Found What I Was Looking For). It is clear, as a Broadway writer, Broadway hasn’t found what it’s looking for. The songs added little to move the story and in fact after they were over, I was left wondering, What? A chorus sang the first song about Arachnophobia. It sounded muffled and with no clear lead, only about every other word was clear. The music did nothing to move the shown and basically served as a distraction from the bad writing and acting.
Ghost. The music in Ghost actually worked. It moved the story and in many cases was able to set a mood and provoke strong emotions. Songs like Are You A Believer?, I’m Outta Here, Focus, and Sam’s version of Unchained Melody lightened the mood. Here Right Row, More, and Suspend My Disbelief were upbeat and added to the story. And of course there were songs that opened the buckets of tears throughout the audience. If you have ever lost a partner, the song “With You” will open wounds thought to be long closed. The hurt and pain came through loud and actually almost to clear, for me.
CAST
This is the part that Ghost really differs itself from Spiderman.
If the producers of Spiderman were aiming for a Peter Parker in the throes of adolescence half child half man they sort of succeeded. When Reeve Carney sang it sounded like a teen whose voice was in the midst of changing. Struggling to reach notes sometimes soft sometimes loud.
Patrick Page as Osborn could not make up his mind as to whether he was going to over act Mike Meyers Dr. Evil or Fredric March’s Dr. Jekyll. In what should have been a misty eye emotional scene, as Osborne realizes his wife is dead, he lets loose with a howl that elicited laughs from the audience.
The rest of the cast was stiff and uncertain. There was no chemistry between the characters with the exception of Parker and the Bullies who had every reason to make fun of Parker. This was a sharp contrast between Spiderman and Ghost.
Ghost:
You could feel the chemistry between Sam (Richard Fleeshman) and Molly (Caissie Levy) in every corner of the Theater. Of course they were also the leads that opened the show in London and Manchester before that. There was never any doubt that it was a love story between these two. From their bio’s it was clear that these two were the best available.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph proved to be a more believable Oda Mae Brown than Whoppie Goldberg. Her presence and costumes help to give her a stage presence worthy of a Tony nomination.
Bryce Pinkham played a truly convincing villain. During curtain call there was a strong urge to boo him as a Snidely Whiplash villain instead of cheering a actor who succeeded in creating an illusion.
THE CREW
By crew I mean the technical aspect of the show. Again Spiderman comes up as shoddy and not worthy of a high school production in Paramus, New Jersey. The set was as cheep as a high school reusing boards used in very show for the past decade. Nothing was solid. As to the special effect that are wowing the B&T crowd that are the mainstay of the show they fell flat. How special is the flying Spiderman being held up by 6 distracting cables? The costumes varied from the regular cast and the Alice in Wonderland characters in stylized clothes and big head masks. All incredibly distracting. The lighting was more appropriate to a concert production with lots of flashing lights and other tricks to distract from an otherwise flat show.
GHOST:
Me, Ed Cassie Levy and Richard Fleeshman
On the other side of the spectrum is Ghost. From the moment of Sam’s death where he moves out of his fallen body on stage left to stage right in one seamless move I was left trying to figure out how they did it! It got so bad that I actually lost my place in the show because I was so fixated on trying to figure out the tricks, I would almost miss the next one. It is easy to go through a wall in a movie where film (or now computer animations) can be manipulated. It is impossible to do in live with out it looking fake. Well the crew of Ghost did it; flawless and with ease. My best guess was the use of holograms. Even then I could not be sure what was real and what was a hologram. I will see the show again just to watch the effects.
The weekend will be remembered as a weekend of extremes. On one side, probably the worst show I’ve ever seen, including Toni Tennille in Victor Victoria. On the other side, Ghost and one of the most entertaining nights I’ve had in a theater. As I said, I will see Ghost again. I hope you get a chance to see it with this cast.
This past week Ed and I celebrated our anniversary. 19 years ago we met in Washington DC at the March on Washington. One year ago on the same date, we got married and the US Courthouse in Washington DC. A more in-depth revelation of the day we met can be found here.
There is a certain synergy to this weekend in New York. The connection is Ghost.
I am writing this today while flying to New York to see a few shows for our anniversary. This brings full circle the “incident” on our wedding eve that almost derailed the wedding.
Last year as we prepared to actually get married, Ed and I decided that we would write vows. Not to be used in place of the ceremony used by the Clerk of the Court, but to exchange between ourselves. We both spent time, energy and heart writing them. I thought, since we both have a love of good movies, that mine would have a theme. I tried to incorporate as many movie lines into mine as I could remember.
The night before we got married we sat in our hotel room in Washington DC, Ed in my lap, and I gave him my “vows”. He read them, a little misty eyed, looked at me, and said ditto. I started to fume.
Is that is? Ditto? I poured hours into this and all you can say f@*kn say is ditto?!?!
I was pissed, or hurt, or just flummoxed. Any sense of romance was gone. My mind was racing trying to convince myself not to totally blow up and cancel the wedding. It took 18 years to get me to the alter and all he could say was f@*k ditto! I could not believe that Ed could act so callous. It was so out of character for him. Maybe it was just nerves hitting. I could not understand. I was nearly ready to head out the door for a long walk before he realize that I was truly upset and not projecting faux pain and indignation. Then he ask – “have you never seen the movie Ghost?” “No, I hadn’t! And I hadn’t seen Porky’s 3 either.” (see above comment about love of “GOOD” movies).
Since that night, I have come to find out that I am one of the few dozen people in the industrialized world who had not seen Ghost. Every person that weekend and after I went to for reassurance that I had been wronged squealed that that was the perfect response. Even our straight, 6’4″ 290 pounds of muscle, trainer congratulated Ed on a great response. I had been wronged damn-it and I kept looking for someone, anyone, who would back me up on that. Finally, four months later I found someone who had not seen ghost. They were from Europe but none the less she had not seen ghost. However once Ed explained the reason for his response, she “awww, that’s so sweet.
Today, after a year of trying to find someone who would let me play aggrieved victim or romance, I give up. I concede that that was a great response and I was really upset that I didn’t think of it first. Let me be clear. What Ed had written was beautiful and made me misty (actually I tear up at McDonald’s Olympic ads).
All that is a prelude to this weekend. For our anniversary, Ed is taking me to Broadway to see “Ghost the Musical.” I’ll let you know later how many Kleenex I go through.
As for the rest of the wedding eve, I calmed down and we headed out to the DC Eagle for our bachelors’ party. And no, you can’t see those pictures!
The other show we are seeing Saturday is Spiderman! Cannot wait!
This past week marked a milestone in my life. Twenty years since I met Ed Briggs. The most amazing many I have ever met.I am happy to say, now husband. I am looking forward to the summer with the Supreme Court makes us legal across the land.I met Ed in 1993 at the National March on Washing for Gay and Lesbian Rights, Or the March. Although he had been at a party I hosted the night before, so were 1800 other men. When we did meet, it was literally a one in a million chance. According to estimates there were a million people on the Mall that day to march for GLBT equality.
Bits of Memory 