My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers
My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers
My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#1
Posted: 10/13/07 at 2:21pm
RENT REMIXED-Duke Of York Theatre
Friday 12th 8.30pm-PREVIEW PERFORMANCE
Flashing disco lights, a flying bed,Disco, trance and dance music, PVC,mini top hats...no its not a new drag revue in soho its Rent Remixed the new offering from 1st time theatre director William Baker,but is this really a Rent anyone was looking for? Judging from last nights audience the answer would be NO.
To say this show is far removed from the original Broadway production or even the Shaftsbury version is an understatement.Only every so often do we get glimpses of Rents power and relevance and see the musical what changed the way people looked at Musical Theatre, the rest of the time we get something which even i couldn't quite get my head around.
Is it Horrible? Yes, is it fascinating? Yes, is it Rent? No
The problems with this production are endless with every song/scene after the next continues to amaze at the sheer stupidity of this apparent update, and i say apparent update as if anything this seems more dated than the original (not that i think the original is dated, its just placed in a certain time)
The show starts of promising with a the life support meeting with the characters singing "Will i loose my dignity, will someone care" the words that haunted the late Jonathan Larson after hearing them spoke at a life support meeting.This moves in to a few lines of seasons of love and is performed beautifully.
Unfortunately the moment Mark opens his mouth to talk it all goes horribly wrong.I have seen many shows and many mis castings before (hell i have been mis cast in shows myself) but never have i seen such bad mis casting that it can bring a show to a crashing halt,Oliver Thornton as Mark is the crashing Halt.
Speaking in his native British accent is a problem in itself but the fact that he sounds like a posh school boy (and not a straight one) just hindered the whole show.His singing voice is also all wrong for this show,he sings each song like he did in Les Miserables, very operatic , very musical theatre, completely wrong for this material.
Not that Oliver is a bad performer he most certainly isn't, but hes just not right for this show.
However if we are talking about bad performers then Siobhan Donaghy takes that title in the role of Mimi.I wish i could put my felling down here diplomatically or Intelligently but all i can say is Awful.Its bad enough she has no stage presence or that she talks with a posh British accent or that she has the sex appeal of a stick (which her scarily thin figure resembled) but the worst thing is she cant sing.To say she was out of tune is been kind.Song after Song she died on her feet.Half of the time you could not hear her, when she was acting it looked like she was reading from a script..hell she couldn't even walk properly.She also looks like she doesn't get the material or the character and also managed to sing out of time on Light My Candle and Without you.The critics will rip her apart if this was anything to go by.
The orchestrations (or should i say synthesizers) ranged from fantastic (One Song Glory) to so bad you couldn't help but laugh (Take Me Or Leave Me, and Happy New Year which appears to be using Madonna's hit Holiday as the backing music)
These remixed version are cheap, un involving, pointless and lack any energy or passion the original score has.
The song Rent without the electric Guitars is just flat,Today For You was so bad i laughed out loud(now with a new techno dance beat and flashy lights), You'll see now has a 90s RnB feel to it as does Santa Fe.
Contact uses heavy dance music and actually works well, What You own is now a ballad(and a bad one) and so on and so on.
Most of the time it feels like they have just shaken all the life of it and sprinkled a bit more glitter on (Kylie would approve!).
A week or so in to previews and things have not been going well for this show, its back in rehearsals with the cast working around the clock to fix the problems, but the problems everyone on here and other sites have stated have not been addressed and thats this productions Fatal Floor....Listen to your audience.
Without you is still performed as an odd Cabaret/Burlesque number.With this slowed down feel the energy of the show drops and act 1 does not recover from it.The performance of it is so dull and lifeless (not helped by Siobhan Donaghy) and in this Rent we get an LED Information screen which runs along the upper level of the set what tells us that Mimi is at the Kat Scratch club and is performing with the Pussy's Hmmmmmm.
The song ended to a polite applause but people were not impressed, what followed is Another Day, a song i think pulsates with energy and confrontation in the original....Not anymore.
Rodger sings "little girl hey, the door is that way" even though Mimi is still at the club and hes alone in his apartment.YES THE SONG WRITTEN AS A CONFRONTATION FOR THE 2 DOES NOT HAVE THEM IN THE SAME BUILDING.Then the stupidity continues, mimi appears to react to what hes saying (even though she is not there) and later when he apologizes for loosing his temper and offers to make it up to her by inviting her to a "dinner Party" now makes no sense as he didn't see her to looses his temper at her.
