RENT at Adelphi

[thibodeaux]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 3:17pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=33987

VERY different versus the original. Took me by surprise. I like that they completely detached from the original look and concept and really made their own world.

Wish I could have seen it. Did anyone?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 4:12pm

It was solid; not great, not bad. It took a while for the concept to get going; it was a lot stronger in the second act than the first.

The pacing was also very different from the known production - very slow compared to the frenetic pacing of the Original, with careful consideration given to the script and characters. Because of this, you could easily pick out the flaws in the material.

Acting was solid - the people playing Maureen and Collins were my favorite. It was moderately well-sung. Design was pretty tough, severely raked, with a distinctly La Boheme-feel.

TANGO: MAUREEN was the best part of the show.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 6:19pm

I think the costumes are ATROCIOUS!

[bwayfan9]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 6:32pm

I sometimes wonder if there will ever be a good production of rent other than the michael grief one

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 6:53pm

And what exactly is the story behind the scenery?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 9:13pm

It's a clock that looks down upon everyone. Time flies.

[zimmy71888]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 12:55pm

i go to adelphi and i had the opportunity to see RENT. I think what threw me off at first was the fact that it was very different. When I first met all the characters I didnt like them, but they slowly grew on me. The Roger was fantastic. The Joanne and Maureen were excellent. Over the Moon, which is usually one of my least favorites, was very entertaining. The set was unique The ensemble cast was great. What really annoyed the crap out of me the entire time was the MIMI, she royally sucked. I cant describe to you how shocked I was that someone would cast this annoying woman as Mimi. Her acting was overdone, and her Without You was atrocious. There are no words to explain. She performed this song in anger, she was like yelling at Roger. I just didnt get it. At the end of the play I didnt want her to wake up...

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 3:13pm

The costumes just look so old fashioned.

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 10:36pm

i'm sorry but wtf is with those costumes.
like really, just, what the hell????

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 10:40pm

I know! So very ugly!

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 10:44pm

Especially Angel's costume! Looks like the costume of a 10 year old trying to be a cross dresser for Halloween.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 10:44pm

They're college costume-rack costumes. What do you want?

[Mealz1042]

Posted: 10/11/08 at 11:48pm

um.. costumes that represent the characters correctly.
Seriously, just go through the kids' closets, they'll find stuff... or thrift shopping...
It's not that hard, they don't need to spend a lot of money.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 10/12/08 at 12:11am

^
Amen!

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 10/13/08 at 8:58pm

zimmy71888 I agree with you about Mimi. I hated her. She made me miserable. I wanted to slap her.


My roommate made some of the costumes ;(

[sally1112]

Posted: 10/13/08 at 9:05pm

"a 10 year old trying to be a cross dresser for Halloween."

ah, to be 10 again!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 10/13/08 at 10:47pm

Well clearly the director was making a concious effort to do something completely different with the production with everything from the staging to the design. That in itself can sometimes be a trap - and sometimes certain design or staging aspects are so integrated into the actual script its a disservice to the material to abandon them (hence the comment about exposing the flaws in the material).

But it was probably nice for everyone involved to see that RENT can be done in the states with a markedly different production than what Michael Grief did with it.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 1:10pm

A friend of mine was actually in the ensemble of this.