ADAM LAMBERT Joins cast of RENT at Hollywood Bowl, and other casting news.

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:07pm

Anyone else hear this? I was speaking with a friend of mine this afternoon, who has been cast in the ensemble of RENT at the Hollywood Bowl this summer, and he told me that ADAM LAMBERT will be playing the part of ANGEL.

Still no Roger has been cast... producers are waiting to hear on Justin Timberlake.

EDIT**

Still no Maureen has been cast... Neil Patrick Harris would LOVE for LADY GAGA to play the role.

And he has a very different vision for mark. He is NOT looking for a blonde hair blue eyed pretty boy.

This is all from the mouth of an Ensemble member who has already been cast. Who knows the full truth of the situation, its just the word on the street.

Updated On: 4/10/10 at 10:07 PM

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:20pm

I was actually thinking of Lady Gaga being Maureen a few days ago. I doubt that she would do it, but who knows?
She could sing the hell out of it!

[timote316]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:21pm

I'm going to file this in the "...I doubt it, but would laugh if its true" category.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:25pm

I could see him doing it.

[threetwoone]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:27pm

If this is true, I'm glad he won't be forgetting his theatre roots. I hope to see him on a Broadway stage one day.

[lightguy06222]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:27pm

its not like Lambert really has anything else going on in his life.

I dont think Lady Gaga would do it... Shes worth too much these days. Then again, its ONLY 3 performances....

I wouldn't be surprised if JT did the show... he attended every performance of Guys and Dolls last year, and is very friendly with NPH.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:29pm

he attended every performance of Guys and Dolls last year,

He was dating Jessica Biel.

its not like Lambert really has anything else going on in his life.

Oh you are so correct. lol.

[Edna Turnblad]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:34pm

If this is true I just may give up all hope for this production. I love Neil Patrick Harris, and am content with Vanessa, but Adam is too much. I don't like him.

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:45pm

Gaga will be on tour, so she's out.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 10:54pm

You're content with Vanessa "High School Autotune" Hudgens but write-off an experienced musical theatre actor? Probably a first for this site...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/10/10 at 11:05pm

No stranger to auto-tune himself.

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:29am

If the guy who plays Abed on "Community" could sing, he'd be a GREAT Mark. He just has that vibe about him, and he's "not the typical-looking Mark," being ambiguously Asian/Indian/Arabic (he's Iraqi on the show, anyway).

Other than Fuzzy Bikini Girl, no major Rent character is typically associated with Asia or its subcontinents- maybe a non-whitebread Mark would be refreshing, and a great theater niche role for less-represented minority groups like those above.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:36am

Namo, he's famous now; he can afford to be lazy when he has someone fixing everything for him.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 1:00am

It's a good role for him, especially the parts where he gets to slap a lot of make-up on. I think he was made to shill Pro Activ.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 1:15am

That poor guy.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 2:50am

No. Please no. Adam is no Angel. Ever. Like Edna, I'd take Vanessa as Mimi over Adam as Angel in a heartbeat. And I'm no fan of Vanessa's.

~Steven

[angelxschunard]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 5:33am

When I read "Adam Lambert as Angel" I literally LOL'd. That's the funniest fckin thing I've ever heard.

At this point, if this is true, NPH can fck off. I get that the Hollywood bowl is for Hollywood stars who can't commit to the eight times a week theatre schedule but at least get stars that are qualified for the role. Vanessa Hudgens? ADAM FRIGGIN' LAMBERT? Sure, he's basically Angel every day of his life, but how many times have we heard him badmouth the theatre since he's been on Idol? I will endlessly laugh my ass off if this turns out to be true. I cannot take him seriously in that role.

Eh. I guess that was a little harsh. It's not Adam's or Vanessa's fault if they're miscast, like someone else said on the other board. It's Neil's. I hope I'm proven wrong when I go see this.

[Piper3500]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 9:40am

"its not like Lambert really has anything else going on in his life. "

I bet he's doing a lot more than Kris Allen. Just because we don't see it, doesn't mean he's not doing anything. I think Kris is writing?? I don't know. I like Adam though. Always have.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 10:31am

I accidentally clicked on ths thread again today. I think the title should be changed until it is confirmed.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 10:35am

I lost all desire to see this show. I won't even watch a boot of it if I have to sit through Lamberts shrieking "singing".

