Changing the ending of Rent- Page 6
Changing the ending of Rent
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#126 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 1:10pmAs Anthony Rapp pointed out during the deification of Jonathan Larson, he was extremely ambitious and wanted big huge hits on Broadway. I wouldn't hinge too much on the word "anarchy" being tossed in the laundry list of La Vie Boheme as a key philosophical point.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#128 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 4:04pm
Senior Nellie Glover, who portrays Mimi in the production, said raising awareness about social issues is what “Rent” is about, no matter the ending.
“I’m a definite believer in that things are meant to be,” she said. “But I find it interesting that people who say they love and support the arts, then take time out of their day and work to bring someone else’s art down.
***
“It got to broadwayworld.com, and when it gets to broadwayworld.com, any lunatic with a screenname can spew any kind of garbage that they want. And they did,” Smith-Sadak said. “It was clear that they didn’t see our production, [but were] voicing very strong opinions.”
***
(from the comments)
"It’s a sad time when art has to be handled with such hostile inflexibility."
***
(from D S-S herself)
"I was aware of the artistic licence I was taking, and I take responsibility for that...
Much of the information on the Broadwayworld.com site was absolutely incorrect (see Professor Herzog’s comment re “killing Mimi” above.)...
It is genuinely frustrating to spend literally months of one’s life to put work onstage with a group of exceedingly talented and dedicated students (and faculty designers, and crew) — having deeply considered every choice of every character that is put onstage, only to have anonymous and often times mean-spirited people fling off a couple of lines of nasty commentary that garner so much attention...
This debate is literally about 30 seconds of an almost indistinguishable change. Most audiences will never know the difference.
Emphasis mine.
Signed,
a mean-spirited lunatic with a screen name
‘Rent’s’ scipt edits violate copyright
Updated On: 4/28/11 at 04:04 PM
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#129 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 4:15pm
Drew Cohen, President of MTI, responds in the comments -
...“What would [Jonathan Larson] think of what has happened to this production, being in the hands of corporations and attorneys?” I did not know Jonathan Larson, and I would guess that Ms. Smith-Sadak did not know him either. However, I do know Jonathan’s family and over the past several years, I have become friends with his father, Al Larson. Al, his wife, Nan, and Jonathan’s sister, Julie, all have devoted themselves to preserving, perpetuating and protecting the memory of Jonathan, as well as his work. Having worked with hundreds of authors and their representatives, I can describe the passion of their dedication as extraordinary. For Ms. Smith-Sadak to accuse them, even indirectly, of leaving the responsibility of protecting RENT “in the hands of corporations and attorneys” is inaccurate, insulting, and just plain wrong. Ms. Smith-Sadak may not be happy that she was caught breaking the rules, but for her to wave her finger at others, particularly the Larson family as underlying rights holders, is unacceptable....
Updated On: 4/28/11 at 04:15 PM
#130 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 4:45pm
My favorite part of those comments is actually the juxtaposition of Diane Smith-Sadak's "I did not feel the ending of the play was changed except for the better..." followed by the (student?) comment "...however, we never changed the ending to make it “better.”"
dexter3
Featured Actor Joined: 9/13/08
#131 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 6:19pm
Wow. I know I'm jumping on this thread late, but I must express that this woman's reaction (in general) and feigned naivete to the contract is so incredibly awful and unprofessional. I just feel terrible for the students from Towson who are supposed to be "learning" from this woman. If this represents the caliber and professionalism at Towson, then there's not much to speak of...
As stated before, this kind of clause in EVERY licensing contract. EVER.
There's no contract for licensing shakespeare because it's in the public domain. But if you need a licensing contract to license a show, then this clause exists. In every. single. one.
The hubris and lack of professional knowledge of this professor is disgusting. She's brought terrible attention to her school and theater department for something that EVERY COLLEGE THEATER PROFESSOR SHOULD KNOW. I had never even heard of this university or it's theater department before this thread, but I'll always associate it with this embarasing incident.
How many other times has she used "artistic license" in other shows? Thank god for the internet and this thread. Hopefully she learns a huge lesson and this situation can be used as an example to other teaching institutions. I've seen many other abhorrent changes in college productions and it's just unacceptable. If you don't trust the authors, don't do their show. If you think you're a better writer, write you're own show and produce that. But don't pretend like you know the original intention of the author or can "fix" a show, especially when you're a college theater department and you're licensing a show that's very new to the licensing world. Just don't.