The staging of the show is Paint By Numbers, nothing inventive, nothing new which is a shame as the set is quite interesting (if not a bit to white).The set consists of a white 3 wall outer set, a white raised platform in the center of the floor with a white door frame (we learn later lights up).Then there is a bridge level with fire escape stairwells coming down to stage level and up in to the gods.
Act 1 drags along with more stupidity flying at us thick and fast but every so often glimpses of Rents heart appeared.I'll Cover You was done beautifully (though the new orchestrations were not great).Leon Lopez(more about him later) and Jay Webb had so much chemistry on this on song that i could not help smiling.They sounded great together and it ended with a passionate kiss and it felt so real.The applause was huge for this and Jay was not lip syncing now (he had been suffering tonsillitises) and sounded great.
Tango Maureen was also very well done if not very camp.The 2 now have a big dance break in the middle of the song which has been choreographed as an aggressive fight dance(very tongue and cheek but worked well, we could have done without the backing dancers though).
Act 1 ends with Christmas bells which the orchestrations have been pretty much left alone and the cast sounded fantastic(the ensemble are brilliant).The scene opened with 5 large bright blue Christmas tress been lowered from the roof to about half way down and just hung there (far to camp) but then a nice touch was the snow which fell throughout the song.The song finished with Denise Van Outen strutting to the front of the stage to a huge applause "which way to the stage" she says and the lights dropped on a act 1.
Off i ran outside for a cig (filthy habbit) with my jaw on the floor.I turned to my partner and said "how did thy f**k this up so much" he just smiled.Then i heard everyone else around me saying the same thing.Words been thrown around were "awful, Rubbish, Camp, Odd, Terrible" every negative adjective you could think off (i did hear a couple of kids who were about 12 say they loved it)
After my cig we went in to the foyer and carried on talking only to be heard by one of the Ushers.She laughed and asked if we would like to fill in a comment sheet about the show(the comment sheets were for the director to see what the audience thought)we took one and said we would fill it in at the end of Act 2.She said she felt "the production would benefit if the fired one of the female leads" i knew who she was talking about...Siobhan.Audiences the week before had been pretty negative, the Rent fans hated it she said, but also very diplomatically pointed out that it is Rent Remixed and its still changing every day (does that mean rent Remixed is been Remixed every day).
"Act 2 is a lot better" she said so in we went back to our front row seats, i mean it cant get much worse right....wrong
The lights come up with sounds of a large group of people shouting and chanting.The cast come out on the upper level holding placards protesting against the eviction of the homeless etc.Denise Van Outen kicks things off with Over The Moon AND BLEW THE AUDIENCE AWAY.She was fantastic and played they scene perfectly and quite raunchy.Her voice was perfect, her acting spot on, the american accent convincing and she owned the stage, you could not take your eyes of her(i said after the show to her that she was one of the best Maureen's i had seen and i meant it)
Her outfit was very raunchy, leather panties, a leather Basque and knee length boots..she looked amazing.I cheered so loud at the end of that song thinking "ok now its finding itself" but alas that was quickly ruined with La Vie Boheme.
A large silver counter with red and silver stools around it arrive on stage (it looks like the burger bar from grease) and Oliver sings the opening like an opera singer.
Once the beat kicks in ITS TECHNO/JUNGLE music and sounds bloody awful.Luckily the performances are so good on the song that it rises above it and thankfully it ends with the cast punching their fists in to the air to give us that iconic rent image.
I should tell you follows and is painful.Siobhan screeches her way though it out of time and out of tune,luckily the mind blowing Luke Evans is on form, but even with his perfect vocals and emotional performance the song can not be saved.
Happy new year follows with lots of chairs blocking up the door frame (you know, so they cant get in).This was one of the worst bits in the show, the music appears to be Madonnas Holiday and all feeling, characterization is lost.They have tried to turn it in to a "song" when its really more of a conversational piece which is sung.The chairs are pulled away and the group get back in to the apartment (hooray).Benny shows up,Siobhan attempts to sing again and then the lights go down
On comes mimi singing a few lines from Seasons Of Love and sits on the edge of the stage injecting herself in the foot.
