Rent - current cast- Page 2

[Maggie_May]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 2:28pm

Tonya Dixon doesn't seem like an educated graduate of Harvard law. Troy Horne was the worst I'll Cover You Reprise I've ever seen. You could tell he was FORCING himself to be upset and to make himself cry. You don't feel bad for him. I have seen Tim quite a few times and I keep going in their with an open mind cause I try extremely hard to like him but I can't. I saw him his first weekend and couldn't stand him--he improved for awhile but last night it was like I was watching his first weekend all over again.

Hanke is the perfect Mark. I am a Matt Caplan fan and I did enjoy his work -- more in the 2004 -2005 days -- but Hanke just fits the role like a glove and his voice is amazing. Justin NEVER disappoints me and I will be really sad that day he leaves RENT. Nicolette was on fire last night and belting out notes left and right. She sounded amazing. I do know she was battling horrible allergies when she first started so you may have caught her on an off night but she was fantastic last night.

I've seen the show quite a few times and I've seen a lot of different casts and I walked out of there last night without the same feeling I use to get say when Jeremy Kushnier was Roger or Mark Ford was Collins. Those are two men who are extremely talented and fit those roles perfectly and I sure do miss them

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 3:19pm

If I had to pick the best people for mark and roger I have seen...
Well then
Manley pope as Roger
And you're insulting Tim Howar's accent? Manley Pope sounded like a Valley Girl.

Posted: 1/17/07 at 3:21pm

A Valley Girl with a totally wrong pop singing voice, even.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 3:23pm

Christopher J. Hanke is terrific as Mark and Jamie Lee Kirchner is a fantastic Mimi.
Updated On: 1/17/07 at 03:23 PM

[Craww]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 7:23pm

I think that's the way it's supposed to be.

I agree, but it's extremely atypical for me to connect to any media the way it's intended. I can recognize what arc I'm supposed to follow the closest, and even appreciate it, but I rarely find myself invested in the A-plot characters and romances.

With so many strong characters, Rent is a great show for that. You can take it as delivered, or you can be just as entertained or touched in letting your attention wander to tertiary details.

That's why it was surprising for me subjectively, though certainly not objectively.

[MrBundles]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 7:40pm

aw I LOVE Tonya Dixon. I wish I could see her as Joanne. She has been fantastic in Les Mis and Ave. Q

Posted: 1/17/07 at 7:46pm

but I rarely find myself invested in the A-plot characters and romances.

So you're basically saying that you usually focus on the subtextual troo luv between Mark and Roger, right?

[Craww]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 7:52pm

Hah! Only occasionally, and mostly for the laughs. They're certainly no One True Pairing.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 8:00pm

I wouldn't doubt that the Broadway cast is very inconsistent right now. There are alot of cast members leaving and entering the show. Regardless of how professional they are, you can't expect a comfortable working relationship or effortless performance right away. I was lucky and had the chance to see Maggie Benjamin as Maureen. She was spectacular.

[gypsy71]

Posted: 1/17/07 at 10:14pm

I had the pleasure of working with Tonya Dixon last summer when she did the title role in AIDA. It was without a doubt one of the most memorable experiences that I have ever had working in the theatre. She is not only an unbelievable talent but one of the most honest, true and gifted people I have ever known. I cant wait to see her in Rent and I wish her much success.

[MamawhoBoreme]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 8:06am

im sorry but i still think Tonya is not a good Joanne. Her voice is very screechy and she doesnt come off as a stern, hard core lesbian, layer. id rather see Tracie Thoms on stage.

I still think Tim Howar is a fantastic Roger. I love his voice because he is really sincere about it. Roger is suppose to be Angry , he is suppose to be depressed... i dont think many people understand that. there are very few actors who have played Roger that can sing and act, some can sing and some cant act... vice versa. And well Justin is the Dynamic of the show. hes amazing. and Jamie i love her as Mimi, she has the perfect voice, and wow does she have a body.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 1/18/07 at 11:30am

I thought that Pope's lighter mix was an interesting change from the harder vocals of Adam Pascal. His acting was fine and both consistent from scene to scene (Howar's wasn't) and consitent from show to showI second acted a week after I saw him first and his performance was up to the same level. It is possible that I saw howar on a bad night,
I am sure Tonya Dixon is a lovely person and I would have liked to see her as AIDA, but this just didn't seem like the right fir for her.
As for Howar, I can't decide which I enjoyed less-his acting or his singing. Fortunately for me though he didn't do either at same time very often or else I would have thrown myself off the mezzanine. I am not trying to be rude but it really was the worst leading performance I have ever seen on Broadway.
I talked to one fo my friends who saw the performance with me. he is a theatrical agent, and he said that the show that night was everything that "traditional" theater fans are afraid of when they hear that a "contemporary" show with young people is playing on Broadway. RENT, when it openned, transcended that bias and showed that Musical Theater could use contemporary music, and sung in that style, but still be acted well and tell a compelling story. The performance I saw that night was nowhere near befitting of a Pulitzer Prize winning Musical.

Updated On: 1/18/07 at 11:30 AM

Posted: 1/19/07 at 12:37am

I saw Rent tonight with Kyle Post as Roger and Crystal Monee Hall as Joanne, among a couple other understudies.

