A Rent review...

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 2:38pm

It had been a long time since I saw Rent. And the last time I saw it, I didn't enjoy the show that much. Well, yesterday I walked through Shubert Alley and there it was...
A *very* lovely poster of Cary Shields. I looked at it for a little while, and thought hmmm "it's been too long". But really, I had been meaning to get my butt over to the Nederlander for awhile. And last night, I did!
I have to say, I was very moved. Maybe it was because I've personally experienced more of the situations that are in the show, or maybe it was because I realized how much Jonathan Larson's music and lyrics meant to me. But, whatever the reason was, I ws deeply touched.

The overall sound-Wow. I truly believe this is a show EVERYONE should experience live. There is just something about hearing it live. So moving.

Drew Lachey- I was slightly worried about what his performance was going to be like. I saw the trainwreck performance of "What You Own" at Broadway on Broadway back in September, and it was baaaaaaaad. But, I enjoyed his performance. He wasn't the best Mark I've seen, but, he wasn't the worst either. And, he sings on pitch so, that was a nice plus. I thought he made good choices, and I LOVED the way he said "Greaaaaaaaaaat" just before they start singing "Tango Maureen."

Cary Sheilds- He is by far the best Roger I have ever seen. (Do keep in mind, I have only seen Manley Pope.) Bravo, boy! I loved him very much, and I thought he brought such a sensetive side to Roger that isn't always seen. One thing that I didn't quite pick up from him in Taboo was how strong of an actor he is, and last night he blew me away. His cry for Mimi at the end, when the girls find Mimi, BROKE my heart. I will definately be seeing the show again before he leaves.

Merle Dandridge (Joanne) impressed me very much. She is AMAZING, and that girl is not only beautiful, but she can siiiiiiiiiing. Loved her.

Honestly, everyone was great. There wasn't anything or anyone I just couldn't stand! So on that note, yay! I'm so thankfull Rent is still on Broadway and is still reminding people why they loved the show to begin with.

Thank you, Jonathan Larson.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 2:40pm

Great review, thanks.

Was Kelly Karbacz back last night? (She was out all last week)

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 2:45pm

Yeah, she was back! She was another actress I was very impressed with.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 2:55pm

Awsome review! Glad you enjoyed the show. I want to go see it live so badly.

[iwearshoes]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 3:09pm

I first saw the show back in December when I went to New York. We made the mistake of seeing the matinee (well at least we thought we had made a mistake). We saw almost all of the understudies. The only ones who were the "regulars" were maureen and benny. I was lucky enough though, to see matt caplan at rent and was pleasantly suprised because he was just great! the roger we saw did not impress me at all and that was a downside but it was a great show.

[Em-LEE]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 3:39pm

I first saw RENT this past January at a Sunday matinee performance. It was great! I was pleasantly surprised by Drew. I had been lurking around this site for quite some time, so after all of the horrible things people had said about him I was expecting him to be awful. I just saw the tour last Sunday, and I preferred that Mark to Drew's, but I really thought Drew did a nice job.

The person I was most impressed with when I saw it on Broadway was Justin Johnston who played Angel. What did you think of him?

[Sargar]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 4:22pm

Justin was GREAT! I was a big fan of his, and he made up for Drew's performance of Mark (which I just..ugh..no words) My friend actually won the lottery this past saturday, and she said that she wasn't sure if it was because the seats were so close, but out of the 10+ times that she's seen it, it was one of her favorite performances. Rent is a show that I never really seem to get bored of; its usually just bad performers that bring it down for me. I truly believe that if Rent just got itself a truly kick-a$$ cast, it could easily last a few more years on broadway.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 4:26pm

I thought I responded to this but I guess I didn't. He was a joy to watch, and I was very impressed with how well he sounded. I really did love the whole cast!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:10pm

yay, I love this cast.

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:15pm

How was the mimi? I believe it was Karmine Alers? If so, I simply ADORE her! What a voice, she's my favorite Mimi.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:19pm

I think Karmin is one of the worst Mimis ...sorry...well....Mel B was even worse maybe.

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:40pm

Karmine is my favorite Mimi ever!! You have gotten me MAD!!! Jk, jk.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:54pm

*cries* I want to go see Rent again!

[TGIF]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:56pm

I saw Karmine as Maureen and she has some voice. She looks like she would be a great Mimi. My favorite Mimi has to be Dominique Roy. WOW.

[Kelliexo90]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 5:56pm

I just(literally like 10 minutes ago) got home from seeing the National Tour of Rent and I am in love with it. I was kind of confused at first because, surprisingly, I only had a very broad idea of what it was about. These actors and actresses that I saw in the tour were really amazing. The singing was so great and the acting was as well. I had goosebumps almost every time Dan Rosebaum(Roger) and Tallia Brinsin(Mimi) sang. I was completely moved after I left the show and I want to see it again... like right now. I loved everything about it.

