Drew's last show is either the 11th or the 13th of March (this is according to him on Monday night). Matt's contract originally started 3/18, but now it'll probably be whatever show is the one right after Drew's last.
JOHN LITHGOW
I just realized, your last name is Butz! Both "Norbert" AND "Butz" are in your name! You must have gotten picked on a lot as a child!
When did you see him, Emcee? I think part of the reason people don't love Matt is that he's been doing the show forever (since he was 19, 6 years ago or so) and he's added all these "antics" to up his performance.
JOHN LITHGOW
I just realized, your last name is Butz! Both "Norbert" AND "Butz" are in your name! You must have gotten picked on a lot as a child!
I saw him that week back in October that he was on for Drew. You could tell that he was bored, and seemed more intent on making the audience laugh with the "antics" you alluded to than on giving Mark a heart. I had a really tough time finding ANY sympathy for his Mark. He has a great voice; it was a shame.
What? I liked Matt Caplan, ALOT! I can't wait to see him as Mark again. I've been steering clear of the Nederlander since Scary Spice and Drew Lachey have wormed their ways into Rent. I've been waiting this out for a long time. NO MORE POP HAS-BEENS, DAMMIT!!!!!!
Emcee, sorry you're feeling sick. I just got over a cold last week and I camped out on bww till my eyes melted! Feel better!
"I'm the STAR!"--Daniel Reichard during Glory Daze sound check
Matt Caplan has done the show for too long. He isn't MARK, he's MATT onstage. Personal jokes and boredom leak out of him during his performance - he's clearly only doing it for the paycheck. He stopped trying to act the role over a year ago.
Have you even seen Drew Lachey? He was great.
"If you are going to do something, do it well. And leave something witchy."-Charlie Manson
Drew - Drew, Drew Drew... Well, he wasn't the trainwreck that I'd expected, and he was better than Joey Fatone, I thought. He wasn't awful, and I guess I'm kind of on the fence as to what to say my overall opinion of him is. His negatives outweigh his positives, but I didn't hate him. He has a nice voice, but it's very... boy band-ish, obviously. When he's not too whiny, he's actually very pleasant to listen to, but that's kind of a sporadic occurence. It seems like he's almost trying too hard to be nasally, because that's the Mark stereotype. His speech and singing were a little bit robotic sometimes, but not others, and his enunciation and articulation were really poor, to the point that had I not been very familiar with his lines, I may have found myself pulling a "wait, what'd he say?" a couple of times. His acting wasn't too bad; he plays a pretty sweet, goofy, clumsy, slightly lovable Mark, but it's not gone overboard. He was distant when the time came, but he has a decent amount of presence when he needed to show it. I'm not cursing myself that I actually caved and went to see him, so I guess that's a good thing.
OMG! That means Ashlee Simpson can play Mimi or Maureen! OMG! I love her CDs can you imagine how good she must be live! This is going to be the best Rent ever! Unless they filled the entire cast with the American Idol finalists! That would be the best show on Broadway ever!
"It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing."
I just feel like it's getting to that point where the show is just pulling whoever they can in to keep it alive (although, it's definitley still selling out). As far as I'm concerned, if that's what it takes to keep it on Broadway so the story is still there for me to go and experience, I'll take it - not overjoyed, but i'll take it.
There is no guarantee that IF Ryan were to be cast as Roger (and that's a big IF), they would wait until Cary's contract was up. It doesn't matter what Cary may have told anybody or their friends. The producers of Rent have tap danced around contracts a number of times in order to get in big names. Joey Fatone anyone? Matt Caplan had signed a contract to be Mark TWO MONTHS before they brought Joey in. Do you really think he signed a two month contract? He didn't. So if they want a big name in there, and I would assume they do as soon after Drew leaves as possible, I doubt they're going to wait three months to honor Cary's contract if they want Ryan and he can, and will, do it now.
They could screw Cary over, but Ryan Cabrera would need a lot of rehearsal time before he was ready to go on as Roger. Drew took three full months to prepare, so Ryan would not come in until Carys contract was done. And the producers don't need a name right now anyway as Rent has been sold out every nigth for the past two weeks apparently. They would wait until Drew leaves in March and then Ryan would not come in until at least July, although he may not be asked. Also, Ryan is friends with Drew from what I hear. Ryan is still dating Ashley and knows Drew.
"Less Of A Marilyn, More Of A Jackie"
www.richardhblake.com