Then we get to one of the most popular songs from rent Take Me Or Leave me.Now this is taking place in Joanne (Francesca Jackson) and Maureen's apartment but when the song starts you could be forgiven in thinking its taking place in a 70s gay bar.The music is now out and out disco....no really.The orchestrations are awful and bland and because most of the music is pre recorded the girls had to stick to every note as they were no room for improv.Somehow as awful as it was the girls performances were so good that it didn't matter to much.Their singing were spot on and the chemistry was electric,the audience were laughing at the orchestrations when the song started but gave a huge applause to the 2 girls.
After hearing and seeing Siobhan god awful performance throughout the show i didn't have high expectations for Without You, and thank god i didn't.
Dressed in a cream colored gown she managed to sing the 1st verse out of time meaning the whole thing sounded awful, she fidgeted throughout and sounded dire.
In the background a bed is lowered from the roof and angel gets in with Collins at his side.Throughout the song the cast go to angels bed side to visit, by the end of the song Angel is almost dead and Contact begins.Red flashing lights burst on to the stage words such as Sex and Leather are flashed up on the LED screen, ensemble in leather pull him out of the bed and put him on the floor touching his body and been quite sexual with him, angel exits and the dances continue to the heavy dance music.
We then see Angel appear on the upper level, a bright light shines down from the heavens and Angel walks up the staircase up to the roof of the theatre and disappears in to the gods.
The red lights vanish and all the leads are stood around his bed as Collins sings I'll Cover You Reprise, and boy does he sing it beautifully, it was the first moment i felt emotionally attached to a character.The only thing what spoils is was the bed flying out and the cast all watching it.
Halloween is pretty much the same as the original with a few bits moved around.Olivers singing as great as it is spoils it for reason already mentioned.
Goodbye love was delivered emotionally well by Luke as Rodger but painfully by Siobhan.
Then mark sits centre stage and sings What You Own(now a ballad).The new version is awful and again Olivers vocals are all wrong.Rodger finally joins in on the Bridge of the song and lifts the song up, but this song needs changing ASAP.It also really slows the show down after having so many ballads in a row.
Rodger returns from Santa Fe (hooray again) and we get to the finale which is played the same as Broadway.Mimi is carried in and placed on the battered sofa and Rodger holds her closely with tears streaming down his face.Again Siobhan cant put the emotion across so Roger might as well as been singing to a blow up doll.His delivery of Your Eyes is sensational and the re orchestrations work here.
Mimi then (and unfortunately in this case) comes back to life "i was in a tunnel" is all she says before the finale song comes in.The moment is ruined by that as its done so rushed.The cast lead by Marius oooops i mean Mark sing the final song and sound great and the lights go down.
The applause at the end were polite, people did not seem that impressed but did cheer for the leads (or most of them)
The cast then do an encore of seasons of love (the first time we have heard the full song in the show) and sound great, the orchestrations for it are sweeping and lifts the song high.After a final bow the lights drop and the show is over.
The audience all felt the same, the show would not be around long.
Hidden within the mess is Larsons original vision but its not going to be found in this production.With only a few bright spots the show is dead on arrival(the theatre was also not sold out on a friday night).
Its a vanity project for a director who has not got any idea about theatre.He wants to update it he says..so why does it sound 10 years older.It's for a whole new generation to appreciate..well they didn't think to much of it and what about the Rent fans.Its camp beyond belief and not in a good way.The music sounds synthesized as there is no band, just to keyboards generating all the sounds (they are placed in the boxes).
It manages to fail on nearly every level and has nothing new to say or to add.
The devastating thing is that the majority of the cast are great.Luke Evans is one of the best Rogers i have ever seen (and yes im including pascall in that).Denise Van Outen is terrific and owns the stage.Leon Lopez is a brilliant performer with a huge future in theatre.Jay Webb manages to rise above the terrible costumes to give a great performance and Francesca Jackson is a great Joanne.
The producers NEED to fire Siobhan NOW.And i have a feeling after the reviews come out they will.
