A question about Rent in the UK

Im really not sure?

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I don't know how well this will go down... but I didn't think that remixing 'Rent' was actually a terrible idea. In fact, it was quite a good one. There were a few sparks of good ideas on display (I really liked the idea of 'Out Tonight' as a burlesque number, for example). The problem is that it was just so clumsy and awful in execution, and for every good-idea-spark, there were at least five terrible ideas that got through.

What I would have liked to see... well, they ultimately got very confused about the setting. They went on and on and on about how they were setting it in a generic place that could be anywhere, but they didn't follow through, and it ended up being a strange limbo version of New York. It was a very half-hearted attempt. I would have preferred it had they said "well, we can't separate it out from New York, so let's just leave it there", but I'd have been more willing to accept them saying "it's not New York anymore!" if only they'd actually stuck to their guns and removed it from New York.

The remixes of the first act I remember being less worse than the remixes of the second act. There was more variety of musical styles, and the second act got a bit... dancey. I don't know if I'm remembering it very well though, it has been... daymn, ten months to the day since I saw it!

I did also think the sterile white set was awful. Yes, well done, you made a set that's nothing like the original. However, it's also nothing like an attractive, functional set. Boo! Ghastly!

And that general admission stalls seating thing was terrible. They span it so it sounded like a good idea, but in execution, they were just trying to make it look like a popular show by having a queue of people standing outside the theatre.

I think 'Rent: Remixed' could have worked. I really do. If only they'd had a really skilled creative team and not the half-hearted souls they did! What an astoundingly over-the-top example of wasted opportunity.

In answer to the question: I'm sure a 'Rent' revival would have been more successful (not necessarily a success, but more successful) had they stuck closer to the original, but I'm also sure a 'Rent' revival would have been more successful had they actually put some real work into remixing it and not let so many stupid ideas through.

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Updated On: 9/8/08 at 06:47 AM

Oh dear, we're going to have a total disagreement. :)

I think if you're going to revive a show, you can either give the public exactly what they expect, or you can find a new way of coming at it. I really like the actor-musician stuff, for example, and you'll be hard-pushed to find someone who says the Mendes 'Cabaret' was a pile of tosh in comparison with the '60s original.

There's nothing wrong with coming at a show from a whole new angle, a la remixing it. It's just a shame that in this case, it was so wildly misjudged and not only missed the mark, but probably wasn't even aware there was a mark in the first place. I'm not saying that many of the changes weren't horrible, but if they'd remixed it with a whole array of definitely-not-horrible ideas as opposed to the totally-horrible ideas they did have, then we could easily be sitting here praising such a vibrant, imaginative, wonderful revival, you'd never have thought it would work but it did, blah blah blah.

What they did probably was akin to giving 'Gypsy' a dance beat; what they COULD have done could have been akin to using digital projections for 'Sunday in the Park with George' (or [insert other "gimmick" for a revival that turned out brilliant here, preferably something based around the music so my point is actually relevant]).

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Updated On: 9/8/08 at 07:33 AM

I knew one day these two dark forces would clash!
Katrina will have nothing on this!!!!

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SADM2 is smack on with all the comments about 'Remix'! it wasnt necessary! it wasn't needed! and in the end it wasn't any good!!!
A revival in the West End will be very welcome in the next few years I'm sure but it must be treated with the respect other revivals get such as the endless Rogers and Hammerstein's etc.
NOT by Kylies biggest fan!

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Well, it's not total disagreement, is it? We both thought it was absolutely dire.

I suppose... how about a revival where they remixed the music *where it was appropriate* (I really am keen on burlesque 'Out Tonight', the idea (if not the execution) was one of the main things that kept the evening from being an execrable waste for me) but kept as is for other things?

I mean, I can't picture 'Rent' or 'What You Own' in any other way, and it's kinda integral to Roger's character that 'One Song Glory' and 'Your Eyes' remain guitar-based as they are. But... a full-on Latino flavoured 'Tango: Maureen' *could* be rather good, particularly if you have an awesome dance break in the middle. 'Over the Moon' is a piece that cries out for reinterpretation, depending on whether you want Maureen to come across as goofy, deadly-serious, well-meaning-but-missed-the-boat, whatever. There must be SOME way to elevate 'Without You' from being one of the most boring songs in the show. 'Take Me or Leave Me' is quite merry as it is; could it be made more volatile (without making it techno), maybe upset the masses by making the final part of it some kind of immense riff-off between the two ladies instead of just leaving them to their merry harmonies?

