Simplicity is Key

I am an American Idol junkie. I love it, and you can just shut up about that. Go David Archuletta! I watched Idol Gives Back last night while Craig slept on the couch. While Teri Hatcher was a complete embarrassment to herself, I found Annie Lennox and Carrie Underwood's performances heart-wrenching. It was a reminder to me of how provocative and profound artistic expression can be.

It is easy during tech week to get swept up into the details, the schedule, the budget, all the paperwork of art. But watching these two performances was a real joy for me. I don't even necessarily mean that they performed so well that they inspired me to give or to examine my moral obligations to other communities not so blessed as mine. While that is an amazing feat to accomplish with a song, it was their humility and openness that got me.

Celebrity in America is completely fucked up. The whole premise of Idol Gives Back is totally grotesque to begin with. "Hey. I am a really famous person with a lot of money and power. So, I will go on TV and tell people what their moral obligations are and that they should give money. And because I am pretty and really frenetic (Slow down Fergie. Give Heart a little room, woman!), America will get really excited and call in and do just what I say!" This is what it has come to: Wrestling Champions, singers, dancers, actors and whatever Paula Abdul is supposed to be are acting as my moral compass.

The simplicity of Annie Lennox and Carrie Underwood stood out to me. The other performers gyrated and flung themselves to and fro and seemed to be prostituting themselves. For a worthy cause, but prostitution nonetheless. Annie and Carrie stood out from the rest for me. They moved me deeply by descending from the throne of celebrity and becoming true artists. They joined the human race and sang with passion, simplicity and honesty. Their performances gave me a deeper understanding of the world and my place in it. What a gift! In the busy-ness and business of running a non-profit theater, it is easy to forget the power of the arts.