The whole production seems tacky from names of celebs who have died of HIV been scrolled along the LED screen during 2songs (names like Gene Anthony Ray and Rock Hudson) and pointing out the obvious as if audiences couldn't understand certain things.
I give the show till Christmas before it closes as the reviews and word of mouth will kill it.I wish they could put all the cast (well apart from 2) in to the real production of Rent here as they are truly fantastic.
Yes this show is Rent remixed but the remix was unsuccessful
as mimi says "goodbye love"
1/5
PS i apologize for all my grammar and spelling mistakes im rushing this lol
PS if you have any questions about it i will be happy to answer them
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#2
Posted: 10/13/07 at 4:26pmMimi should be scarily thin, though, shouldn't she, what with the drug habit and the AIDS?
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#2
Posted: 10/13/07 at 6:06pmhahaha no, this was thinner than that, especially when she is trying to play Vamp
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#3
Posted: 10/13/07 at 7:02pm
oh and the shows (very poor) website is online (basically just links to ticketmaster etc)
http://www.theambassadors.com/rent/
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#4
Posted: 10/13/07 at 8:32pmi've been discussing this with friends lately, do you feel jonathan larson would want this remixed version of rent? i mean i think rent's success has been great, i personally adore it, i think it has gone above the success jon thought it would. i think he would be happy with that though. just i don't know, do you think he would be rolling over in his grave if he really knew what was going on?
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#5
Posted: 10/13/07 at 9:01pm
Thanks for the review, songanddanceman
There is actually quite a bit of audio from the show on...that site.
I definitely agree, Oliver is TERRIBLE has Mark, I actually think he is worse than Siobhan. He is very very operatic, and he is kind of everywhere with his voice- always switching the speed and how high his voice, hes pretty hard to understand. He actually is pretty annoying, not a fan.
I don't mind the La Vie Boheme orchestrations much, they're kind of cool actually.
I also dont mind the new Out Tonight much, it takes a little getting used to, but its different and works for the song. Siobhan doesn't have the greatest of voices, but I have to admit, not many Mimis on Broadway are too impressive either.
I am more bothered by Another Day and Luke as Roger. The tempo of Another Day is very messed up, and the orchestrations are very cheap. And Luke...I mean, his voice his strong, but he just sounds kind of operatic and old. Not a bad voice, just not too impressed.
And wow, I am listening to Siobhan's version of Without You at the moment. The orchestrations are kind of lovely, but not her voice. Eh, she like howls when she says "you..." or "moves" or pretty much any other word at the end of a sentence. She kind of sounds like shes having sex with someone...its a little disturbing, actually.
Anyways, again, thanks songanddanceman.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#6
Posted: 10/14/07 at 7:14am
please dont make your mind up about this show from them audios, you have to see it to believe it lol
what surprised me is that i heard the audio of Out Tonight and Another Day and thought she sounded pretty good and to be honest on the night when she sang out tonight she also sounded good.
The problem was all the other songs, she seem in her element when she does Out Tonight but the rest of the show she is beyond belief bad.
Remember she doesn't have to act in Out Tonight, she is just singing a song which as we all know is very good at doing from her solo artist stuff, the problem happens when she gets to the other songs which are story based and she dies on her feet.Bad vocals, worse acting, no emotional involvement what so ever.
All the audience were saying the same thing, like i said as well one of the Ushers were also saying that it would be better without her.
Is her performance salvageable...Absolutely NO
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#7
Posted: 10/14/07 at 7:50amSorry if you mentioned this in your mega-post, but I'm going tomorrow (hopefully, I still need to actually get the tickets) and wanted to be somewhat surprised, but how full was the theater? More specifically, do you think it would be an issue to get three tickets when the box office opens tomorrow morning?
Does the earth really spin around the sun?
What's it matter in the least?
What's real to me ain't real to everyone.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#8
Posted: 10/14/07 at 9:42am
One question - is "fatal floor" some British slang expression, or just one of your many typos?
I believe the expression is "fatal FLAW."
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#9
Posted: 10/14/07 at 11:45amsorry typo, gimme a break have you seen the size of that review hahahaha lol
Broadway Star Joined: 9/28/05
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#10
Posted: 10/14/07 at 12:17pm
Sounds "operatic"???
