DEAN ARMSTRONG
DEAN ARMSTRONG
#0DEAN ARMSTRONG
Posted: 5/20/04 at 5:01pmDid anyone ever happen to catch DEAN ARMSTRONG in RENT??? To my knowledge he was an understudy/swing in 2000 for both Mark and Roger. He's since had a recurring role on QUEER AS FOLK. Did anyone see him? How was he???
#1re: DEAN ARMSTRONG
Posted: 5/20/04 at 5:22pm
Ooo... I just found a nifty picture of DEAN with Jai Rodgrigez (pre-queer-eye) and some other guys from the cast looking very sexy for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS RENT 2002 calendar. How cool! So I guess he was with the show through 2002. And his site has a lot of pictures of him as Gordon, so I guess he also played Gordon. No one saw the show from 2000-2002??? Honestly..... 
CLICK HERE!!!
Updated On: 5/20/04 at 05:22 PM
leomaxfrank
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/04
#3re: DEAN ARMSTRONG
Posted: 5/20/04 at 10:21pmi saw Dean with Trey Ellett in 2001. he was average. i felt he underacted - ALOT
#4re: DEAN ARMSTRONG
Posted: 5/20/04 at 10:55pmhmmm... underacted like you felt he could do better and just wasn't giving his all, or underacted like he couldn't get there so he downplayed it? Did you see him as MARK or ROGER? How was his singing voice??? Updated On: 5/20/04 at 10:55 PM
Musetta1957
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/03
#5re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/21/04 at 2:33am
There's a thread over at CompulsiveBowlers where your question would fit nicely.
Hmm. I read that over and it sounds sarcastic. That's not my intent, sorry. Just thought you might get a better result over there.
How was [So-and-so] as [This character]?
GirlfriendFromCanada
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/7/03
#7re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/21/04 at 10:47am
I don't think Dean was with the show for two years, I know he left when Matt Caplan joined the cast in October of 2001.
I saw Dean as Steve and as Mark and I thought he was really good as both. His Mark was very timid and quiet, and broke really easily. I remember him crying during Goodbye Love, and his facial expressions at certain points were heartbreaking (especially the AZT break). He's kind of small, so it always looked like Manley could just flit him off the stage. But I really liked him a lot, he still ranks up among my favorite Marks.
#8re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/21/04 at 11:28am
I remember doing "Me and My Girl" with Dean at Queen's University, and I remember being appalled at his homophobic behaviour, primarily towards me. Imagine my sense of poetic justice when I saw him on Queer as Folk for the first time. Did I just drag this off-topic?
leomaxfrank
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/04
#9re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/21/04 at 12:37pmi saw Dean as Roger. Underacted in the way in which I just wanted more - he had little to no energy in the first act. i think someone gave he - and the entire cast - a pep talk during intermission. they were much better for the 2nd act. he is very tiny also and he played his size.
#10re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/21/04 at 1:15pmHomophobic behavior? And he was on QAF, played Mark in RENT and has his own children's theatre course. Are you sure?
#11re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/21/04 at 2:08pm
Yes, I'm sure.
And I'm also sure that people change.
This is 1994 (93?) we're talking about! I was 19 and he was 21 (I think). Who knows what's gone on in his life since then; even a year later, when he directed West Side, he was quite different; much more humble. We only knew each other through our work on the show, anyway, so I never likely saw the complete picture. At THAT time, though, I had other people in the cast apologize to me regularly because they were embarrassed at his (and others') behaviour. His appearance on QAF was in direct and shocking contrast to the behaviour I remember; thus the sense of irony. I don't profess to know anything about who he is as a person now, nor very much about who he was then. I remember his actions, though, because they still hurt; and I will grant that his actions since then demonstrate a notable difference in attitude.
#12re: Dean Armstrong
Posted: 5/22/04 at 1:40amJust an observation, but if DEAN really is straight and he is indeed a homophobe, I feel really bad for him, because on his website, his guestbook is filled with entries from guys telling him how hot he looks....
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