2004-02-22 - 11:50 p.m. - Wade worship

This is the second entry for today – one that I’ve been meaning to write since January 31st. It’s funny – despite not writing that much lately, I’ve still been getting some google hits with the topic often being "Wade McCollum" – whom I call, actor extraordinaire. So I’m calling this my Wade Worship entry in reference to someone who referred (and made a link) to my "Merchant of Venice" play review in her live journal. She said something to the effect that it was a decent review despite the Wade worship. (hahahahaha – I just had to laugh. What a classic line and a bit true, I must admit.)

But shame aside – if you want Wade worship, here it comes…

On the 31st of January, he performed on the Portland Spirit – a ship that cruises on the Willamette River. The cruise started at 11:00 p.m. and ended at 1:30 a.m.; despite the late hour on a Friday night when I’m usually asleep by 11 p.m. (sad, but true.), I could have cruised until sunrise with Wade performing. The amazing thing is that he had just finished a performance at Portland Center Stage playing Lancelot in "The Merchant of Venice" and most likely had to dash off stage to get to the ship on time.

He had a back-up band – a couple of which were members of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" musical, but it was totally his act. It was a bit autobiographical as well, which made it all the more interesting. Here are some of the highlights I had written that night when I got home, but am now just getting around to posting…

Wade said when he was a teenager, he tried some shrooms, and not much later after consuming one, his mom came to pick him up from his friend’s house. He had to try to act as "normal" as possible and went right to his room when he got home. He said he was hearing this heavenly music, but when he went to see what was playing in his tape deck, he noticed it wasn’t on. It was a pretty funny story when he told it, and then he broke into Nine Inch Nails "Head Like a Hole". From there he did a complete 180 and played a song from his first favorite record when he was little – a Mariah Carey number. Very amusing hearing it after NIN. And both were well performed despite being from such different genres.

He also did Whitney Houston’s "Greatest Love of All" and said it was his mom who taught him the greatest lesson – to love yourself despite all your mistakes and imperfections. Hearing his story about it resonated with me – I guess I still need to learn that lesson – I think I demand too much of myself at times – I expect perfection, I guess, and when I fall short, it’s easy to beat myself up. At least I’m not Tyler Durgan, but nevertheless, I’ve got to learn to forgive myself and not dwell on past failures or poor judgements – in every failure, there’s a lesson to learn.

But I digress…Wade joked that despite him messing up the lyrics on one of the numbers from "Hedwig", he’s OK with it – he still loves himself. This probably sounds stupid as I tell it, but it had such clarity coming from him.

I guess Wade’s life wasn’t always that pleasant either. His step-dad (maybe it was his dad – I can’t remember) was abusive to his mother. He told a story of calling the police one time when his dad was beating up his mom, but the cops never came. His dad finally left and he went over and comforted and took care of his mom. The song that accompanied this story was Tracy Chapman’s " Behind the Wall ". The whole cruise was silent, and this did not go unnoticed by Wade; he thanked the audience for their quiet respect.

Again, I’m so amazed at how some people can overcome such horrible circumstances of both physical and substance abuse being done by those around them at such an impressionable age, and still develop into healthy, well adjusted, loving adults. It says a lot about the human spirit, and about love – both of which Wade has in abundance.

Wade did a few original tunes – some from his rock musical, "One", and my favorite which was about a conversation with God and a desire to go back in time in order to change some events – i.e. take the gun and bullet from Kurt Cobain (quite appropriate after just covering "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (on the Portland Spirit!)), talking with Hitler, talking with Jesus Christ…it’s a brilliant song with not only interesting lyrics but a catchy melody as well. He had mentioned about a video being made of one of his other original songs, but I think this one would be much better for video footage – plus I liked the song a lot better.

He ended with " Midnight Radio" (from Hedwig and with Julianna’s help) but came back for a couple of encores – "Wicked Little Town (reprise) and then a blues number. He also told us about a new rock musical he’s working on. It’ll have electronic music and will be the story of – oops – as a member of the audience, I promised not to tell. I’m sure it will "fly" in every sense of the word.

So for a person conceived in a band called "Tribulation of Fools" and born in a band called "Reflection", it is fitting that he performs with his own band. Interestingly enough, is it not the fool’s reflection on life that brings about some of the wisest words in a Shakespearean play?

Wade, the actor/musician, has performances that can be so carnal, and yet Wade, the man, seems to possess a wisdom that comes from having lived many life times. When watching his play, "One", I saw hints of enlightenment – a bridge from the carnal world to the spirit world.

And he’s shining,

like the brightest star,

a transmission

to an enlightened frequency

On this midnight radio…

30-something - 2005-03-01
the holding back the the flow of tears - 2005-02-20
song survey - 2005-02-15
song for the day...or perhaps the year... - 2005-01-25
something new - 2005-01-24
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