5/6 RENT at the Warner Review & Cinderella

YEah I know, two totally different topics, but I didn't want to start two threads:

For starters RENT. ... ...
Yeah I don't even know where to begin. I went in with a very open mind. I had heard it wasn't that good and to save my money, but I love the story and the music so I thought I would give it a shot. My seat was great, only a little obstruction of view due to the lights on the stage (my seat was on the right). I was really excited when Mark stepped on the stage and he was relatively good. it gave me hope that the show would be good. Yeah, then it just went bad from there.
I never had a problem when the whole cast sang together. RENT gave me chills like it always does, Christmas Bells (one of my favorite songs) was pretty decent. However, whoever played Mimi shouldn't. she started off bad and continued to go down.
I had an understudy for Rodger, and he got better as the show went on, but never really went anywhere. Collins was the saving grace of the show. I would have been utterly disappointed if someone did not do well, and Collins was amazing.
The show seemed rushed at points, more rushed than normal. The girl who sat beside me had never even seen or heard anything from the play and based all of her judgements on the movie ("why are they starting the show at the protest" -- comment on stage, "Why are all of these songs added to the show if they aren't in the movie" -- comment on any song not in movie but in show.) I stopped answering her questions after the 10th on and let her remain confused for the rest of the show.
All and all I don't regret buying a ticket. It's a tour so I should get what I paid for. The songs that I enjoy in the show were sung pretty well, so it wasn't completely ruined afternoon.


2nd: Why has Rodgers and Hammerstein's cinderella never been on broadway? My mom and I can't figure it out.

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Mimi's songs are some of my favorite (I'm VERY picky about "out tonight") so to hear them the way they were, bad. However, that's just my opinion. I heard people leaving saying it was amazing and well done *shrug*. I've been involved with music my entire life, so I have an ear, but you might enjoy it. Or you might get lucky and get her understudy. lol

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chopstitute--
normally I do not mind answering questions from people about shows (RENT in particular). Most of the time they are from younger fans, just as this girl was (she was around 13). but to make all of your assumptions off of the movie was silly and then her questions started getting more and more bogus, so i simply got up at intermission and went outside and walked around and up the street a few blocks before I snapped. Then calmly came back for act II.

I love "Cinderella". However, I do see your point. It is such an easy score to sing. I have no difficulty and I have only a year of training.

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I would have snapped right then and there, but I guess your nicer than me then

It's a tour so I should get what I paid for.

Whaaaaaa? Putting the Equity/non-Equity debate aside, there shouldn't really be an assumption that a tour is automatically going to be substandard just because the venue happens to not be in New York City.

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I've never seen the show on Broadway, but I loved it. I thought it was magical and beautiful when I saw the tour way back when. Maybe it just lost something because of the size of the theater, or maybe just because the peroformers suck. I haven't have great experiences with non-equity tours. Is the set the same? not like you could really scale it down any further.

I saw Rent twice this weekend(Friday night-10th row, and Sunday night-5th row).They could have done a little better casting(particularly with Mimi), but I liked the cast. Maureen(Tracy McDowell)and Joanne(Chante Carmel Frierson), saved the show for me. I got two different understudies for Roger this weekend, Gavin Reign on Friday and Matthew Hydzik on Sunday. Gavin did a pretty good job with the role, but Matthew was painful to listen to at times. I still came out of both performances very happy. If you are thinking about seeing the tour, don't let the bad reviews stop you. I would see it again if I had the chance.

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Rent can never be ruined for me by a cast, even with Tim Howar's One Song Glory... *shivers*

Wait- slash that. Brittney Spears could ruin Mimi for me. And Justin Timberlake can 100% ruin Roger.

But I want to see the tour cast, all the same.

Cool Feeling Electric. I didn't know Spanger (my wife - not really, but she's amazing) and Kendra played Maureen. Very cool. I'm sure they were amazing. Well, I can't wait for the tour. I haven't seen the show live since I saw it my sophmore year of high school for the first time. Is the set different? I mean, I know its non-equity, but could you tell it was non-equity?

Sweet. Really? I wonder if I saw her. I wish I had my program from way back when.

The Rent set is virtually identical to the one on Broadway. You cannot tell it is non-equity from the set.

Isn't it the old Benny tour set anyway?

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I saw Rent twice this weekend, too! Sat night I was in row X because the people I went with wanted to sit toward the back of the theater (for some odd reason), but I got rush tickets on Sunday and was in the front row. My view was a little obstructed, but I kneeled in front of someone for Out Tonight, which was the only part I cared about missing. I do wish I had been able to see Mike (Benny) during Contact, cuz I heard he looked hot! haha I also agree that Mimi wasn't the best. her voice kept getting worse and worse, but she was still alright. I also saw both Matthew and Gavin as Roger, and I personally loved Matthew. Everyone else seemed to think he was rusty, but I thought he did great. I guess he was missing lines on Friday night, but I didn't think he missed any at all on Sat night. Ano and Warren were WONDERFUL as Angel and Collins and were totally my favorites. I met just about everyone after the show, but it was raining and they were in a hurry to get out to celebrate Jed's birthday, so I didn't want to really bother them. Mike (Benny) was definately fun and easy to talk to (and cute!). Overall it was a great experience and I would reccomend it to anyone who can't get to New York for the real thing, or anyone who wants a slightly different feel to the show. It's not exactly the same as seeing it at the Nederlander, but it's pretty damn close.