Dinosaurs as Social Farce

Last night, my friends and I went to see Jurassic Parq the Broadway Musical. Which was chosen from the 2010 Fringe Festival in  New York to have a limited extra run at the Lucille Lortel Theater in the West Village. I did not know what to expect going into the show; my prior knowledge was that the people would be portraying the Jurassic Park dinosaurs. I'm glad it was only an hour and a half long because if it was any longer, I would have busted my laugh box. It was funny!

Highlights of the show included: The main male characters singing, "It's a beautiful day to be a woman"( all the dinosaurs in Jurassic park are women). T-Rex 2, played by a woman, growing a penis and having sex with the Dilophosaurus illustrated by a movie of turtles having sex. T-Rex 2 caught in the act with Dilo  by T-Rex 1 and T-Rex 2 saying, "If we don't move, she can't see us." Mime-a-saurus gaving an outstanding performance in general, but at one point, miming a couple meeting, getting married, having a child, the child growing up, the child going to war and dying, the dad drinking and beating the mom, and ultimately the dad shooting a cop within a song. The narrator, a supposed Morgan Freeman, who has a duet with a mirror image of himself but the mirror image turns out to be Samuel L Jackson.

However, one of the best performances came from the Betty White of the cast, an exiled Velociraptor, The Velociraptor of Science. Who's rap about science was a crowd pleaser. The first three letters had meaning attached to them but the best part of the song was the rousing final line, "The rest of the letters spell, suck my dick!" Not only could she break down in a sweet beat, she was the most committed to her raptor persona and had the most realistic raptor walk. I must add that she had on those sketchers that tone your butt and that cracked me up every time. She assumed the Washington crossing the Delaware/Captain Morgan pose many times, further highlighting the shoes.

But the laughs were not all caused by gags like older women singing, "suck my dick," sex scenes and the clone-like similarities between Samuel l Jackson and Morgan Freeman (they also referenced the guy from the Allstate Insurance commercials); they were caused by great writing that dealt with gender, race and the struggle between religion and science. I'll just touch on gender because I don't want the blog to get too long.

Part of the Director's note reads, "Jurassic Parq the Broadway Musical is brilliant [because]... it is the first broadway musical to be gender blind but color conscious."

Gender blind casting led to great situational humor but underneath this humor, it challenged the viewer's conventional understanding of what it means to be a man or woman (female or male dinosaur), much like Churchill's Cloud 9. For all of us who have seen the movie, I don't have to explain that, all the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are supposed to be female. Therefore, this cast should have been female. But to have a female sing, "It's a beautiful day to be a woman," would not have been funny. Instead it is sung by the most masculine male in the cast (playing a female dinosaur) which made me laugh. But after the show, I started to question it meant to be a woman. Is it solely based on physical appearance? I was  laughing because that's how I usually define a man or woman, but couldn't it be based on psyche and how this person (dinosaur) actually feels? I mean, if I'm being honest with my gay self, as soon as that song hits iTunes, I'll be singing along.

Another instance of gender bending begins when T-Rex 2 grows a penis. Who, as I stated, was played by a woman, grows. Which was funny, but more importantly, brought up the logistics of sex change. We know that she and T-Rex 1 are best friends in the beginning but as soon as the change happens, T-Rex 2 sings a song about still being able to be loved as a friend. I think that a lot of people who go through a sex change question the way their friends will see them after. In the end T-Rex 1 sees T-Rex 2 as more than a friend. In fact she falls in love with T-Rex 2. There are many many funny situations built upon this underlying story, like T-Rex 2 discovering what a vagina smells like and being turned on by it, and T-Rex 1 going on a rampage because she finds T-Rex 2 with Dilo, but underneath it's a positive message about acceptance-her physical being changed, but she was still the same T-Rex 2.

In the end, it's a cute show. Not meant for broadway but hopefully an off-off-broadway house will pick it up. Here's their webpage:
http://www.JurassicParq.blogspot.com/

Smoldering Under the Eyes of God

This is old, from my day working near the Religious Fiction section in the bookstore. I thought if there is Fiction, why can't there be romance?


