Reports The Wonder Man of the Entertainment Industry

By Jonah Weinstock

The Pulse interviewed Billy Aronson on Dec. 14, 2022. Billy Aronson originated the concept of the Broadway musical “Rent” and also wrote episodes for “Sesame Street.” “Rent” is based on the 1986 opera “La Boheme.” The story is about poor young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan’s East Village. “Sesame Street” is an educational children’s show where the main character Big Bird teaches children about numbers, colors, and the alphabet.

The Pulse: What inspired you to come up with the idea for the musical “Rent”?

Aronson: I’m a playwright. When I came to New York, I started writing as many plays as I could. There was a period in which I finished a new play. I gave it to all the theaters, and that took a while. You have to wait a long time until they say something. They tell you whether they’re going to do it, not do it, or do a reading of it. I didn’t want to start writing another play, so I thought I would try something different. This was the mid 1980s, I guess. I lived in a tiny apartment at the time in Hell’s Kitchen. I had no privacy. I slept in this tiny room that was the living room on a pullout couch. My roommate would be there watching television, and I couldn’t be alone to think. So, I would walk up to the Metropolitan Opera and get standing room for the opera, because it was really cheap. I had all this space to look out and daydream. Although I didn’t know much about opera, I fell in love with it, because of the drama. It was a new way to experience drama, and I always loved music, and I’m very affected by music.

The Pulse: I understand you worked with the composer, Jonathan Larson for “Rent.” Could you tell us how you worked with him and what the process entailed?

Aronson: I needed to look for a composer, because I don’t write music. I went to this theater, Playwright’s Horizons, which was interested in my work. They recom- mended two composers. I traded my materials with both composers, and Jonathan was really interested in this one idea that I had for my Boheme show. We liked each other’s stuff, and we got together and talked about how to approach it. Working together was tricky. Neither of us were used to collaborating in that way. We each liked to have things exactly our own way. That’s one of the things I loved about playwriting. If I got this quirky style, it’s going to be in that weird way that I’m doing it. If I have to stop in the middle because I have a problem, I stop in the middle and do something else. I move my own rate, and I do exactly what I feel like.

The Pulse: What was your involvement with writing episodes for “Sesame Street?”

Aronson: I’ve done a lot of children’s television. “Sesame Street” was minimal. There was a time where they were doing a series of Bert and Ernie sketches. I wrote a few of those, and they aired on “Sesame Street,” but I wasn’t a full-time writer for the show. I’ve written for a lot of shows, though, such as “The Wonder Pets,” “Beavis and Butthead,” and “Courage the Cowardly Dog.” I created a show for pre-K viewers on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) with my friend Jennifer Broxley called “Peg + Cat.” We got to control that show ourselves and make something really proud of it.

Nita Strauss: Hurricane

By Hudson Zamacona

A category 10 hurricane named Nita Strauss is ripping through the world, cranking up the volume, and the grain to play some heavy metal.

36-year-old Nita Strauss of Los Angeles, California is a guitarist who has played with iconic bands, and artists, making her one of the greatest female guitar players of our time.

Strauss was born into a music family, and according to metalcastle.net, first gained inspiration for the old 6-string from seeing a movie about Stevie Ray Vaughn. Her father, a bass player, taught her the first basic chords on the guitar.

Strauss’first-ever guitar was a Squier Strat Pack. Squier is Fender’s beginner-level guitar, and the Stratocaster is one of the most popular guitars that Fender makes and is one of the most popular guitars known in the world. When you think of an electric guitar, you’re probably thinking of the Stratocaster.

Strauss’ first big performance was playing at the halftime show at a Los Angeles Rams game in 2018. She played “Dead Inside,” which she made back in 2018. Strauss and her relationship with the Los Angeles Rams earned her a Super Bowl ring, which few on the outside receive.

Strauss had the pleasure of shredding for Alice Cooper, is a band that originated in the 1970s and still plays today. If you want your jaw to drop, watch Alice Cooper performing “Poison” live with a three-minute intro solo performance by Strauss. As a guitar player, watching her play puts me on a wild trip.

Strauss’ style is heavy metal based, but she left Alice Cooper in 2022 to play for Demi Lovato. In previous years she played with The Iron Maidens and Femme Fatale.

Strauss released a new song called “The Wolf You Feed” with Alissa White-Gluz. This song is very aggressive, with Alissa’s beautiful voice jumping in for the chorus with Strauss’s sinisterly good guitar playing.

Aside from being the lead guitarist in all kinds of rock bands, and working with other artists, Nita is also a successful solo artist.

According to Nita on Twitter, she states she played guitar for anyone who would have her, including rock, pop, funk, metal, covers, and originals, and on top of that, she would often perform two shows a night with different bands.

Nita’s guitar playing sounds similar to Eddie Van Halen’s but more modern. She finger taps, she bends, she knows harmonics, and she knows it all with perfection.

Nita is so successful and good at playing the guitar that she is a part of the Guitarists of the Decade for Guitar Center.

Nita has accomplished what many musicians spend decades dreaming of, including having a sponsorship. One of Nita’s accomplishments, aside from fame, is that she plays for Ibanez and has her own signature model electric guitar, the Ibanez Nita Strauss JIVA10 signature model in the deep space blonde colorway.

Strauss’s signature guitar is designed in her style. Her guitar features a “beaten path” inlay on

The Pulse: What educational skills are most important to you when you’re collaborating or working with a show?

Aronson: Usually, they tell you the educational part you have to teach is. PBS was looking for a math show. I enjoy math, and it’s for pre-K. It’s not going to stop me, since I know the math. What’s very hard is teaching it without stopping to preach. It’s got to happen naturally through a story. That’s the challenge of “Sesame Street” or whatever you’re writing for educational television. I like pointing out cool stuff about numbers or anything about science. The way people react and treat each other. For me, every story is educational in a way, because it points something out about life. This is what happens when you’re in love. This is a mistake that people made. This is a struggle that people have to live with. That’s what doing the math show is like.

The Pulse would like to thank Billy Aronson for taking the time to share his knowledge and experience with his creation/involvement with “Rent,” “Sesame Street,” and other endeavors the ebony fretboard and a maple top sprayed down in the deep space blonde colorway. Strauss named her guitar JIVA, which when translated means soul.

For anyone looking to learn how to learn guitar, especially heavy metal, Strauss offers an online boot camp for $50, which will train you to play in her favorite style of metal.

Nita Strauss is a force to be reckoned with, and she knows how to play guitar at the top level. She refined her craft and has been working hard since a young age to perfect her dreams and make them a reality. Long live rock n roll!