RENT Japan Tour

[theatrechic]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:28am

Anyone know anything about the casting on this one? I know that it's non-equity...I'm just curious. Thanks = )

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:30am

There was some great stuff in the works for the Japanese production, but it all fell through due to issues with Equity, which is really unfortunate. I'm not sure what's being done in place of the fallen-through plans, though.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:34am

What was some of the great stuff?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:39am

All I feel comfortable saying is that there were a lot of very, very talented (and well-respected) alumni of the Broadway show expected to be taking part.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 7:18am

Bleh, Em, I know. I was reminded of that last night and I got bitter all over again.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 2:53pm

Whatever Equity allowed to fall through is their own damn fault for doing such a horrible job with the last Asian tour that was Equity. It was a nightmare! What's amazing to me was that there were supposedly so many "well-respected alumni" who were willing to go, considering everyone knows the horror stories from last year.

This non-Eq production is being run by a different production company and, from all accounts, is going well so far. The publicity and promotion week was handled well, the accomodations were good and the rehearsal schedule is finalized. The actors fly out tomorrow and are looking forward to their time in Asia.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 4:14pm

Actually, Equity wouldn't approve the production, so no Equity actors would have been allowed. A week later, they announced the non-Equity production. They didn't let it fall through, they made the final decision for the fate of the production.

It would have been *much* different from the world tour last year. And yes, "well-respected alumni" that were taking part WERE looking forward to this- including one that even took part in the world tour.

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 04:14 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 4:24pm

Right, the plans to pull together a cast and creative team were stopped very early on because Equity's rules would have made allowing it to work very difficult. It is their fault that it's not happening as originally planned, but has little to nothing to do with whatever happened on this other tour; this had to do with union rules and technicalities, not prior mistakes. It would have been in excellent (perhaps some of the best possible) hands, which is why yes, "well-respected alumni," were more than just "supposedly" willing to go.

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 04:24 PM

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 5:05pm

My point is that the disastrous tour last year WAS Equity so it's a little self-indulgent of them to suddenly stop another production saying that it was an issue of union rules and technicalities. I don't doubt that there may have been someone who was on last year's tour who was willing to go, I know of one individual. My "supposed" comment was in reply to "a lot". I know exactly how things transpired with the change, I know two of the non-Eq people who are going.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 5:18pm

My "supposed" comment was in reply to "a lot

You just have to nitpick everything, don't you? A lot, several, a handful. Does it matter? I guess it does in a battle for figuring out who knows more or has more connections. You know exactly what happened because you know two people who are going; I know what happened because I know and know of several people who were supposed to do it, including the would-have-been director. It's gotta be a contest, apparently...

If you know exactly what happened with the change, then you're truly just being argumentative for the sake of acting like you're more in the know than someone else, and you would know exactly what was involved with rehearsal locations and other such negotations and disagreements dealing with what Equity would have required which don't really belong on a message board; union rules, not how what a disaster the previous tour was. If you knew exactly what happened, then you wouldn't be making points like that because they're moot and the circumstances here were totally different. More than one party has a hand in negotiations.

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 05:18 PM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 5:42pm

What's amazing to me was that there were supposedly so many "well-respected alumni" who were willing to go, considering everyone knows the horror stories from last year.

I don't doubt that there may have been someone who was on last year's tour who was willing to go

Isn't this a bit of a contradiction? If everyone knows the horror stories from the world tour and was as convinced as you seem to be that any subsequent Equity production will turn out the same way, why is it so amazing to you that a cast member would want to put themself in that situation if they were expecting the worst yet again? And you first claim it's "amazing" they would want to do it, then turn around (after Em and I post) to say that you don't doubt that some actors would want to participate. Your statements just don't match up.

The non-Equity cast was thrown together at the last minute, after all this went down; I doubt they're privy to all the details.

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 05:42 PM

[Baine]

Posted: 10/22/06 at 11:09am

lite2shine --

Is the link that you posted about where the show will be in Japan? I'll have to ask someone to translate the page for me.

