RENTBOY sees NYC

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 8:54pm

(1) [Sunday In The Park With George] I student rushed this show, but they didn't have any left, so I got half-price tickets, which were still resonable at $30. I had a great seat, and the show was BEAUTIFUL. I really hope this gets recorded for Great Performances. It's a show not to be missed. I just loved the use of the set and the projections. And the acting and singing was all top-notch. Jenna Russel deserves the Tony (Sorry Patti!). She was brillant. Her "We Do Not Belong Together" was spectacular. And I thought her Marie was so sublte and creative. She shook her body ever so softly the entire time, and was just in character and connected. And I thought Daniel Evans was great. I find it strange that each George (At least Evans and Patkin) play George a little crazy. I understand it's sort of written into the part, but they both just seem so overly aggressive about stuff. So while his performance wasn't as subtle as Russel's, I still found it thrilling. The show as a whole was great, and I was suprised when it didn't get a standing ovation - I def. stood.

(2) [Next To Normal] I student rushed, and I ended up missing the first ten minutes of the show, so I'm not sure what plot points I missed, but I thought the show was enjoyable. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I thought the men were all strong, but the women I found weak. I didn't really like Alice Ripley. Her voice just sounded so nassel, and her acting was just okay. The same goes for Jennifer D. Her singing was great (at points, mostly in her upper register/belt), but her acting was weak. It felt very one note, and boring. She seemed to be forcing the emotion, which I understand could be a product of her age, but still, I was hoping for something more. I thought Brian D'Arcy James was great. His voice was spot-on, and his acting was so underated. The other men were fine. The boyfriend had a beautiful voice. I really liked the set and how they used it, but I'm not sure about the show. There were one too many "montage songs" for my tastes, and I really hated the Act I closer "Feeling Electric." But there were some beautiful numbers and the underscoring was great. I think I'd have to see it again, or hear the music to fully form an opinion.

(3) [RENT] As you can tell by my screename, I'm a big RENT fan. I'm not a RENThead by any means, but I like the show, and it's the show that really got me into theater and musical theater. That said, I wanted to see the show on Broadway before it closed. I wanted the atmosphere and whatnot. Well, the show was disappointing. I saw the two leads this past year on tour and hated them, and so when I saw they were in the show on Broadway I was still pissed. Harley Jay was okay. He didn't really bother me, but I felt like he wasn't being honest, and so therefore I didn't feel anything for him. Declan Bennett was hands-down awful. He was way too quiet in his spoken lines, and was a horrible actor. He kept breathing heavily and just randomly changing his volume, and he would never look out into the audience. Also, he seemed to play the character with some wierd quirks (pulling up his shirt?) that I just didn't quite get. But Tamyra Gray was the saving grace. She was great. I thought her singing was stellar (which I would have expected), but her acting really suprised me. She was great. She knew the character, and she was fully committed. I liked that. I thought she was the stand-out. Justin Johnson was also really good as Angel. Overall, I wasn't that impressed. I expected more from a Broadway callibar production, but the cast just didn't seem to care about the show. No one carried about telling the story. They would slur lines and run over each other's line, or they'd be too quiet to where you couldn't understand them. But I'm glad I can say I saw it on Broadway.

Overall the trip was great. I went to the Cry-Baby stage door on Saturday night because I wanted to see the people come out, so that was cool. I got to see John Waters, and I saw Gavin Lee heading to Mary Poppins which I thought was kind of neat.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 8:58pm

Scott- I am glad you had a nice trip! Plus you got to see Sunday In the park with George.



J*
Updated On: 3/17/08 at 08:58 PM

[jerseyboyschick2]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 9:08pm

Glad you had a good time:)

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 9:44pm

I'm glad you had a pretty good time.

I'm sorry about Rent!

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 10:03pm

I've never heard anyone associate "nasal" with Alice Ripley's voice. I thought she had the character down perfectly with her acting choices but I fully admit my bias as a longtime fan. Interesting viewpoint on the show though. Glad you had a good time.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 3/17/08 at 11:23pm

Thanks for your review! Sounds like you had a nice time!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 2:13am

Well, maybe nasal isn't the right word, but it just seemed to be placed in a weird place and very "forced" sounding. She wasn't bad by any means, but just not my cup of tea. Did she recently have plastic surgery? Just curious.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 11:03am

I'm glad you had such a good time. Thanks for the great reviews

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 2:13pm

Bump - anyone know if Alice Ripley had surgery? There seemed to be a distinct difference in her voice in Side Show and her voice in Next to Normal.

By the way, I was walking behind Asa Somers on the way to get something to eat after the show, and I guess he was talking to his grandmother or mother, and he said that they want to cut his Act 1 closing song "Feeling Electric," which I have to agree with. I don't feel like it works as well as it could, and the staging is just sort of forced and awkward.

[BlueWindSadness]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 2:47pm

sounds like you had fun-

and I totally agree with what you said about RENT- I saw it a few weeks ago and thought the same thing about both leads....

Not sure I agree about Next to Normal and what you said about Alice- but everyone is entitled to opinions, and I enjoy reading everyones different perspectives!!

