RENT - new cast members

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:49am

I saw the new maureen, mimi and roger this past tuesday... i don't recall seeing anyone post a review about them so I thought i'd kick one off.

antonique- I enjoyed antonique's performance a lot. It took me a while to understand her approach on mimi. She definitely played it A LOT younger, giggling and flirting with a very youthful/innocent grin on her face at times. It really made me believe she was 19, and looked 16 because she did! Her voice was beautiful, oh and she's beautiful. She has a very deep, rich tone to her voice and it was an interesting contrast to her vulnerable character, to hear that intense belt vibrate through the theatre, but i loved every second of it (and the new sound system). she showed just the right amount of emotion during the sad scenes without going over the top. overall, i loved her and would go back to see her many more times.

ava gaudet - umm. okay, so she can sing. for a tiny, tiny white girl she has a nice strong gospel sounding voice and a gorgeous belt. that being said, her over the moon was less than spectacular. she seemed to be holding back quite a bit with her performance and it could have potentially gotten a better audience reaction if maybe she had understood the jokes in the song herself. the rest of her performance, she just seemed too mousy to me. not the crazy, over the top lesbian, wild child maureen is. she didn't even moon all the way! it was a half moon kinda thing. i didn't judge her performance on that, just thought i'd share. hopefully she'll grow more into the role with time. anyone see her and wanna share what you thought of her?

jay wilkinson (sp?) - (note: reviewing him as new even though he's an u/s because he is new to the company. no bio in the playbill as of now, so very new)
honestly, he seemed a carbon copy of cary shields to me. very few things were different in the way he played each scene and even his voice. a bit strange how identical their singing voices were. i was trying to notice differences and maybe a diff. something he brought to the character, but it was a stretch. he looks younger, so the chemistry with mimi was a lot more believable than with karmine and cary, but that was about the only difference i could spot. don't get me wrong, i thought he was good i was just hoping for something a bit more then the exact replica of cary.

just a final note... destan owens as collins gives one of the most touching, spine chilling, amazing solo in the "I'll Cover You" reprise. it was so outstanding it almost made the entire show for me. really suggest you all go see him and the rest of the cast when you can!

Updated On: 10/20/05 at 12:49 AM

[Patronus]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:52am

Jay Wilkison probably should be a carbon copy of Cary. He is his understudy.

Cary hasn't left the company.
Updated On: 10/20/05 at 12:52 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:56am

I saw Ava. On all fronts other than her voice, I was thoroughly underwhelmed. Either she can't act, or she's just not putting in any effort. She certainly can belt well and she *looks* the part, but that's not enough. She just seemed to flat to me -- no spunk, no spirit -- the only personality she seemed to have as Maureen was personality inherent in the character because it's written into the part... the things you can tell by *what* she says. How she said things was inconsequential. I felt like her performance was just the bare minimum of interpretation. I was really disappointed.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:57am

wait, why should he be a copy just because he's an u/s?

and he also looked just like cary which was so strange. i definitely had to check the cast list for that performance more then once to make sure it wasn't cary.

edit: patronus, i edited the original noting that i reviewed jay as new because he's new the company. just to make it more clear :)

Updated On: 10/20/05 at 12:57 AM

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:57am

and also its quite evident you haven't heard marcus paul james' take on I'll Cover You: Reprise, it puts destan to shame.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:59am

His performance can still be considered touching and beautiful without having to be compared to someone else's. Just because someone else might be better or different doesn't invalidate an opinion that needs no comparison. What does it matter? I don't get it.

Cary's not blonde anymore, is he?

Updated On: 10/20/05 at 12:59 AM

[greatdct]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:01am

I've seen Destan and thought he was fantastic. He made me cry.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:03am

Mark. Richard. Ford.

amaaaaazing! I wonder what he's up to now that Lennon closed.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:09am

how long ya think Cary and Matt are going to be in the show?

[anne3]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:18am

Jay isn't new. He has been with the company since last December. He's just never had a bio, no one seems to know why...

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:21am

Marcus Paul is far and above the best Collins I've ever seen, and the only one who could bring me to tears for the ICY:R. Seriously, so, so amazing.

Too bad to hear that Ava's not doing too well (Gaudet? I thought her last name was something like Shlog...didn't someone find it out on CB when the tour was still on?) - she was very good on the road, and a lack of energy was the one thing I certainly never would've pegged her for! How long has she been doing it on Broadway?

And when will Andy Meeks FINALLY play Mark in the Nederlander? When???

Updated On: 10/20/05 at 01:21 AM

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:23am

AOTM!
That is all I can say about Mark.

Carry on.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:37am

Yeah, I have to agree with jonartdesigns, Marcus Paul James gives "the most touching, spine chilling, amazing solo" on ICY:R that I've ever heard, and his performance is just consistently amazing. When I spoke with him Sunday about seeing him in DC, he said he was glad that I thought he was so great because he was so tired after doing 9 shows in the last week. If he can reduce me to a snotting mess 3 times and he doesn't even consider it his best performance, that's saying something.

Seriously, I've met so many longtime Rent fans that have seen Marcus as Collins only once and they think he's one of the best ever. And unlike other Collinses I've seen/heard, he gives an amazing performance throughout the whole show, not just during the shining moment centerstage for ICY:R.

And Tiff, definitely agree about Andy as well. I miss his Mark.

Updated On: 10/20/05 at 01:37 AM

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 1:43am

^

Exactly.

[.LittleWing. 0224]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 2:21am

wait, jay has been there since sept as Roger u/s? or swing? why wouldn't he be in the playbill, that makes no sense... (not saying its ur fault, just thinkin out loud)

[lfae]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 6:45am

Aww, I saw Ava last month and I loved her! Her Over the Moon was a bit eh, but after that she really seemed to come to life.

[BroadwayRandy0711]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 6:53am

I saw Jay back in May and in the play he was just okay!! HAHA

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 9:53am

I noticed the same thing about Ava, lfae. After Over The Moon, she had a lot more energy, but I still wasn't at all impressed overall. There was a definite change in her performance following the number, though.

Shlog. ha.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 11:37am

>>how long ya think Cary and Matt are going to be in the show?

I believe Cary is leaving in late January

I don't know about Matt however.

[starlight2]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 12:39pm

Hey Little Wing, I agree! I was there! Did you see Al Larsen, Jonathan's Father, and Michael Grief? I wondered what they were doing there, then I saw them with a former "Rent" tour member
and someone else I was not sure of. I saw Jay do the role last February and that is when he was also doing his soap opera and I wondered how he had the energy for both!?

[MusicAndPassion]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 3:48pm

Jay's been onboard for a while now.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 4:04pm

Jay isn't new. He has been with the company since last December. He's just never had a bio, no one seems to know why...


Jay had a bio when I saw the show in January.

(Gaudet? I thought her last name was something like Shlog...didn't someone find it out on CB when the tour was still on?)

Haha Tiff... I think it was Schlink. Maybe she got married?

Mark. Richard. Ford.

amaaaaazing! I wonder what he's up to now that Lennon closed.

Yesssss I absolutely agree with you. He was Collins the first time I saw the show and he was unbelievable. I miss him. I didn't get to see him in Lennon, either.

[anne3]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 4:09pm

I meant that he didn't have a bio printed in the playbill. He has one that was put in as an insert..
Updated On: 10/20/05 at 04:09 PM

[CrAzIaBoUtReNt]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 4:13pm

Is Justin still Angel?

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 10/20/05 at 4:15pm

Anne, you're absolutely right.

And yes, Justin's still Angel, thank goodness.