OBC of RENT

[theatrespaz]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 8:04pm

I know there are countless threads about RENT since the trailer hit the net, but I was wondering if anyone who saw the Original Broadway Cast can share their experiences. I'm fairly new to the Broadway scene and I've seen my share of good OBC (i.e. Wicked, Hairspray, Avenue Q, The Producers (when they came back), Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (I know those two are really new). But the one I would've loved to have seen is RENT. I hope this isn't getting anyone mad about yet another RENT thread.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 8:08pm

I saw them for the first time on a crappy video a few years ago, after having seen the show on Broadway and hating it. I thought what I saw on that aged, worn video was 100 times more magical than what I saw on the Broadway stage earlier that year and finally understood where the obsession with Rent came from.

I'd imagine seeing the cast in person would've been pretty darn amazing.

[meagan9848]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 8:12pm

Rent was the first show I ever saw. I was 13, and was able to see the OBC. I've been going to Rent every now and then since, but no cast compares to the OBC. They had so much love and energy for that show and they really conveyed it through their performances. Those were the people who made me love theatre...

[jaded_october]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 8:19pm

my parents saw the OBC. i was really young and they didnt want to take me, because it was too mature for me. but they got them all to sign their playbill for me.

[minimel8817]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 8:20pm

I wish i'd seen the OBC! my friends and i always say that if there was one OBC we could go back in time and see it would be RENT. but alas...i was too young when the obc came out

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 8:47pm

I've seen a bunch of the Rent OBC in other productions but I did not see them all in Rent live.

[ReNtHeAd04]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 9:21pm

i never saw obc.. i wish i did. but i saw kristen lee kelly fill in as maureen on father's day last year. and gwen stewart soemtime in 2003. does it count i saw daphne and adam sing 4 songs from rent during a performance @ kean university this year? lol.

[suzycat]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 9:49pm

I did not see the OBC originally, but I did get to see them perform at the reunion-type event, the Rent Party at Studio 54 (I think this was 4 or 5 years ago). It was amazing to see them all get back together for one night and sing all the songs from the show. The entire original cast was there. It was completely magical. It was especially funny when Adam (I think it was Adam) forgot the words and the entire audience knew them.

[ReNtHeAd04]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 9:51pm

he forgot the words to i believe it was "another day" @ kean. daphne joked with him and said someone hadn't practiced in a while. lol

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 10:04pm

Ah, this makes me more excited about the movie. No, I have not seen the original cast, but most of them will be in the movie, so hopefully some of us younger-'uns will be able to kind of see their chemistry. Whee, I can't wait!

~Steven

[suzycat]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 10:40pm

Oh, I remember now - he had to look down on a sheet to remember the lyrics for "One Song Glory." I thought it was cute.

[Wax Lion]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 10:44pm

Wax Lion would like you to know that it was Anthony that forgot his lines to "ANOTHER DAY" at the RENT REUNION. Idina also forgot some of her counterpoint during TAKE ME OR LEAVE ME. Needless, it was a fun experience.

Love,
Wax Lion

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 10:47pm

That's hilarious that they forgot their lines but understandable after all this time. :-P I really wish I could have seen the OBC cast but I was way too young when they were performing. I did see the show on a very crappy quality video and even then it was such an intense feeling and it was awsome. I really wish I could have seen them live but hey, the movie will be the next best thing.

[FabalaYero85]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 11:00pm

I would have loved to have seen the OBC live, but I was 11 in 1996. But I have had the chance to see the video a couple days ago. Hopefully the OBC does something special for the 10th Anniversary in April 2006, so those who never saw them live the first time around has the opportunity to. to be able to see amazing chemistry between this cast is a very special thing. And then of course there is the film version that will have the chemistry captured on celluloid forever

Updated On: 6/13/05 at 11:00 PM

[Marquise]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 11:08pm

I saw the original New York Theatre Workshop mounting. I lived in the East Vill at the time and I was blown away by the show. The show SOLD OUT and was *the talk* of the season.

It moved to Broadway very quickly and again I was fortunate enough to see the OBC at the Nederlander. I still have my original OBC poster signed by the ORIGINAL CAST hanging in my room.

For the better part of that year I ate, breathed, slept and drank this show that spoke to me, my generation, my lifestyle and my hopes and my dreams. It was like seeing a part of yourself up on that stage. The show never failed to move me. I cried every time I saw it. It was like a catharsis really.

That is why I'm so happy that (most of) the Original Broadway Cast was assembled for the film. That magic is coming back to the show in what will be the official preservation of the show for future generations to enjoy once the show is no longer playing.
Updated On: 6/13/05 at 11:08 PM

[liotte]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 11:13pm

I saw the OBC 8 times, they were amazing. I've seen the show another 18 times now (so 26 total), and though there has been some talented people, I still miss the chemisty of the original cast. I'm very much looking forward to the movie!
And Marquise, I too still have my OBC poster hanging on the wall in my apartment.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 11:22pm

Perhaps a ten-year reunion type thing isn't impossible, especially if the movie does well. I think it would be very successful if they did something like that. Ha, I'd go.

~Steven