Here I Go

After a successful day at Broadway Flea Market, I’m sitting on my bed resting my tired feet, sipping a Starbucks iced mocha while one of my favorite goodies from the day, an opening night gift from If/Then sits beside me as re-runs of NCIS play quietly in the background. During a commercial break an ad for If/Then plays. I’ve seen this add before on the USA channel a few times-I honestly think that it’s one of the best theater adds currently making the rounds on New York TV screens and for some weird reason it felt oddly different in a good way watching this add knowing that the opening night gift is literally a mere 2 inches from my hand. I can’t explain it or the odd feeling that I had-I mean it’s one of those labyrinth puzzles that always seemed as elusive to beating as a rubix cube that just happens to have the show title, opening night date and a quote from the show “working the problem” stamped on it. It’s a puzzle and a TV ad but for some reason it got me thinking. I know that I’ve shared my story about how I discovered Broadway and musical theater when I was younger but I can’t help but think about how Idina Menzel is part of that story and in a sense like her new brilliant show, my If/Then story.

The first time that I was introduced to the work of Idina Menzel was when I was about 13. Still relatively new to the world of theater my aunt had rented the just released on DVD film version of Rent for my cousin and I to watch. Just like Annaleigh Ashford mentions in first Show People Interview with Paul Wonterek, my aunt heard that was big hit on Broadway and thought that my cousin and I would like the movie. Well, we didn’t exactly make it all the way through, we didn’t understand most of the references and the plotline-I like to attribute that to the fact that it was past midnight and we were tired! We turned it off and back it went to Blockbuster. Later on though (to clarify not that same night but a while later) I was watching YouTube videos of Idina and Kristin and the rest of the original company of Wicked when I was going through my big Wicked phase. It was one of those days when I would watch one video and then keep clicking on other ones in the related videos and the next thing you know its hours later (and don’t tell me that you haven’t done that too!) I ended up watching many Idina videos and fell in love with her old solo music from the Rent-era. Like many in the theater world I was a major fan of Idina years before Frozen or before she was called “the wickedly talented Adele Dazeem!” To this day I’m one of the only people that I know who knows her song Minuet it’s one of my favorites next to her whole I Stand album which is just an incredible listen in case your wondering! Idina was one of my early favorite theater actors I loved all of her work and played her music on a constant loop with I Stand and Defying Gravity taking major precedence thankfully I had my own IPod-a shuffle at the time so I didn’t have to put my non-musical loving parents through having to listen to my music over and over and over again! I even wrote her a fan letter when I was a young teenager though I don’t remember if I mailed it or not!

Just like I said in my Les Mis piece, I wondered if I would be hear in New York sharing this and other stories with you all if I hadn’t went to see that show. While I’ll definitely say that Les Mis was the catalyst for my introduction to the theater I have to say that sometimes it’s not always just one thing but sometimes a few other occurrences that lead us to our passions, interests and things we love. I always think about how different things would be if I hadn’t went to that school production of Les Mis but what if I hadn’t watched part of the film adaptation of Rent either. I wouldn’t have been introduced to the work of Idina, I wouldn’t have been watching those YouTube videos that one day, I wouldn’t have seen the music video for Minuet or my favorite documentary Show Business:The Road to Broadway featuring Wicked which introduced me to the realm of short-running shows that I would become obsessed with and instigated the cogs turning in my head that I want to live in New York. While Les Mis was a major moment maybe watching that portion of Rent was my If/Then moment. It’s honestly something that we always don’t know as if you’ve seen the show that or those few moments can be ones that are so small and trivial in your mind that you don’t fully realize the magnitude that they’ve made in your life.

It’s true that one moment and one small choice can change your path in life and introduce you to a world of new things. It might’ve been Les Mis, but if I hadn’t watched the beginning of Rent with my cousin that one late summer night things would be different. I would still love musical theater but who knows what I wouldn’t have discovered because of that small decision.

When I was 12 I was introduced to Les Mis and it completely changed my life but a year later my cousin and I decided to watch Rent instead of another movie and I was introduced to Idina Menzel. If that hadn’t happened who knows what would’ve changed and to think that a puzzle and 30 second commercial sparked the remberance of that one small memory from years ago. Like the line from the show says I’m still “working on the puzzle” but “still here I go.”

Also in case you haven't seen it check out the music video to Minuet!

XOXO

-Bwaygirl828