Matt Caplan in Rent this week

[VivaBohemia]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:32pm

Matt Caplan is taking over for Drew Lachey while he is on vacation Now through Tuesday.

This info comes from Matt's Gig List in my email box this morning.
Matt Caplan's Official Site

Updated On: 10/13/04 at 01:32 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:43pm

My friend just told me this morning. I think I'm going to go... I've been wanting to go back, but I've been afraid of the stunt-casting. Now I just have to get myself ready to hear someone else's Glory after my small "divine" RENT experience on Sunday.

[Jess1483]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:44pm

I have tickets for Sunday...

What do you guys think of Caplan then?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:46pm

I've never seen Matt... I keep missing him. I've heard nothing but great things!

[2day4u9704301]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:49pm

Matt is a great Mark! My only complaint sometimes, is that he doesn't put enough emotion into it. I thought Drew surpassed him in that aspect.....singing is still in question.

I saw Drew on Sunday, and was blown away. I think I went in with little expectations, that it caused for a very enjoyable performance.....best overall performance of Rent I have seen, in fact!

[Jess1483]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 1:52pm

Good to know! I can't wait. This will be my fifth time, but I'm bringing a friend who has never seen it. I'm so excited! I love sharing shows with people.

[GirlfriendFromCanada]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 2:02pm

Matt's a great Mark. He's been doing the role on and off for five years now, and sometimes that's a great thing, and sometimes it turns into a little less of a great thing. But... the guy knows how to play that character. He has a great voice too.

[ReNtHeAd04]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 3:43pm

YES..I am so happy. I randomly went last night since after Sunday of seeing Daphne and Adam at Kean, I needed to go. To my surprise Matt Caplan was there.. i LOOOVE him!! he's awesome.. if you can buy his cd too..it's amazing!!.. Also Karmine Alers was in it last night..I love her a lot too!! But Krystal Washington isn't too shabby either.. ::sigh::i LOVE matt caplan..I'm still so happy :)

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 4:47pm

And who's Roger?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 4:51pm

I didn't like Matt as Mark at all. He played the role very snidely with a lot of attitude. His dialogue was rushed and could barely be understood. When I saw the show, I found Mark to be too cynical, pretentious, and bitchy with little or no heart. I didn't care what happened to him. I much preferred the days of Anthony Rapp and Gilles Chiasson as Mark. Matt's performance reminded me more of a college kid who thought he was cool because he gets to be in Rent.

Nothing personal against Matt. He may be a great guy and his singing was spot-on, but when I saw the show in July, I just wondered how long it had been running under no direction.

Updated On: 10/13/04 at 04:51 PM

[Chrysanthemum62001]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 4:53pm

Ah, Gilles...what a man...

[Alix]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 4:54pm

I like Matt as Mark, but has anyone noticed that he often speaks his lines instead of singing them? lol, he's really sweet though.

Alix

[GirlfriendFromCanada]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 4:57pm

He does that sometimes, and honestly, the whole doing it for so long thing has started to have an affect on him. However, if you go during the next few days, I can almost promise you he'll be great. The guy always shines after he's had a good amount of time away from the show, and even more when he's been taken away from the role so a "popstar" can do it instead. Some of his best performances came during and right after Joey Fatone's run.

[NightLaughs]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 5:10pm

I was never a huge fan of Matt's Mark.... maybe just a little too dorky for my tastes. Good actor though.

[CheapColoredLights]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 5:20pm

I am thrilled to hear Matt Caplan is going to be Mark. This will be my third time seeing him and I still love him none-the-less. I've heard plenty of people complaining about his antics..and yes...some of them get annoying, but to me that's how he makes the character his own. I'll be seeing him for the Sat. Matinee. So exciting..

[NJgirl]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 9:16pm

For the person who asked about who's playing Roger:
Jeremy Kushnier is still playing Roger as of this past Saturday when I did the lottery and saw Drew. I saw Jeremy opposite Matt Caplan this summer when Jai Rodriguez did his two week or so stint with the show...

Of the 4 times Ive seen the show..Jeremy and Matt were the best Roger and Mark Ive seen.... Updated On: 10/13/04 at 09:16 PM

[Crazy4MattMorrison52]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 9:22pm

i liked matt as mark. i saw him on maggie benjamins last show. i thought he was good. as much as id want to see him as mark again i rather see drew

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 10/13/04 at 9:24pm

Matt is a GREAT Mark !!!!! Drew was the weakest link when I saw the show a couple of weeks ago, but Mark was the best of the whole cast when i saw it back in December !

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 2:45am

I saw Matt twice and I thought he was terrible. He seemed so bored and without any energy on stage. I remember he hardly opened his mouth and was mumbling his lines, he really annoyed me.
I just thought to myself 'if you really make it that obvious you don't want to be on stage then maybe you shouldn't be'.

It's quite interesting to see that people say he goes through these 'phases', so maybe I caught two of his bad shows! Well, he'll be around for some time (he's been on/off Rent for some time now), I'm sure I'll catch him again and hopefully he'll be able to pull off a better performance.

QM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/14/04 at 10:02am

"I've heard plenty of people complaining about his antics..and yes...some of them get annoying, but to me that's how he makes the character his own."

No, it's how he has abandonded the character to do his own thing. If anyone gets a chance to see footage of Anthony Rapp as Mark, you can see how the character has shifted from being somewhat meek, shy, hopeful and caring (yet, ultimately gaining strength and conviction in the end) to one who is cocky, snide, snooty and vain (a major "look-at-how-arty-and-cool-I-am" attitude) with no hint of feeling or genuine compassion (it's in the script, but not in the performance) and virtually no change from beginning to end (again, it's in the script, but not in the performance). I saw a similar, yet worse, performance from the actor who played Angel in July. He was beyond bored and didn't even phone it in. It was like he left his performance on voicemail.