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:24pm

Danny Pudi plays Abed. He is of Indian and Polish descent.

[snl89]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:36pm

I don't know that I totally buy this (Adam's got like a million other things going on right now haha), BUT the funny thing is I have always thought he could potentially make a good Angel! hehe

Just because he actually has the sass to pull it off :P Although I do tend to prefer Angels to be a bit more petite and stuff.. but still, I'd actually totally be interested to see it if this were true haha. It could be really awkward or it could be really great... can't quite decide which way it would be more likely to go lol



"Sure, he's basically Angel every day of his life, but how many times have we heard him badmouth the theatre since he's been on Idol? I will endlessly laugh my ass off if this turns out to be true. I cannot take him seriously in that role."

He's never "badmouthed" the theater. On the contrary, he's talked a LOT about how much he loves the theater community and how his theater training absolutely helped him every step of the way on Idol :) What he's said is that he was getting a little bit bored with what he was doing in theater after a while, and wanted to be able to do his OWN thing for a while. That certainly doesn't mean he'll never do theater again though! It just meant he needed a change. And I don't see what's so wrong with that.

I have a hard time believing he'd be doing it now, since he's focusing on promoting his album and touring and all that right now, but certainly at some point in the future I could see it happening.

Updated On: 4/11/10 at 12:36 PM

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:45pm

I really hope that this turns out to be true. Adam is a terrific performer, and come on, you have to admit that he's got a phenomenal voice.

Check him out singing Heaven On Their Minds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw1fznPBu6U

He's proven that he can handle live theatre, being a veteran of it, and I actually think he would be fantastic as Angel. Really hoping that this is more than just a rumor.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:48pm

I'm really disappointed. Jonathan Larson would be ashamed. I mean, on Broadway they had some stars come in and play roles (Scary Spice as Mimi, for one) but it just defeats the purpose to have a star strudded cast of pop musicians sing this music. Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, Vanessa Hudgens belong on Disney Channel and MTV and should stay there. Would I like to see Gaga as Maureen? Yes. Lambert as Angel? Maybe. Hudgens as Mimi? Hell no.

If this was a benefit concert; go for it. But NPH isn't thinking about by casting all these people in a real production how many people this is taking away from that could be Mimi, Angel, Mark, Roger in a professional production and really make their big breaks like so many of the OBC cast members did; and since the show isn't on Broadway anymore, this is the next best thing besides a tour...and professional productions of Rent aren't so easy to come by...regional, school and community theatre? Yeah. Equity-employed venues? Not so much.

Does anyone see my point? I just find it to be hypocritical you have a cast of auto-tune trained, non-musical theatre (with the exception of Lambert--and Gaga does actually have a lot of classical musical training) celebrities singing about struggling as artists and barely getting by and just surviving; some of these topics none of these people will ever have to worry about in their lives? It just defeats the point.

Not to say that Gaga, Lambert or Hudgens haven't gone through hard times and worked hard to be where they are now; but it's just the fact that those people who've had their chance in the spotlight and are generally past the age of these roles (at least Gaga is. I don't know the ages of Hudgens or Lambert; though they could pass for early twenty's; because that's probably how old they are) are playing these roles when there's so much unexplored talent out there and loads of young actors, actresses and musicians who would kill to fill those roles? Just tragic, if you ask me.

[snl89]

Posted: 4/11/10 at 12:53pm

Seriously, I can't believe people would actually prefer Vanessa Hudgens, who can barely even sing without autotune, over Adam, who can do practically anything with his voice!

Anyone who thinks that all he can do is "shriek" probably just hasn't heard enough from his theater days (or enough of his singing just in general) :) He really really is incredible.

I'm still just slightly on the fence about that particular role for him, because I could see it either being awesome or awkward, but in general, I can't see why anyone would EVER object to someone with a voice that brilliant being involved in theater productions!


(again though, I have a really hard time believing this rumor has any truth to it- I think Adam's way too busy promoting his own music right now)

Updated On: 4/11/10 at 12:53 PM