Schadenfreude

Leah got accepted into her Junior Master acting class. Tomorrow she begins rehearsals for “Footloose.” Why is my life suddenly a round of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?” I’m still reeling from Bacon's performance as a child molester in “The Woodsman,” my brother-in-law is appearing on David Letterman with him tonight, my sister was nearly trampled by his paparazzi when they were entering David Letterman’s studio, and now my daughter is playing the Kevin Bacon part in “Footloose!” Well, actually, she wants the Chris Penn part but we don’t know which she’ll get. She often plays boys at her female-dominated drama school: Officer Krupke, Danny Zuko, Prince Charming’s father, Bill Sikes, Otto Frank. It will be interesting to see how they address the fundamentalist Christian content of “Footloose.” I don’t think I’ve seen it since the film opened in 1984. Whatever happened to Lori Singer? Wasn’t she supposed to be the Next Big Thing?

I hate myself for knowing this or having a reaction to it, but Kendall and I both gasped tonight when we heard that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston announced their separation today. WHY do we get invested in the lives of total strangers and feel somehow betrayed when they can’t make it work? What a burden it must be on them to be perceived as the Golden Couple. And then after the shock people seem to feel better when folks who they think have it all experience pain in their lives. How odd that Leah and I were JUST listening to the song “Schadenfreude” from “Avenue Q” on the way home:

Right now you are down and out and feeling really crappy
And when I see how sad you are it sort of makes me...happy!
It’s just human nature—nothing I can do!
It's...Schadenfreude!
Making me feel glad that I'm not you.

I really need to take those “Avenue Q” songs off of my iPod!

I was sad to hear that Rosemary Kennedy died today at the age of 86. Although to be honest, I didn’t even realize she was still alive. God knows the Kennedys have been the recipients of shadenfreude for generations. Rosemary was the retarded Kennedy sister whose condition was made way worse when her parents freaked out and forced her to have one of the first lobotomies ever back in the day when that amounted to sticking an ice pick behind your eye and wiggling it around, hoping for the best. Eunice and Ted Kennedy were at her bedside when she died this morning. Rosemary inspired the Special Olympics which Eunice and Sargent Shriver started. I met Eunice a few times when she visited the Merchandise Mart in Chicago (owned by the Kennedys for over 50 years) where my mom was the beloved receptionist. I remember that the Kennedys never carried cash with them so the doorman had to pay Eunice’s cab fare. Rumor had it that Eunice’s wedding gown was lost somewhere in the Mart (she married Sargent Shriver when he was the General Manager there). I don’t want to tell you what Kennedy memorabilia I did find when I worked in the mailroom…

Comments

[Lisa]

Danny, did you know that the writers of Avenue Q have written the foreword for one of my upcoming books? :-)

[Danny]

No! Please tell them that their lyrics are turning me and my daughter into social outcasts (or were we already?)! That's odd, someone else I know who is not in the publishing or theatre world knows them too. Oh, the tangled webs we weave...

[Terri]

Oh, come on, Danny....I'm originally from the Boston area and always had a passion for the Kennedy's....DO tell what you found in that mailroom. I'm sure it would be a great blog.
As you can see, I'm slowly winding my way through your blog from the beginning. SO glad I found it.