RENT Review- 3/18/06

I'm gonna die if I don't eat but here is a mini RENT review coming from me!- A lotto winner!! I was the last name picked and I nearly peed myself...haha. I wasn't planning to win, there had to be at least 70 people there. If I won, I was just gonna raise my hand and say "me" but no...I got all crazy (especially because it was the last name called) and my voice got really shaky and high and I'm like "Uhh- thats umm...ME!" lol


Karmine was there- wonderful as can be. Tim Howar was AWESOME as Roger. I thought nobody could be like Cary or Anthony but Tim really makes a great Roger. He and Matt Caplan had wonderful chemistry. I was in the front row since lotto and a lot of the cast seem to have voice trouble and yet they all were magnificent!!
They would wink at one another and all of them really had great characters and energy. Angel (Justin Johnson) was out of this world. Even when in the back round, he was all in character. Shivering on the table at the end was phenominal...it couldn't have seemed more real. And Collins (Destan Owens) was wonderful also. You could really tell he and Angel had one h*ll of relationship. Maybe I was seeing things but at the really sad points, I could sware Matt and Collins were crying (real tears.)
And Tim, my gosh- he's got energy like crazy!!! When I saw Cary- he played Roger just like I expected but Tim- he went over and beyond but it was NOT to the point of 'ridiculous.'

If the cast wasn't up to par today since their voices seemed a little 'eh,' then honestly, it would have been an A++++++++ performance; as opposed to this one which was A+++++++

Most of the cast came out to sign and take pictures...Matt didn't though. But, when Tim came out he was bombarded by RENTheads. After signing and taking tons of pictures, he would try to walk away and a crazy fan girl would run up and drag him back..and he was extremely nice and cute about it. He came back and talked and joked with them. I think he was going to meet his wife and kids for dinner and then do the evening show and even with that in mind- he still was so generous and kind to those crazy RENTheads...what a sweet guy!!

I shall be back soon- eating and taking a shower...I have that lovely Roger and Mark spit on me

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Updated On: 3/18/06 at 08:02 PM

I didn't like Tim as Roger at first but as the show progressed, I liked him more and more. His energy was just shooting out by the end!!!

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I saw Karmine and Matt three years ago and they were awesome. Although I have heard that Matt got pretty bad and "bored" I guess.

So I am happy to hear that he and the rest are well.

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With Will Chase, I think he’s a better actor, and obviously a fantastic singer. He’s got great stage presence, and really captures the frustrated side to Roger. However, Tim captured *all* of Roger, in my opinion. His rough voice got some getting-used to, but I was used to it by One Song Glory. Also, I think he had better natural chemistry with Karmine Alers (Mimi) and Matt Caplan. I felt for Tim’s Roger a lot more than I felt for Cary or Will.

Matt Caplan- what can I say? I hate you , I love you. As I said, he had fantastic chemistry with Tim, and he seemed *comfortable* in the role. Not comfortable to the point of goofing off as he was with Cary, or afraid, like he was with Will as some points, but perfect. The closest to in-character I’ve ever seen him. His Tango: Maureen was a little off, per usual. He seems to be trying to intimidate Joanne, rather than sort of warn (that’s not exactly the right word) her. La Vie Boheme he pissed me off greatly. He doesn’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between being funny and acting just for laughs. He needs to steer away from the latter. But I did appreciate the way he looked at Maureen directly at the “starving for attention” line, and other various little things. My eye twitched a little at his “Mucho Masturbation” enactment, though. The La Vie Boheme B was the best performed I’ve ever seen it. It was so powerful, and gave me major chills. I think he was best in Tune Up # 1, Finale A, etc. Just very simple, some good acting quirks without being too goofy, and beautiful singing.

Rent (the song) blew me away- Tim and Matt’s voices blend surprisingly well. They got very close to each other at some parts, too- closer than Adam and Anthony and closer than Will and Matt.

