I was thinking this evening about a musical number that had a number in its lyrics. I could not remember the title of the Musical let alone the number (the song and the actual numeric quantity). I reached out to my friend Cornelio who has a singular mind for musical things. Alas, he couldn’t come up with the title. I interrupted Susan’s immersion in Asian dramas, and she said that my idea struck a familiar chord although she could not recall the musical or the song. I sat down with Siri to explore the musicals of Rogers and Hammerstein and Steven Sondheim. Alas, no joy.
After a bit, Susan brought me a YouTube video of a number from the musical RENT. “Five-hundred twenty-five thousand, six-hundred minutes.” That was the musical number that I was struggling to recall.
I’ve been thinking about this musical number because I think that Lin Manuel Miranda or one of his theater successors needs to write “Treason – The Musical.” It should be a story of how a disgraced, former President who lost a reelection bid attempted a treasonous coup – an overthrow of America’s democracy.
One of its numbers should have the title, “Eleven-thousand, seven-hundred and eighty.”