#1
Posted: 11/12/06 at 12:12am
Hello All.
I went to see the matinee show today of the RENT tour. I was a little afraid considering it was non-equity and the past two non-equity shows I saw (Cats, 42nd Street) were less than under-whelming. But I figured RENT lent itself well to being "scaled-down." And for the most part I was right. The show held up well. I was excited to see that I could get student rush seats, so I sat front row middle. It was really cool to be so close to everything. Especially for a wanna-be actor, it was cool to see how everything worked. I could see the actors waiting to enter for their scene, or talking with the band, or talking to the tech guy before they entered.
So I get to my seat, and the excitement didn't really hit me until I saw the set and how close it was to me. I could see all the intricacies of it. The "tree" was a bit scaled down, but it still gave off the same effect. My only probelm with the student rush seats was the fact that I was surrounded by the people I didn't like - the "Rent-heads." Now I'm a fan of this show, but I don't feel the need to show everyone how much I love it. Sitting next to me were two siblings, about 8 or 9, one dressed as Mark, the other dressed as Mimi. Now, my first question to this young lady is, do you realize who Mimi is? And the second would be the same question to her mother. I don't think a stripper,druggy diying of Aids would be the best role model for a child, but to each his own. But I can't help but think that they don't fully understand the show. Anyways, sitting on the other side of me were a group of girls who were squealing and gushing about cute boys. Then they talked about Wicked and about how it was "The best musical - ever." This made me want to just haul out and slap them, but I resisited. (Of course this is sarcasm, for those of you who don't pick up on it). But the cool thing was that there were three understudies sitting behind me. The guy who u/s Mark and Roger was talking about how he was on last week as Mark and the guy playing Roger's pants split - I think I remember reading a review about that. I talked to them and they were very nice and open to questions. However, once the squealing teens and the siblings realized what was going on, it got insane. So, the girls ask her "Are you good?" "Can you sing for us" - to which the lady replied "That wouldn't be too profressional of me." And then the teenager replied, "Wait, you're not a professional?" Again, I wanted to slap somebody. And then the girl dressed as Mimi turns around and says, "What do Mimi's pants feel like to wear" - What?! - and the lady replies "tight." - ha.
As for the performances...I lost my playbill, so I don't know names, but here goes:
Mark - He was good. The guy playing him, who I remember as being named Harley, had a really unqiue look to him. He didn't look like the other Marks. He had dark hair, that was stylish and hip. I thought what he lacked vocally, he made up for acting wise. I thought he gave a strong performance. However, I think he, as well as some of the other cast members, gave some poor line deliveries. They made the words so softly spoken that it just came off as mumbling. Even from the first row, I couldn't understand some of the lines.
Roger - He was obviously - as some people pointed out - the weak link. I didn't mind the British-ness, though I'm not sure why they would cast a Brit in the role when there are plenty of capable Americans, but whatever. I just didn't care for his acting. It was all one note. And he didn't seem to be enjoying himself at all. Even when it was just him and Mark, who are best friends, he seemed cold and distance. He needs to lighten up a bit. He's given a lot to work off of from the other actors, even in "Light My Candle" he was stern and angry. His vocals were okay, but he did this weird rocker thing where his whole face was shaking for even the simpliest of songs/words. He seemed to be in a different play then everyone else. He had no chemistry or history with anyone.
Mimi - She was great. I really liked the way she looked. She was cute and innocent, but then when you realize who she is and what she does, its like "oh, not so innocent." She could sing beautifully. I've heard a lot of people refer to "Without You" as the boring song, or the throw away song, but she kept my attention the whole time. She was a great actress as well. I believed her death. It wasn't over done. Her "Out Tonight" was pretty good, it could have been a little better vocally, but when she sang the "spanish babies cry" part, I thought she sounded beautiful.
Joanne - I thought she gave a stellar performance. She has a great voice and great acting chops. Not much else to say, I thought she did a great job.
Angel - Angel was...okay. I hate the song "Today 4 U" anyways, but I really didn't like his version. He didn't have the stamina for the song. He ran out of breath half-way through, which means we coudln't really hear the lyrics at all. And his "Contact" was just "eh." Nothing great about it. Though, sitting up so close, I could see the tears streaming down his face during "Without You."
Collins - I don't know why, but I didn't really like him. He just seemed so out of place to me. I mean he did a great job, but I don't know, something about him just didn't make me drawn to his character. I thought he singing was good, but the faces he made kind of detattched me from the songs.
Benny - Okay. The part kind of sucks, but I thought he did a good job with it. I didn't get "Taye Diggs" as some people had said. I thought he did it justice.
Maureen - She was by far my favorite part of the show. She was nice on the eyes, and she could sing with some power. Her "Over the Moon" was hilarious. And to counter that, during "Seasons of Love - Part 2" she had tears in her eyes, but instead of crying, she was fighting to keep them back, which I thought was a much stronger acting choice than crying, considering Maureen is a very strong individual. Her voice was easy on the ears. She had a great belt.
The ensemble was great. I really liked the girl with the huge puffy hair. And the girl who played Mark's mom was fun to watch as well. It was kind of cool to see how some of the ensemble people had formed their own characters, like two guys always were hugging and talking to each other, as if their charcters had been friends, etc.
Overall, I'd recommend seeing it. If only they'd kick out the British dude. He's a rock singer, not a musical theater performer. I think they updated the look of the show. Most of the cast had pretty hip hairstyles. I didn't care for the British dude's mohawk. It looked like he closed his eyes and closed it himself.