A Director
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/18/07
#132 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 9:58pm
Their hole isn't bigger enough, so the folks at Towson U keep digging. Among her recent statements, Diane Smith-Sadak says,
“In the ending, she’s living on the streets in December in New York City with AIDS and a heroin addiction,” Smith-Sadak said. “Nobody sits up and talks about their dreams. They just don’t. It’s an insult to the people struggling with these illnesses.”
Really? How does she know? Did she conduct a poll? One would assume, by now, Ms. Smith-Sadak knew the difference between reality and a musical. Jonathan Larson did not write a documentary; he wrote a musical.
I won't be seeing Ms. Smith-Sadak's production, so I can't judge her work as a director. On the other hand, based on her comments, she is outstanding in the role of victim.
I was also struck by the comment by the young woman playing Mimi. "Raising awareness of social issues is what "Rent" is about..." Jonathan Larson might be surprised at her claim. She probably doesn't know that Rent was not the first play or musical to deal with homelessness, AIDS, or drug addiction.
As for Jay Herzog's comments, "It appears he was out to lunch." Gee, I'm just the department Chair and the show's lighting designer. I have no idea what's going on." Did he see the show on opening night for the first time?
What are their students learning from Smith-Sadak and Herzog?
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#133 Towson
Posted: 4/28/11 at 10:51pm
“There is a contract for every play, and the general rule is you can’t [alter the script,]” [producer/etc. Jay Herzog] said. “But for personal reasons that I’m not willing to disclose, I did not make a big deal out of it."
He pretty much leaves us no choice but to imagine the various possible personal reasons...
Somebody is sleeping with somebody.
Somebody is crazy scary when she goes off on tangents about art and commerce and it was just easier to let the cuts slide because WHO WOULD EVER HEAR ABOUT THEM? than it would be to endure her tirades.
Somebody is sleeping with somebody.
Others?
Twitter @NamoInExile
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grandpianoalex
Stand-by Joined: 2/15/10
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#141 Towson
Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:04am
Wow, the BWW message boards have a lot of power. I (or should I say, my username) has been quoted in the Times, Jordan Catalano is on the verge of getting a professor at Towson fired for being an artistic dumbass, and collectively we are responsible for closing dozens of shows -- most recently HIGH.
It all started when Marc Shaiman created a "Pick-A-Little, Post-A-Little" parody video and called some of us by username. That was the seed...
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#143 Towson
Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:23amDon't change the ending.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
dexter3
Featured Actor Joined: 9/13/08
#146 Towson
Posted: 4/29/11 at 1:54am
To me, the most heinous part of this whole thing is not that the ending was altered (which is pretty heinous to begin with...) but that there's a "professor" of theatre at this school who can't admit any wrongdoing, accept that what she did was wrong, or even release an apology that has any kind of sincerity to it.
Instead she defends her actions and plays the victim.
And who ends up paying for this mistake?
a) the reputation of the university, b) the reputation of the theatre department, and most importantly c) the students.
Are they really learning that this kind of treatment of the script / score is unacceptable?
Are they really learning that when you mess up you need to be accountable and apologize for your mistakes?
Are they really learning that not only what she did was unlawful but terribly unprofessional by all standards of professional theatre?
These students are defending their director on this board and through the comments on the news stories (linked to earlier) and don't seem to have learned ANY of these things from this incident.
When this woman is being openly criticized by the PRESIDENT OF MUSICAL THEATRE INTERNATIONAL for her handling of the situation and her inane comments on attorneys, jonathan larson, and her reasons for the changes, should you really be teaching theatre at a university?! Or at all?
Someone, maybe Jay Herzog, should have some kind of talk with the students to reinforce that the show was changed BACK to the original authentic ending because a) it was illegal, b) it's just morally wrong to disrespect the text you're working with, and c) it's terribly unprofessional in all levels of theatre.
Updated On: 4/29/11 at 01:54 AM
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#147 Towson
Posted: 4/29/11 at 7:57amI can only hope my fear that this director has inserted a scathing Letter from the Director into her production's program is unfounded. I could see someone like this printing out an insert that explains that the big old corporation doesn't understand her vision and Rent is forever tarnished because her tiny little unnoticeable changes were shut down by the lawyers who destroyed Jonathan Larson's vision.
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
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