I've heard good things about Post as Mark, but he was absolutely painful to watch as Roger. One of the worst performances I've ever seen on a Broadway stage. First of all, I wasn't convinced that "Roger" was straight. Many of his mannerisms and even his voice at times seemed very effeminate. He had no chemistry with Jaime, and as much as I laugh at the Roger/Mark shippers, he seemed a hell of a lot more interested in Christopher Hanke than Jaime. He was almost always off-key. I'm by no means a vocalist and still observed various points at which he was painfully sharp or flat. Also, he had no stage presence to speak of whatsoever, and didn't even bother trying to develop the character. I'm vehemently against interpreting Roger as a character with all angst and no softer side to speak of, but Post basically just played him as a little wimp with no anger, hurt, resentment... nothing. I felt NOTHING for his character. He also missed a line and seemed out of sync with Hanke during "What You Own," but that's so incidental compared to all of his other problems in this role. Lastly, his voice is not suited to the character at all. Roger's a rocker, not someone with a choir voice. The only positive thing I could say about him is that he looked the part of a "prettyboy frontman." I felt that Hanke wasn't completely "on" tonight as well, which I'm guessing was the result of a poor Roger (although, who knows).

Maybe Post is good as Mark (in fact, I can kind of see why he'd work in the role), but I never want to see that him put into the role of Roger ever again. I'm surprised that anyone could be that truly awful.

Crystal Monee Hall suffered from Nicole Lewis syndrome times fifty - she did absolutely nothing to draw me to the character. Her voice is decent. Her stage presence is okay. But she still managed to bore the hell out of me.

Troy Horne, the new Collins, is pretty good. He's a more playful and flirtatious Collins, which is fine by me. I felt like he was still settling into the role a bit and not entirely comfortable in his shoes, but he didn't disappoint me overall.

T.V. is fine as Alexi. I miss the Mayumi touch to the character, but again, I wasn't disappointed by T.V. Telly is a great Squeegee Man/waiter. Looks like he's having a ton of fun up there. As a sidenote, can Frenchie please leave the show already? She looks positively bored in every one of the ensemble scenes - I realize she's "homeless" and probably supposed to appear apathetic, but it's obvious that she's bored with the show.

There were a few seats open in the orchestra and just a couple rows filled in the front mezz - the rest of the mezz was completely empty.

Overall, a very disappointing performance, mainly because Kyle Post was essentially a black hole in the cast.
Updated On: 1/19/07 at 12:37 AM

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 4:44pm

Tim Howar(Roger)- This man is honestly amazing. I know a lot of people don't love his roger but its really good in my opinion. He just gets very... intense at times. Also if you go to stage door he's the sweetest person ever.

Christopher J. Hanke (Mark)- THis man is absolutely INCREDIBLE, if I could imagine the perfect Mark, it would be him (very cute too)

Jaime Lee Kirchner (Mimi)- I absolutely adore her Mimi, she's hot and dances really well. I love her out tonight. I also like her voice.

Tonya (Joanne)- She's alright, she doesnt strike me really as a joanne though, i think joanne should be more stuck up and stuff Tonya seems too... happy, i guess. I like her voice though.

Nicolette Hart (Maureen)- Haven't seen her yet

Troy Horne (Collins)- Well I havent seen him since december and what I thought was that he wasn't bad but wasnt anything special and needed some time to get into the role. So maybe he's better now, I don't know.

Justin Johnson (Angel)- Love love love love love this man, he is a great angel and is so damn funny.

D'monroe (Benny)- He's a wonderful Benny, I really love what he does with the role.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 4:48pm

"Well if he isn't british he has the strangest way of speaking for a North american I have ever heard."

He is from Canada but has lived in England for much of his adult life (his band, Van Tramp -which is really good, btw- is from England)

he does have a weird accent, but I absolutely adore it.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 4:58pm

"Maybe Post is good as Mark (in fact, I can kind of see why he'd work in the role), but I never want to see that him put into the role of Roger ever again. I'm surprised that anyone could be that truly awful."

I saw him as mark. He also seemed way too happy, like even when mark's supposed to be upset he was just smiling. His voice was great for the role of mark though and he certainly looked good. I really can not see him as a roger at all.

[Maggie_May]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 6:31pm

In my opinion Tim being angry is the only good part of his performance. That isn't my reason for not liking him. My favorite Roger was Jeremy Kushnier and he use to throw the table. I just dont think Tim's voice fits the songs very well cause I've heard his band stuff and enjoyed his voice there but it sometimes pains me to listen to him during the show

[bklynqt19862]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:23pm

I love the current cast of RENT....i love Nicolettes Maureen...Jaime as mimi on the other hand not my favorite...i loved Antonique

[antiandrewx]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:27pm

Nicolette is amazing.

[admanrich]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:36pm

I have seen Haven Burton as Maureen a couple times and she is phenominal. I'm really surprised she hasn't been bumped up to full time Maureen yet. She covered Ava for like an entire month and I haven't read a bad review of her ever! I heard she auditioned for Glinda in Wicked and hopefully she can move on to bigger and better things!

Posted: 1/23/07 at 9:42pm

Haven really is great. I enjoyed Nicolette's performance, but she seemed to be missing a certain spark overall. Also, her voice, while not bad, isn't absolutely stellar.

And I am beyond glad that Antonique is gone. The girl couldn't sing.

Posted: 2/21/07 at 9:36am

saw the show three nights ago. horrible. I felt actually bad for people who paid full price! the WORST I have seen the show. The worst display of "broadway talent".


those people could care less about the show, and half assed the whole thing.

really, really sad.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 11:43am

Thank you. I am glad that I am not the only one to think that this show is in nightmare shape! I love Rent-I still get chills at the Finale of "No Day but today", the show deserves better!

[SNLMedia]

Posted: 2/21/07 at 11:48am

Does anyone know how much longer Hanke is scheduled to be in the show? I'd like to catch him before he leaves.

Posted: 2/21/07 at 12:32pm

He mentioned about a month ago that he was leaving in March, but that type of information is always subject to change. He's a great Mark, and I'd definitely recommend trying to see him before he leaves.