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 6:00pm

Actually the girl in the current tour is quite good too. Tallia Brinson? I remember her being Amazing but not as good as Karmine. She jsut has that voice that is like butter. I love it! I also saw Jaime Lee Kirchner(sp?). I remember not liking her singing very much but I loved her big hair and dancing. That tour sucked, especially Constantine and Brian Gligor. The new tour is smashing especially the Joanne, Tom Collins, Roger, Mimi, and the 2 seasons of love soloists. It was one of the better touring shows I've seen.

[ozdustgirl2]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 6:41pm

Great Review,

I saw Rent for the first time in January at a Sunday Matinee. I had great 7th row center orchestra tickets. I felt like I was part of the show. All of the leads were there, no understudies. It was great, I had heard the music before and I was so excited to see the show. I was very moved during the second Act. The actors are all so amazing.

I saw the show again that night and it was just as great, this time I was in the balcony, though I didnt feel like I was quite in the show this time it was nice to see it from a different perspective.

Thank you Jonathan Larson for writing such a great show and thanks to the cast for making it so memorable.

I cant wait for the upcoming movie.

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 6:59pm

Karmine kicks ass. (And, she was Jonathan's first choice to play Mimi off Broadway...)

Updated On: 2/27/05 at 06:59 PM

[Katecab99]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 8:05pm

How funny! i had the SAME experience yesterday!!

i see RENT pretty regularly, but the past couple of times that i've been there, i was not overly impressed by the cast. i liked alot of them individually, but they just didn't seem to mesh well together as a group. The audience always seems relativley quiet and it was sadly beginning to feel like a totally different experience than it used to be.

HOWEVER, yesterday I was around with two friends and we decided to try the RENT lottery since we figured our chances were reasonably good because they crowd wasn't very big. Go figure, none of our names were called - but a super nice girl didn't want to go and talked her friend (who had won) into giving us their two tickets. Unfortunatley we needed an extra, and we just so happened to get lucky and find someone who wanted to drop to a single ticket - needless to say, we got three tickets! in all the many times i've seen RENT, i had never won the lottery, so i was so excited!

ANYWAY...moving right along to the show itself...maybe it was the fact that we were sitting so close, but the show last night brought back emotions that i remember feeling the very first time i saw it (an experience that changed my life, as cliche as it sounds). Cary is fantastic as Roger - he is SO hot and so passionate!And i actually enjoyed Drew Lachey's performance, which i hadn't until this point - i felt like he finally was comfortable in the role and really fed off Cary. i was so excited to see karmine as mimi, because i think she's one of the best mimi's i've ever seen and i really, really liked Kelly Karbacz, who i wasn't crazy about the last 3 times i had seen her. Justin is fabulous as Angel - that boy can dance!! Frenchie actually gets the audience to scream a little when she solo's in "seasons of love", and i love her rendition. the cast was just WONDERFUL!!

i was just so overwhelmed and so thrilled that this show was brought back to life! i absolutley can't wait to see it again!

[carymetorent2]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 12:31am

Katecab, my friends were the ones that gave you the tickets I believe!! Were you sitting in the last two seats of the front row? Haha she told me how excited you guys were if it was you!! Thats awesome!

Chrysanthemum ... Cary's poster was up in Schubert Alley? I thought Drews shirtless poster was up ... hmm interesting.

[dapapabear2]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 12:44am

Replying to Kelliexo90: I saw the performance at the Bushnell last night and I agree it was great. Andy Meeks brought life to Mark that I haven't seen anyone one else manage (though when he first came out all I could think of was Hunter Foster!) If I had never seen it with anyone else playing Roger I would have enjoyed Dan's performance more. He is very talented and he sure did manage to bring goosebumps with voice. I guess I've just got used to seeing Roger in a certain way. Probably it was good to see someone different. The whole cast was great and they won the hearts of the audience without a doubt. Check out the line up of shows for next year, some good shows coming.

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 9:40am

It used to be the nasty shirtless poster of Drew Lachey. But, now it's Cary!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 9:42am

Oh, thank goodness. I'm a big fan of the Cary poster. It's the one like the poster, right? He's got the guitar over his back?

[TheGaIsSilent]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 9:44am

Yeah, Emcee, it's the same picture (I believe) that's on the front page of his website.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/28/05 at 9:45am

Off track (kinda)~ Cary was very, very nice, and stuck around to take a picture/ sign for EVERYONE who was outside the nederlander. Once again, he is one of my favorite rogers, so I was glad he wasn't an @$$hole!