typingtess:Musicals were his mother’s escape, they became his escape too.  Old Gordo like

typingtess:

Musicals were his mother’s escape, they became his escape too.  

Old Gordo liked Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Deep Purple and Saxon.  Some of his friends thought he had the coolest dad, walking around in black Ronnie James Dio tee-shirts.  They didn’t live with him.  They didn’t know the coolest thing about him was the tee-shirts.

His Mom liked all sorts of music.  She was the queen of personal mix-tapes.  There was her they played at Woodstock cassettes, her folk cassettes, her country music cassettes, her Beach Boys cassettes – all self-made, usually swapping and sharing 45’s or LPs with friends.  Deeks was rather partial to her “Zeppelin, Stones, Beatles, Who” tape where there was a Zeppelin song, a Rolling Stones song, a Beatles song and a Who song and the pattern would start again.

Then there were the actual cassettes she bought – the prerecorded ones from Tower Records on Sunset.  Those were musicals.  “Godspell” was his mother’s favorite to sing after a bad day.   They shared “All for the Best” after particularly awful home events.  “Godspell” then “Grease”, then “Annie”, though “Hard Knock Life” never made the regular rotation.  “The Wiz” became their favorite.

Right before his father “left”, his Mom started taking him to local productions of musicals.  “Finian’s Rainbow” was the first they saw, performed by a local church group.  The nice church people were pretty good and while it wasn’t a fan of the soundtrack, Deeks was a huge fan of seeing it all live.  Once they were on their own, his Mom would find a reasonably priced show – church groups, high schools and a once a year pilgrimage to USC.  He was “Godspell” with her there – sang along in his head.

At his second high school – the one he got to go to after being picked up for “borrowing” a car – they did a musical every spring.  In senior year, as a lark, he tried out.  Deeks wound up playing the Dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors” and it was a blast.  Sadly, far more talented students in college made any attempt to join fruitless.  

Graduating college, his Mom treated him – them really – to a long weekend in New York with tickets to “Rent” and “The Music Man”.  They tried to see “The Producers” but TKTS never had tickets.  After law school, he made it a point to get the two of them something to see at the Pantages every year.

Musical theater appreciation also helped with girlfriends.  For those who loved musicals but hated Clippers or Dodgers games, seeing a musical was a fair “one for you and one for me” plan without ever explaining that it was actually two for him.  For those who liked nights out, he was the cultured man who fit in as easily with the beer and wings crowd.  

With a little money in the bank, a yearly trip to New York to catch something with a big star or a weekend in Vegas with some blackjack and “Hairspray” was a fun break from LA’s not-so finest at work or in the streets.  He owed a lot to his Mom, starting with his love of musicals.

Much to the great distress of my Broadway loving family members, I was never much of a play person.  I’ve seen some cool stuff over the years (Patrick Stewart doing a one man show for “A Christmas Carol” was amazing) but for the most part, I’m happy to pass my ticket off to someone who is going to really enjoy it.  

Of what I mentioned here, I’ve seen “Godspell” (very good college production - I don’t think its been on B’way in years), “Little Shop of Horrors” (with a family member in it), “Hairspray” and “The Music Man”.  Living in the neighborhood where “Rent” takes place (and knowing exactly where Jonathan Larson wrote it), I got to live some of it and saw the “Rent” Tourists show up for the years after its premiere.