Do you know if there is any information about the production floating around in English?

It's unclear from this thread whether the actors are flying to Japan or if they're from Japan, which I would assume looking at the pictures in the link.

Either way, I want to go! *Drools* It would be even better if the show was in Japanese! Even if it's not, I left my DVD in the States and a friend borrowed the cds to the movie AND show and never returned them, so I've been going crazy without being able to hear the music!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/22/06 at 11:17am

The actors fly out tomorrow and are looking forward to their time in Asia.

How is that unclear on whether they're flying to Japan or not? They're American.

Updated On: 10/22/06 at 11:17 AM

[CanadianSnowbird]

Posted: 10/22/06 at 11:21am

The three main cast members were actually part of the Rent national tour. Although the guy playing Roger was The Man/Gordon and only understudied for Roger. So they're not complete newcomers to the show. And, they're American, not Japanese .

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 10/22/06 at 5:25pm

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20061014TDY17002.htm

[Baine]

Posted: 10/22/06 at 6:39pm

Emcee--

I said that it was unclear because while, yes, I did see the notices about the actors flying out on the thread, when I went to the webpage that lite2shine posted, none of the actors appeared to be gaijin.

That's why, when replying, I said that it was unclear BECAUSE I was looking at two different things. Since the webpage was in Japanese, which I can't read (Well, not kanji, anyway...), I was unable to see that while the cast appears to be Asian, they are really gaijin coming to tour.

Sorry for the mix-up.

Judging from CanadianSongbird's comment, I am once more confused. Are there two DIFFERENT casts of Rent that will be in Japan? Is the tour with the Americans one thing while the Japanese people are staging their own production? Ahh, I leave to teach in about half an hour, so I'll just have to ask one of the teachers to translate it for me then! I'll tell you what I find out if it's anything different, etc.

[Sorry if I'm being convoluted--it was midnight when I was on here last night and I was exhausted, and it's about 7:30 right now and I'm getting ready to go teach...]

LizzieCurry--thanks for the extra link!
{My one and only rant? WHY is it that performances only come to Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya! One of my favorite Japanese singers, Yuna Ito [Check her out! She's from Hawaii, and many of her songs are sprinkled with English. She has a GORGEOUS voice.], is doing free Live Concerts this month, but they're only in the above three cities, which are very close to one another!

Why can't anyone ever come to Kyushu..........??? We're not all on the mainland. *pouts*)
Updated On: 10/22/06 at 06:39 PM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 1:35am

>Baine, are you living in Kyushu? Where about?

So Rent tour is a non-equity one, meaning all Americans. I don't think they will mount a Japanese production any time soon.

edit: I just checked your profile and found out you are at Sasebo, Nagasaki. Well I was born in Nagasaki! Updated On: 10/23/06 at 01:35 AM

[Baine]

Posted: 10/23/06 at 5:50am

Lite2Shine--

You were born in Nagasaki? Which part? How long did you live in Japan for before coming to the States?

Technically, I'm in ‹gˆä’˜@[Yoshii-cho], which is about 40 minutes from ²¢•ÛŽs [Sasebo-shi]. It's between ²X[Saza] and ]Œ}@[Emukae].



ANYWAY!!!

I asked my JTE to translate the site today, and he said that it was an article that mentioned that four of the actors [the ones playing Mark, Roger, Mimi and Angel] flew to Japan for some sort of TV interview or something. They sang a couple of songs with 20 High School students. That is why, looking at the picture, I thought that it was a Japanese cast--I was looking at the students!!

It was really cute, because after he translated for me, he said that he would look online to find out if Rent was in Japanese, and he found the site that I had been on and started reading me the bios, etc. He even found the DVD and tried to see if it was dubbed or only subbed (only subbed, dang it!!). It was really cute, though. My JTE is such a sweet guy.

But anyway! That's what the article said! They flew to Japan for an interview on Sept. 21st and sang with some HS Students. And of course, that the show is coming here...

^_^


<---is no longer confused [Though I'd still love to hear the show in Japanese if it exists!]