I went to see the matinee show today of the RENT tour. I was a little afraid considering it was non-equity and the past two non-equity shows I saw (Cats, 42nd Street) were less than under-whelming. But I figured RENT lent itself well to being "scaled-down." And for the most part I was right. The show held up well. I was excited to see that I could get student rush seats, so I sat front row middle. It was really cool to be so close to everything. Especially for a wanna-be actor, it was cool to see how everything worked. I could see the actors waiting to enter for their scene, or talking with the band, or talking to the tech guy before they entered.
So I get to my seat, and the excitement didn't really hit me until I saw the set and how close it was to me. I could see all the intricacies of it. The "tree" was a bit scaled down, but it still gave off the same effect. My only probelm with the student rush seats was the fact that I was surrounded by the people I didn't like - the "Rent-heads." Now I'm a fan of this show, but I don't feel the need to show everyone how much I love it. Sitting next to me were two siblings, about 8 or 9, one dressed as Mark, the other dressed as Mimi. Now, my first question to this young lady is, do you realize who Mimi is? And the second would be the same question to her mother. I don't think a stripper,druggy diying of Aids would be the best role model for a child, but to each his own. But I can't help but think that they don't fully understand the show. Anyways, sitting on the other side of me were a group of girls who were squealing and gushing about cute boys. Then they talked about Wicked and about how it was "The best musical - ever." This made me want to just haul out and slap them, but I resisited. (Of course this is sarcasm, for those of you who don't pick up on it). But the cool thing was that there were three understudies sitting behind me. The guy who u/s Mark and Roger was talking about how he was on last week as Mark and the guy playing Roger's pants split - I think I remember reading a review about that. I talked to them and they were very nice and open to questions. However, once the squealing teens and the siblings realized what was going on, it got insane. So, the girls ask her "Are you good?" "Can you sing for us" - to which the lady replied "That wouldn't be too profressional of me." And then the teenager replied, "Wait, you're not a professional?" Again, I wanted to slap somebody. And then the girl dressed as Mimi turns around and says, "What do Mimi's pants feel like to wear" - What?! - and the lady replies "tight." - ha.
As for the performances...I lost my playbill, so I don't know names, but here goes:
Mark - He was good. The guy playing him, who I remember as being named Harley, had a really unqiue look to him. He didn't look like the other Marks. He had dark hair, that was stylish and hip. I thought what he lacked vocally, he made up for acting wise. I thought he gave a strong performance. However, I think he, as well as some of the other cast members, gave some poor line deliveries. They made the words so softly spoken that it just came off as mumbling. Even from the first row, I couldn't understand some of the lines.
Roger - He was obviously - as some people pointed out - the weak link. I didn't mind the British-ness, though I'm not sure why they would cast a Brit in the role when there are plenty of capable Americans, but whatever. I just didn't care for his acting. It was all one note. And he didn't seem to be enjoying himself at all. Even when it was just him and Mark, who are best friends, he seemed cold and distance. He needs to lighten up a bit. He's given a lot to work off of from the other actors, even in "Light My Candle" he was stern and angry. His vocals were okay, but he did this weird rocker thing where his whole face was shaking for even the simpliest of songs/words. He seemed to be in a different play then everyone else. He had no chemistry or history with anyone.
Mimi - She was great. I really liked the way she looked. She was cute and innocent, but then when you realize who she is and what she does, its like "oh, not so innocent." She could sing beautifully. I've heard a lot of people refer to "Without You" as the boring song, or the throw away song, but she kept my attention the whole time. She was a great actress as well. I believed her death. It wasn't over done. Her "Out Tonight" was pretty good, it could have been a little better vocally, but when she sang the "spanish babies cry" part, I thought she sounded beautiful.
Joanne - I thought she gave a stellar performance. She has a great voice and great acting chops. Not much else to say, I thought she did a great job.
Angel - Angel was...okay. I hate the song "Today 4 U" anyways, but I really didn't like his version. He didn't have the stamina for the song. He ran out of breath half-way through, which means we coudln't really hear the lyrics at all. And his "Contact" was just "eh." Nothing great about it. Though, sitting up so close, I could see the tears streaming down his face during "Without You."
Collins - I don't know why, but I didn't really like him. He just seemed so out of place to me. I mean he did a great job, but I don't know, something about him just didn't make me drawn to his character. I thought he singing was good, but the faces he made kind of detattched me from the songs.
Benny - Okay. The part kind of sucks, but I thought he did a good job with it. I didn't get "Taye Diggs" as some people had said. I thought he did it justice.
Maureen - She was by far my favorite part of the show. She was nice on the eyes, and she could sing with some power. Her "Over the Moon" was hilarious. And to counter that, during "Seasons of Love - Part 2" she had tears in her eyes, but instead of crying, she was fighting to keep them back, which I thought was a much stronger acting choice than crying, considering Maureen is a very strong individual. Her voice was easy on the ears. She had a great belt.
The ensemble was great. I really liked the girl with the huge puffy hair. And the girl who played Mark's mom was fun to watch as well. It was kind of cool to see how some of the ensemble people had formed their own characters, like two guys always were hugging and talking to each other, as if their charcters had been friends, etc.
Overall, I'd recommend seeing it. If only they'd kick out the British dude. He's a rock singer, not a musical theater performer. I think they updated the look of the show. Most of the cast had pretty hip hairstyles. I didn't care for the British dude's mohawk. It looked like he closed his eyes and closed it himself.