Gabriel carried me across the bedroom threshold; it was the night of our wedding. I could feel his muscles underneath the tight white dress shirt and when I grabbed my veil, as it slipped off my head, my hand brushed against his forbidden package. Before this night, I felt like Eve as she stared at the forbidden fruit. I dreamed of the day that I would be able to satisfy my own desires and partake the fruit of Gabriel's loins. Today was that day and as he carried me, I felt the lust of my whole body surge toward him. Unlike Eve, I knew that God would not punish me tonight for the pleasure and knowledge that I would receive when I fulfilled my desires and tasted Gabriel’s fruit. We had both waited, devoted our life to God's great word and tonight we were finally sanctified to fulfill our deepest desires.

Gabriel gently set me onto my feet once we were in the room. I suddenly felt cold as he took his arms from me, I only wanted to live in the world of his embrace. But these feelings of comfort moulded to desire as he kissed the back of my neck and started to unzip me from my dress. As my back was exposed, he whispered that our abstinence had brought us that much closer to God. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck tense at his warm breath and I felt another rush of primal urge surge through my body. I turned to see him slowly unbuttoning his shirt. The muscles in his arms strained at each button and as he took off the shirt it reviled his hidden muscular toned frame. His torso v-ed up from his pants, each ab was defined and his skin fought to hold in his pecs. At that moment he was my ultimate Adam and in a fit of passion I drew him to me and kissed him. This time I did not feel the guiltiness and sin because we had been approved under God and I gave up all resistance to my sexual urges.

Our passion swept through both of our bodies and Gabriel swept me onto the bed. I gasped at the impact of the soft down comforter but my surprise was interrupted by a furry of passionate kissed. He stood up and removed his pants. Again I marveled at his frame. When he stood up his briefs reviled the outline of the fruit that I had most desired, and when he finally lowered himself back on top of me I could feel its pressure against my thigh. I gasped again as he caressed my neck with his supple lips; he whispered that he loved me. The sexual energy radiated from our entwined bodies like a halo. He was my own archangel, so soft but also so powerful. In these moments of passion we quickly removed the rest of our garments. 

For the first time we saw each other in our most pure and naked form. I stared in wonder at the package that had remained hidden from me for so long and that I desired most and he stared back at me with the same lustful eyes. I wondered how Adam and Eve could have been so ashamed by there nakedness; after all, we were all sculpted from the image of God himself. Gabriel was magnificent unclothed and I truly felt the pressure of his masculinity against my thigh as he resumed kissing my neck. I felt my body reel as he hit a particularly sensitive spot on my neck, as I relaxed back down into the bed he asked if I was ready. I knew that I was and I whispered to be gentile. I was not afraid because I felt that God was truly among us at that moment.

Gabriel gently entered; I felt the initial tinge of pain and tensed up but relaxed knowing how beautiful this act was. He sensed my tensed body and asked if I was ok; I reassured him it was with a deep kiss. Only then did he lower, merging us, our pelvises gently brushed each other, and our stomachs gently brushed. Our bodies melted into one in our first act of real passion. I was in ecstasy and I could tell from his face that he was there two. We were like Adam and Eve in the garden before they sinned by eating the fruit, ignorant to knowledge but versed in our animalistic nature. All of God’s creations and promises lay before us. Gabriel was kissing my neck, I was kissing back and the sweat from our bodies eased the transition of hands as we explored the others bodies with our hand. 


And then, it happened. I felt his breath grow heavy and I felt mine grow with his. When I thought that our passion could get no stronger I saw the great light explode from our bodies. It reached beyond the confines of our small hotel room and up to the pearly gates of heaven. They opened before my eyes. I screamed to Jesus and felt Gabriel’s seed explode into my body. He collapsed on top of me with one last kiss. I was absorbed in the Godly light and I stared at heaven. Gabriel lay at my side and as the light gave way to reveal the hotel room leaving the heavenly flame to smolder in my heart, I told him that I loved him.