I had a dream a few weeks back that I was Adam Pascal. We were beginning to rehearse the second act of “Rent” and I was the last to arrive. The scene took place in a kitchen and I entered with the utmost confidence. I took my beanie hat off, turned around, and threw it towards the crew. I smiled, they smiled. We were all aware that I was, in fact, awesome. We started right away but I didn’t know any of my lines. I wasn’t worried though. I was Adam freaking Pascal.
For those that don’t know, Adam Pascal was one of the male leads in the original Broadway cast of the musical “Rent” and the 2004 movie by the same name. Those who do know, I’m aware that there is no kitchen scene to open the second act of “Rent”. Also, Roger would never forget his lines. It was just a dream.
There was a reason why Adam Pascal was on my mind as I just introduced myself to the musical “Chess”. As a fan of rock musicals in general I’m not sure why I missed this one, but I don’t think it was ever a huge success. The music was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the original men and songwriter’s of ABBA. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice, the lyrist behind “The Lion King” and other Disney musicals. Along with the Bee-Gees, ABBA is one of those bands where the stigma of disco has overriden their genius. Disney musicals are always gold so no concern there. Chess was formed from awesome.
Listening to the soundtrack of any musical will give one a great sense of the music, but not necessarily the plot. After many plays I still don’t really understand what it’s about. There’s chess, of course, and some cold-war political tension that just gets in the way of the rockin’. It’s glimmer of what ABBA could have been if they weren’t victim to the disco era. After this glowing review I can only imagine a revival will be inevitable.
As a reader of now-paragraph 5 for of this entry, I should warn you that there is absolutely no point to this entry. I am just discussing that I like musicals that Adam Pascal has been in.
I loved the musical “Rent” as a junior in high school. Disc one remained in my car for months; disc two followed for months afterward. I don’t know why I didn’t just exchange them after each listen, but I didn’t. I was baking in preparation of Christmas ’96 and all I could do was hum “No room at the Holiday Inn, oh no. And it’s beginning to snow” as I frosted figure-8 danishes without the recommended latex.
Adam Pascal joined Elton John a few years later for the musical “Aida” and of course, I liked it. It was Roger singing unreleased tracks from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It still gives me tingles whenever I hear the chorus for “Not Me”.
Has Adam Pascal done anything else? Well, he released two solo rock albums that occasionally come up on my Pandora channels. Are they any good? Not really. It’s as if the vision was to form a new Nickelback or Creed, and there are already 2 too many of those bands. Adam isn’t meant for a song-driven rock album. A progressive rock-opera? Maybe?
LET IT BE REVEALED 