What You Own was…godlike. Everyone kept raving about Will Chase and Matt’s What You Own, but I didn’t like it. It wasn’t until I saw it again tonight with Tim that I figured out why. With Will and Matt, they seemed to be rocking out on their own, even at the end when their voices are supposed to be connected. (I am not explaining this well….) Tim and Matt, I really got that feeling. It was amazing.

Goodbye Love (Mark and Roger’s fight), Tim brought out better acting from Matt, I think. You could really feel his pain, while in previous productions, Matt was pretty unconvincing.

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Couldn't have been tonight (Saturday) because tonight's show isn't even over yet!

Sitting so close you can see everything and to see 'real tears' coming from 'real actors' really makes me feel their real character. Matt Caplan is not Matt Caplan but he IS Mark and not just PLAYING Mark. I felt the same way about Tim. He seemed to have tears also...it was so touching how much they can actually 'transform.' I know actors are supposed to 'BE THE THE PERSON THEY ARE PLAYING' and NOT "ACT LIKE THE PERSON THEY ARE PLAYING."
I found this the case today in the show more than any show I've seen. Of couse, most shows I've seem the actors very well PLAY their character but these people in RENT today were dedicated to their character fully and that is truly hard to do. It may be funny but I call it *an out of body experience.*

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Threadjacking my own thread for a second...

Justin Johnston (Angel in RENT) was handing out card advertiments today for what looks like a perforamnce thing he is doing.

It just says "Justin Johnston Live @ The Cutting Room. 19 West 24th St. Tuesday, March 21st. 11:30pm.

I don't know anything else so I guess you'll have to go and find out if you want to. If you go, come let us know what it was...

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I've seen Rent a total of four times, each time through winning the lotto. I do the lotto for the sole purpose of sitting close enough to catch all the details and emotion. Every time I've seen the play Matt has played Mark and he was paired with a different Roger (Cary, Joshua, Will and Tim).

I never noticed Matt to be overally emotional, so I'm somewhat shocked that you said there were real tears in his performance. I love Matt, but I've always felt he sucked at showing any emotion beside humor. It has always bothered me; maybe in the past he has been playing Mark as more emotionally detached or something. So good to hear he may be changing up with acting decisions some...

On the other hand, I was taken aback by how much emotion I saw Tim put into his performance when I saw the show last weekend. I didn't think Tim's Roger was so much angry, as emotionally distraught and tortured. As someone else mentioned, it made me really feel for his Roger, more so then I've cared for any other actor's Roger. Tim turned on the waterworks a record breaking number of times, as I noticed them in Another Day, Goodbye Love and Your Eyes. It was the first time I saw tears from any character in this show (besides Antonique's Mimi), and was throughly surprised to see them. Had I not seen Tim's perfomance in the show, only heard about it, I would say the tears would have been over the top, but they really did work, and earned him the top spot on my list of favorite Rogers.

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Just a comment about Justin's gig. It's 18+, just in case any of you are thinking about going!

Hey, you forgot to mention I was the OTHER Lotto winner even though we totally didn't get to sit together =P
But yes, it was an amazing show, and I must admit that as much I enjoy Karmine, I was kind of hoping to see a NEW Mimi today, but she blew it out. Amazing voice!

Caren as Maureen = FANTASTIC!! So dead-on funny. And if I can have a little lesbo moment, I was in the "ass" seat, and she has the best ass EVER! Girlfriend is TINY but totally has some junk in the trunk! If I had a choice, I'd want my body to be built EXACTLY like hers!

Oh, and during SOL, Robin de Jesus TOTALLY made eye contact with me and gave me the biggest grin!! Eeeeeek!

I had SO much fun with you the past couple days, SweetQ, and I can't wait till we can hang out again! Weee!!

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Updated On: 3/19/06 at 10:22 AM

Are you stalking me? I was at RENT on the 18th, HAHAHA. So we both saw Bee and RENT this weekend... Weird! You weren't at Wicked on Sunday, were you?

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Question: Where did the cast sign autographs? Outside by the stage door or inside?