Matt Caplan Appreciation or Something Like It

[Dramatic_Irony]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:07am

Well, I think that with all the controversy surrounding Matt Caplan's performance as Mark Cohen in RENT, he should have his own thread.

Personally, I think he's a great actor. He really puts his all into the character. However, I think he's a horrible Mark. It's debatable if the character he's putting his all into is Mark Cohen or...say, Daryl Coopersmith, from Adventures in Babysitting. I'm not going to write anything in-depth right now, but I really don't think he truly grasped the depth of his character, or, dare I say, the depth of the show RENT.

Updated On: 1/28/06 at 01:07 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:09am

I think you mean "appreciation."

Ahh, Matt. Favorite subject of RentSecrets. Or, one of them, at least...

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:10am

You should probably spell the word "appreciation" correctly, or no one will take this thread seriously.

[Katt]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:11am

Yeah and you'll get quite a few posts correcting you about it.

[Dramatic_Irony]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:14am

What can I say, it's late. And great discussion we've got going here, I see.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:14am

Am I the only person who actually LIKED Matt as Mark?

[Patronus]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:16am

No, but you may be the only sane person.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:21am

I liked Matt as Mark in the final months of the Bennytour.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:21am

Thanks! (I think...)

[SirLiir]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:27am

I thought he was pretty good. He has an interesting take on the role. I am not sure how to describe it. He just seems a bit too outgoing for someone like Mark.

[Dramatic_Irony]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:32am

That's sort of what I was trying to get at, SirLiir. Mark isn't that goofy, or that big of a flirt/pervert. "Halloween" and Mark and Roger's fight in "Goodbye Love" don't really make sense the way Matt plays Mark. He's not detaching, he's...I don't know.

Some of it could be put down to him using humor as a defense mechanism, such as "Goodbye Love", but not "Tango: Maureen" and certainally not "La Vie Boheme". In "La Vie Boheme", Matt seemed to play it off as people drunk off their asses dancing on the tables and singing meaningless stuff. That's not what that song's about.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:38am

The two times I have seen him, he always seems to be really into the humorous aspects of Mark. I suppose if you don't mind a little humor injection for mark, then you could be okay with him. He can be serious when he wants to be but most of the time he was grinning or chuckling. But as you said, that could be an effective defense mechanism. If that is the way he is playing it, then thats his style. Has anyone who saw him on tour noticed any changes over time?

On a related note, Mark is still a serious role and Anthony always played it that way. I dont recall seeing too much humor being utilized. I thought Jim Poulas, Anthony's successor, had a very well balanced Mark. Nice mix of humor and seriousness on his part.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:41am

I'm not a Renthead, but I have seen the show several times. I saw it the year it opened, then 2 years later, and then I saw it for the third time recently.

I actually really liked Matt's interpretation of the character. It was a very different take on Mark Cohen, and I for one, thought it was really good. I hadn't seen the show in years, so I had a real air of nostalgia about it. But, again, I liked Matt's "Mark". Whether or not he grasped the depth of the character is something I haven't given much thought to.

But I enjoyed his performance.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:47am

I think he has a great voice, and the potential to turn in a really great performance as Mark.

Potential being the operative.

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:49am

I think he has a great voice too. Somewhat reminiscent of Anthony's voice. I've heard great things about him - especially from the Benny days, and from right after a break from the show. I just think he gets bored with it. He's been with some incarnation of the show since '98 or something like that. It's been a long while.

What's more scary to think about is Matt's days as Roger. Eek.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:52am

He played Roger or will play Roger?

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:53am

He played Roger, not full time (at least I don't think). I have, or had, some files from the FTP.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:54am

*cries at the thought* He hasn't the voice for it, I'm sorry.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:54am

Wow. I can't picture him as Roger at all. I guess I need to look around and find some pics/clips.

[BroadwayChica]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:55am

Your saying he seems bored with the role is interesting. I noticed that in his performance, but assumed it was a more dettached take on the character. Like MARK is sort of bored with his circumstances. Which, of course, seems to go against the character. But for whatever reason, I dug it.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:56am

I've noticed him really shaping up with Will on stage -- but ONLY during their scenes together. So now he's great in some parts, but his character interpretation struck me as somewhat inconsistent. Sometimes he's the pensive introvert, and other times he's the horny frat boy.

Posted: 1/28/06 at 2:16am

i LOVED him as mark.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 9:05am

Fantabulous, he covered the Roger track when he was a swing. He didn't go on often but he did a credible job.

Matt has been a great Mark, in my opinion. I loved his early Mark, in '99 when he joined the Bennys, and I think his Mark has evolved over the years, as he's grown up. He's not my favorite Mark but I think he's probably the actor who *knows* Mark best, simply because he's played him for so long. I don't think he gets bored onstage. I think he, as any actor does, changes things up periodically, and I think he, also as any actor does, has nights when he's not up to par. The fact that he's been playing the role for so long leads people to think that he's got to be bored with it!

As much as people think Anthony IS Mark, the truth is that Matt has really defined the role for anyone who will follow him. He's not my favorite Mark (neither is Anthony, for that matter) but he's near the top of the list.

[dreaminaret]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 9:52am

I hate to say it, but I really hate when actors try to "reinterpret" the role of Mark. I love it when those playing Rogers do (because that is a character with so much baggage that grief can be acted out in a variety of ways) but Mark - in my opinion - should be a stable character that shows some raw emotion only from time to time. The Marks that I have seen on stage were Trey Ellett, Joey Fatone, Justin Brill and Matt. Justin and Trey were my favorites because they played a "by the books" Mark. Boring as it may seem, they encaptured the "stable character" role and I think that is just as difficult as trying to make a new Mark to showcase one's individual talents. I thought that Matt was too over the top and agree with Em that he was mainly on point when Will was on stage with him. And Joey was trying to pop-star-ize Mark. I'm too picky, perhaps, but I think that if Matt toned it down he'd be able to nail the role rather than looking like a clown half the time onstage.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 10:44am

I very much liked Matt as Mark in the beginning. I think he has gotten bored with the role, and I don't blame him.

But who gives a crap about any of that. This topic has been talked to death.

Instead, lets give major props for his solo work. I LOVE his solo albums. That is definitely where his gifts are. He is really insanely talented and when he is singing his own music the passion absolutely drips from him.