RENT at Hollywood Bowl (with REVIEWS) — Page 6

if you couldn't see her as Mimi...you weren't looking.

There's a money line if ever there was one.

@raygunn24
Criticism on this thread doesn't always mean they are haters since most of us LOVE theater and Rent.

Re: Location Location Location
Since where one saw the production is often strategic in one's perception of the Hollywood Bowl production of RENT, where were you sitting on Sunday?

Re: What NPH Did Right
With the edits and staging, could you easily follow the plot, even if one is a Renthead?

Re: Performances
Since it is hard for the entire cast to sing their proverbial A.. all on one performance, it is understandable that you were seeing them through rose-tinted glasses where they can absolutely no wrong.

Re: "AMAZING standouts"
You mentioned that "So much has been said about some of the AMAZING standouts" - wondered where you read that Vanessa was a standout performer?

Re: Vanessa
Since I contributed to your so-called "blather surrounding her 'lackluster' performance on Friday" - I, along others around me - as noted in Calvin Jung's review at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i4PZLLVjK4 - wanted Vanessa to be successful. Even today's review in the LA Times (with the writer probably having one of the best seats in the house) didn't think that Vanessa was ready for the role of Mimi. It is hard to come from a Disney environment where nothing is allowed to go wrong within their world targeted at pre-teens to tweeners where the biggest problems is not being with their best BFFs or favorite boyfriend/girlfriend to playing an emotional role such as Mimi in a believable fashion.

Re: Why was Vanessa "Stunt Cast"
Did she bring in many people to the production or would have this production brought this many people without her? Hey, maybe bringing in Paula Abdul (though a little too old, ok - way too old), Shakira, Rihiana (!?!), Miley (Disney star but showing more emotional depth than Vanessa), Brenda Song or some other starlet from Glee would have brought the same results.

Re: Perfect Show?
Was this a perfect show or were there things that could have been improved, especially since they only had two weeks of rehearsals
telly leung interview

It's not enough 'til it has its own thread!

Miley (Disney star but showing more emotional depth than Vanessa)

Hate to tell you that that's not saying much. And your list is one imagined atrocity after another.

I think there are two issues with Vanessa: one, that she was not, for whatever various reasons, equipped to perform this role on stage. Two: that she is just not right for the part. It's like Minnie Mouse performing Out Tonight, for God's sake. Even when she doesn't sound awful, she sounds like a twelve-year-old. Mimi is supposed to be young, but there have been young actresses who played the role (well) and didn't sound like children. She comes across having too much innocence, and at best, like a child playing a really dirty game of dress-up. Maybe NPH was trying to go for a more youthful Mimi, but I think with her he went too far. Enough with the Disney this, Disney that business. She's just miscast.

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As for what roles Nicole should tackle... Vanessa in IN THE HEIGHTS. I can see her in the movie version, actually.

I'm pretty sure about 3 people have already made the Nicole/Vanessa suggestion.
Telly Leung interview

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Updated On: 8/9/10 at 06:05 PM

Telly's interview was only provided because it was specifically asked on this thread.

Re: Miley
Didn't say she was a good choice. It was mentioned because she is a better choice. A Disney alum that might be an even better choice would be Christina Aguillar.

If she is thinking about going the Norah Jones path (successful singer doing films/theater), Christina might be an interesting choice - at least she has the vocal chops

Just something that irks me. And I guess I am mostly referring to poster Ryan's blog. The Bowl was not sold out. You not only say it was.. but also make a big deal of it? Sure there were a lot of people there on all three nights. But it was not sold out. I know it is silly. But mis information irritates me.

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Updated On: 8/9/10 at 06:31 PM

Yep. It is like one PR person put's it out there and it just rolls.

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@luvtheemcee

Re: Stunt Casting
Please note my description of alternative "stunt cast" choices of Christina Aguillar had the phrase of "better" - not best

Whether people think of her as a Disney product or not, fact is that she is a product of the Disney machine.

There is no doubt that Christina has the vocal chops and draw to attract a great deal of people. Would she make a good choice - well, it would be BETTER than Vanessa. With Nicole's "take" is making a name for herself and Christina venturing into other areas of the entertainment biz while creating a lot of buzz

If the casting choices were/are not acceptable, wondered what alternative choices other people think are/were available to Neil Patric Harris that would help sell 50,000 (apx) tickets to performances over three consecutive days.

Who do you think would have been a better choice for a director?

"I actually would like to see what Nicole Scherzinger could do with Mimi. I think she's the right ethnicity, as least as much as Vanessa is.

Well, given that both Nicole and Vanessa's "ethnic" appearances come from their Filipino sides, then neither is really accurate for the latina role. Nevertheless, I agree with you in imagining what Nicole's Mimi would've been like. While this was a theatrically staged show, the venue lends itself more to a concert presentation thereby necessitating that ideally, the best vocal performers would have been chosen for the roles. Vanessa just needed more warming up and training. Her "Without You" was actually decent because she had warmed up at this point.

Telly Leung

I've been watcing some (poor quality) YouTube clips, and I gotta say I'm suprised by how good Hudgens sounds. Based on what little of the HSM stuff I've heard, I imagined a really breathy soprano voice. She actually sounds better here than in HSM, for the most part.

Granted, she's a little nasal and oft-'pitchy' in Light My Candle (to say nothing of the cutesy yalping in Out Tonight), but her Another Day and Without You are pretty damn good. I can't really disern from these clips what her acting was like, but from a vocal standpoint, I don't think she should be embarassed. I saw a Mimi in the RENT tour a few years back who was far worse, so the thought that VH is at a strictly amateur level seems a little harsh. She's got a clear-sounding voice with a good vibrato that neatly punctuates the end of those big notes. To say nothing of the overall performance, I think her voice is better than Rosarios.

I'm sure NPH could have found many, many girls who would have been better, but based on the reviews, I thought she would be a hell of a lot worse. And she's what, 19? I reckon she'll be better in a few years if she manages to stay around.