Caution: The first few rows may get wet! (RENT- 4/15)

Karmine is indeed amazing... but I can't disagree with you more about Matt, though. I thought he was awful (not to mention unprofessional) when I saw him.

Actually I saw Matt last July and I hated him then so I totally see your point- he was TOTALLY unprofessional, but I have a feeling that had to do with who was playing Roger (why can't I remember his name?!) and the rest of the cast at the time- they had much more chemistry and I was very disappointed then too lol- but yesterday he was very funny and put on a great show so I was happy. He actually reminded me of Anthony's Mark a bit.


Oh yeah this was too funny- the two girls sitting behind us had absolutly no idea what the show was like and were gushing over the movie and saw Tim's picture in the program and were like "this is so wrong he was blonde and had long hair" and were just all upset about it it was pretty funny- they just had no clue... and kept talking about every little difference between the movie and the show the wholllee time.... "this song wasn't in it and this was different" ugh drove me nuts.

aside from that- I was shocked to see a lot of kids under ten... like they could really understand what was going on?? Definitly more teenage girls than usual too- I haven't been to the show since last July- (pre-movie craze) so I was pretty shocked at all the younger kids- I don't understand that one at all... could most of them really know what was going on or enjoy it at all? Maybe I am totally off on this but I was surprised none the less.

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Updated On: 4/16/06 at 10:39 AM

Jen you beat me to it! Well now instead of writing my own "review" I will just add to yours!

First, when we saw Matt last July, as others have said, he was much more "goofy" and "unprofessional" however this time around I felt that he did a very good job.

Personally I did not love Tim's Roger. I don't mind an angry Roger (although I think his anger was over the top at times) and I actually found his voice interesting but I think that his songs were hit or miss. My problem with him was more that I didn't feel any chemistry between him and anyone else on that stage.

Justin was good but lacked the energy I remember him having last time I saw him. Perhaps he was having an off night, I don't know. Still think he was good in the role and I loved the chemistry between him and Destan.

I was a little shocked to see Karmine in for Antonique, only because we didn't get one of those little papers saying that she was going to be in. That said, I think she is amazing and was very glad to see her. In my opinion she was one of the very few people who looked like she was "on" and in character throughout the entire performance.

Destan and D'Monroe were good as Collins and Benny I just didn't see anything fantastic about either of them but, again, it did seem as if there was some chemistry or energy or something lacking on that stage.

Ava was a good, funny Maureen and I was very impressed with her vocals during "Take Me or Leave Me."

Frenchie blew us away with her solo during "Seasons of Love". Jen actually whispered to me, "talk about a set of pipes!"

And, as Jen (bwaylover86) said, those first few rows may get wet! That Tim spits A LOT! lol When he dropped that one "goober" on Karmine (with a K, Jen! 0k, you fixed it!) we both looked at each other like, "eww!" You had to feel for her. The poor girl is sitting there dying and can't wipe the spit off! But when she got up you can bet she was wiping at her face! lol

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Updated On: 4/16/06 at 11:42 AM

I am in the minority here and actually like Matt's take on Mark. He breathes a different kind of life into the character and makes him more interesting (and a bit more realistic). He plays it up for laughs a bit more than he should but overall he does a good job. I liken him to a more loosened version of Jim Poulas, who is one of my personal favorite Marks. Basically, hes not my favorite Mark but he is more memorable than others (*CoughDrewLachney*)

Tim, for me, is a very solid Roger who does a great job. He's not the best Roger but he captures the character well enough. Though thanks for the warning! I wonder if he spits on the level of John Lithow.

Spitting can be a good thing while performing, you spit when you are speaking clearly.

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Is Karmine now Mimi full time? I love her when she goes on as Mimi. She does a fantastic job.

Outta curiosity, what makes Matt so "unprofessional"? Did he break character a lot? (I've not seen him, I'm just curious as to what the fuss is about.)

~Sam

Gotcha. Well, sometimes people make a role too much their own; and it's insanely "high school" to ad lib to such a point.

~Sam

Benzy:

Ah-ha! You know, we didn't get one of those papers saying that anyone was out and we didn't see any signs but I knew that it was Karmine, not Antonique. Now it makes more sense. Both Jen and I remembered Justin having more energy and a higher voice last time we saw him and this Angel seemed to have a deeper voice and just not quiet the same level of energy . . . guess now we know why! It is so hard to tell from the pics who is who sometimes! Now that I looked back and it I feel kind of dumb though . . . lol

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Yeah I didn't even question that it wouldn't be him- for some reason I didn't think about the dreds- now looking in the program I can definitly see the difference... oops lol. Well I like Justin MUCH better than Shaun and it says that he was Angel back in 1998.. maybe he has just gotten too old for the role?

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broadwaybaby--Karmine's solo cd is good? I've been debating buying it . . . I've listened to parts of it on her website and just never took the next step. I think I even looked for it on iTunes once but don't think it was on there. Will have to look again.

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wow i knew he looked familiar!! I just assumed it was because he was the angel I saw last time! thats so funny!

btw Benzy- both me and NJRae wanted to thank you for correcting our mistake so nicely- a lot of other people on the board would have not been as nice!

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