I'm sure you can tell there's a reason why I'm not a director. But just because my ideas aren't the most well-formed doesn't mean that someone out there doesn't have the imagination and skill necessary to remix the musical styles for certain songs in a way that makes them interesting and fresh rather than terrible and depressing.

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Updated On: 9/8/08 at 08:28 AM

For what it's worth, there have been successful reinterpretations of the RENT score in practice before. I'm only going on the ones I have recordings of here, but we've already got:

Dublin - Much more jangle-pop and informal. Not my fave and I haven't listened to it in ages.

Sweden - More key heavy and slower. It's like the arrangements from the OCR of Hedwig mixed with the pacing on the film soundtrack. The Tango Maureen is sexier and more traditional, Without You has some reverb on the voice and rain sticks in the background. What You Own is a bit wimpy. I've only got a few tracks immediately on hand and am too lazy to check the rest wherever they're burned...

Iceland - Lots of liberties and I need to recheck my backups for the full thing. There's more reverb, and it's synth-ier. Today 4 U is club-ified and Out Tonight is eurodance (and WORKS! Sounds sooooo good!)

Netherlands - Very close to the original but played harder - very much the rock show with emphasis on the guitars and drums. Dutch is a great language for the show, which helps. My fave version of "Another Day" is on here.

Most of the remaining cast recordings (Japan 98, Korea, Mexico, Manilla) use the original arrangements, as does the German cast which was recorded live and kicks the arse out of the OBCR's sterile studio mix.

And 'Sweeney Todd' sounds GREAT played by a full symphony orchestra, but I'll still choose the Doyle revival recording to listen to over the others any day! Just because something is designed one way and excels one way does not mean it cannot possibly ever ever EVER sound rather good another way. No, Sarah Travis's orchestrations don't sound as pretty as Jonathan Tunick's, but they do the job very efficiently and complement the production very neatly.

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I dream of the day, and I'm not on my own here, when i get my hands again on the sound desk of 'Sweeney' at Drury Lane.
Weez, yes Doyles is a great listen, not a nice to watch tho!!!

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I think what a revival needs... if you're going for a "give them something new" approach... it needs to be revived because you've had a great idea for your something new, rather than going "let's revive it, now what new things can we do to it?". You need a good strong concept to work from; if you're doing it different, do it different because you've had a brilliant idea, not just for the sake of it. Otherwise, just do a copy/paste revival and maybe one of your audience members will one day come up with a brilliant new strong SOLID concept that they can see through to the end.

I've been defending the "remix" viewpoint, but the music isn't what needs refreshing in a 'Rent' revival. It's not like 'Evita', where ALW learned more about appropriate music styles so altered the show for them. It's not like actor-musician, where you have a limited band and you have to work around who's singing and who's available for playing and who can play while they sing and all that.

I think the conclusion I'm going for there is "you're right; the music is fine as it is. However, IF someone decides to alter it in future, it had better be because they have a GOOD idea rather than a gimmicky idea; GOOD ideas are where new-idea revivals succeed, and gimmicky ideas are where they go whizzing down the plughole".

If another revival comes, that isn't a copy/paste revival, they'd do well to look at set and costumes, and maybe even the rigid casting before playing with the music. 'Rent' is meant to be multicultural, and 'Rent: Remixed' was INCREDIBLY white, but you can be multicultural without, say, Joanne having to be Token Black Girl. Some characters have specific cultural backgrounds (Mark, Mimi), but the others could most certainly be given up to interpretation.

Are we wildly enough off-topic yet? ^_^

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hehehe maybe if Kylies sweat wiper or whoever the hell he is wasn't involved it could have worked lol

Oh and i have to say i thought the Dublin and Netherlands versions were horrid lol

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Here's a totally off-topic thought for today:

After they close Wicked eventually, in like 15 years or whatever...what do we think they'll do with a revival of the show?

It's kind of hard to re-imagine what's there because its become semi-iconic...I imagine that the problems in the book might be corrected to begin with, 'look' wise...I guess they might lose the clock inspired set...they might have found a new way for Elphaba to fly!

Have the actress flying over the audience on a broom hahaha. Mary Poppins meets Wicked.