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH
Its my pet hate adjective of musical theatre fans. Luke Evans and Oli Thornton are both performers with solid voices and I've heard them sing all sorts of styles. Neither may sound like they are grating their voices ala Pascal but I have no idea how you can call their voices old....are you listening to the same thing?
Also I love the new orchestrations for Another Day. But hey not everyone is going to be happy.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#11
Posted: 10/14/07 at 12:19pm
Thanks for your detailed review. I read it out of morbid curiousity about this production, which I could never really help but assume was going to be a disaster.
And I'm sorry, but Roger.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#12
Posted: 10/14/07 at 12:22pm
Luke and Oliver have great voices
Luke is brilliant in this show (probably my fave from the cast) but Oliver is very very miscast and if you have seen the show you will know what i mean.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#13
Posted: 10/14/07 at 1:59pmI also saw the show on Friday, and must say that it is considerably worse seeing it live compared to listening to the audio of it. I agree with most of the review above, aside from the fact that one thing I didn't like about Tango:Maureen is that it's so agressive, it looks like Mark and Joanne want to tear each other's clothes off and start their own affair. Also, I don't really like that you can't really hear the lyrics in Contact, and that Angel doesn't sing it; I doubt anyone that's not familiar with the show even knows there are lyrics. I wish I knew they were giving out comment sheets; I would've liked to fill one out. Do agree that the ensemble is fantastic, I would love to see Ruth or Philippa as Mimi.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#14
Posted: 10/14/07 at 3:33pm
i would also love to see her as Mimi
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#15
Posted: 10/14/07 at 6:04pm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=487126&in_page_id=1773
Since there really aren't any pics from the show, yet, this Daily Mail article on Denise Van Outen will have to do.
And if that is the set and costumes, it looks like Solid Gold.
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#16
Posted: 10/14/07 at 6:33pmThats the Over the Moon set and they bring on red and silver stools for La Vie Boheme
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#17
Posted: 10/15/07 at 8:57am
Take Me Or Leave Me
(not a great recording)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfGN8VJlutU
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#18
Posted: 10/15/07 at 8:59am
What You Own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0keqMHLxPc
La Vie Boheme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsKh2AHENCI
Without You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Dq2tJofmY
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#19
Posted: 10/15/07 at 9:01am
Out Tonight/Another day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRLQE8xMs9I
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#20
Posted: 10/15/07 at 10:43am
Thanks for the in-depth review; it sounds intriguing if nothing else.
And my favorite part: "so Roger might as well as been singing to a blow up doll." I've unfortunately seen many a Broadway Mimi for whom the same could be said, but I love the analogy!
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#21
Posted: 10/15/07 at 11:07pmI'm so committed to the original, I know I wouldn't like it. Maybe if the original didn't exist and this was some brand new production I'd enjoy it. But I know myself well enough to know that it'd just bug me. I do love Denise though.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#22
Posted: 10/15/07 at 11:28pmI love Denise but those pictures look like they're in some bad 1970's porno. WOW it looks bad, I just can't get over it.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#23
Posted: 10/16/07 at 12:31amI really feel that they've taken Rent and instead of remaking it for the iPod generation, they decided it would be better to cater to the LP set. Like...records.
re: My step by step and long review of Rent Remixed,spoilers#24
Posted: 10/16/07 at 8:15am
Thank you SO MUCH for that review. Finally, someone who feels exactly the same way as I do. I get such shtick from other people who just scream 'Be more open-minded!'. When I went to see the first preview there was a bunch of absolutely mental rentheads who felt like they had to scream their obsessiveness from the rooftops by singing every song that they could remember in unison. And there was that stupid guy with the camera claiming that he was going to put it on the RENT:Remixed website. They were at the front of the queue and sat in the front row (I swear they could have seen up of Siobhan's coochie), and afterwards they would not just shut up about how 'brilliant' the show was. If you're on this board, please grow up. Did you even watch it properly? You hooted and screamed and whistled for a cast you had never even seen before; you clapped wildly for Siobhan in Out Tonight! Being a renthead does not mean having bad taste.
And yes, Mimi is meant to be scarily thin, but she's also meant to have energy and movement in most of her scenes (hence the line 'to people living with living with living with, not dying from disease'), which Siobhan did not. I was sitting there praying that the bones wouldn't poke out of her skin.
Videos