<3 thanks for the review!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 6:53pm

Well what did you guys like about Next to Normal. Like I said, I'm still trying to form my opinion. It was just a different atmosphere from what I'm use to, and the audience was filled with young people and all I heard in the student ticket line was "omg, this show is amazing" "omg i've seen it 10 times!" etc. So I was expecting a lot. What did everyone think of Jennifer D.?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 7:15pm

For me the overall show, but especially Alice's and to a slightly lesser degree Brian's performances just touched a part of me that hasn't been reached in a long time. That's why I love it.

I like Jennifer's voice...but she was a little..."flappy" for me, though that toned down a bit towards the end.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 10:12pm

Ok, Alice does have vocal placement tendencies that are pretty unique. I will give you that. But unique is not bad in my mind.

[East Village]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 10:24pm

I was up in the air when I first saw N2N, yet I just couldn't get it out of my head. I can't even critique it by any standards because some of its parts I'd normally dismiss as dreck. But somehow it all added up into something ambitious that just won't leave me. I guess thats what rock musicals do...

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 12:49am

Yeah, well, what it boils down to is that the story is good. I'd say cut-out the whole "rock doctor" part. I just felt it was thrown in their for laughs and as a gag, but other than that I really liked the story. The "*SPOILER* Son part got a bit repitious after awhile, but I still didn't loose interest.

and I'm saying Ripley was bad, I just wasn't blown away, but I loved Brian D'Arcy James' performance. I'm suprised he didn't get some accolades.

[dramagirl487]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 3:04pm

I am what you'd consider a "RENThead".

sadly i agree with your review. I highly disagree about Harley, he's my favorite Mark by far. I think he's less believable because he makes Mark less believable. for me, Mark is hiding behind his quirkyness, and Harley goes for that falsely quirky thing. Until Halloween, we see Harley's mark open up. I LOVE his Mark.

STONGLY Agree about Declan. His Roger is just..off. I went to go see him after Adam Pascal, and the clips i had heard online made me optimistic. His voice seemed different, but he seemed very good. When i got to the performance his roger was detatched; not from life as he should be, but from the audience. It was a dry and distant performance. Often, his accent with Tamyra's (not sure which accent she has, but she has a unique inflection) make Roger/Mimi moments such as Goodbye,Love a blurred mess.

On that note, did you notice that Declan and Tamyra have HORRIBLE chemistry together? not good.

Tamyra, I also really like. The first time I saw her was Adam/Anthony's second day. I thought she had a lot of vocal skill, but her acting was distant and the chemistry with Adam was false. The second time I saw her (adam and Harley this time), she had improved greatly and i came to like her. The last time I saw her (Harley and Declan), she completely carried the show. Most RENTheads give her a hard time, claiming shes fallen victim to stunt casting, but i disagree

Justin also got progressively better the past few times I saw him.

just my two cents =) Glad you got to see so many wonderful shows!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/19/08 at 3:29pm

I thought she was wonderful, and I agree, she carried the show. I'm not sure if she's considered stunt casting because there aren't really any signs up anywhere that say she's in the show. I only knew cause I opened up my playbill and saw her picture. My sister didn't even know who she was. And her chemistry with Declan, I felt, was mostly his fault. He wouldn't really hold eye contact with anyone, nor would he stand up straight. And during "One Song Glory" he would not look out into the audience. I found that strange. Her voice isn't horrible, but his acting is what makes his performance suffer. And Harley Jay to me just didn't make me feel for him. I felt like he skimmed over some of the best lines, like "I'm here. Nowhere." Mark's whole story is that he is constantly pushed aside and people forget he's there, and he just doesn't "fit" and I didn't get that at all. I didn't see him change throughout. He kept the "facade" the whole time, which then makes me think it's more of a Harley Jay facade rather than a Mark facade, if that makes sense?

[winter_sky]

Posted: 3/20/08 at 1:25am

I don't know if I would say the lack of chemistry is Declan's fault. I've seen Declan with Karmine and Caren and he was fantastic with both of them. They were definitely flirtier than the interaction with Tamyra. I've also seen Tamyra with Tim, Adam, Jay and Declan and she, in my opinion, did not seem to connect with any of them.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/20/08 at 1:32am

I mean, in all honesty I didn't even notice the chemistry. I've never really seen a show and thought "wow, no chemistry," so I'm probably not the best judge of it. I just hated his performance so everything he did got on my nerves. It just irked me that he was considered "Broadway callibar."

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 1:10pm

Question about "NEXT TO NORMAL." What did everyone think of the direction? I liked the use of the space, but I hated how people kept holding onto the supports. Anyone else notice that?

[ThatBroadwayBitch]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 1:13pm

Was RENT horrible enough to change your screenname?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 1:18pm

Obviously not?

[ThatBroadwayBitch]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 1:19pm

Guess it wasn't that bad, then. It's such an old, tired show, what did you expect?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 2:12pm

It was bad, but that doesn't mean I hate the show or the creator. It was just a bad cast, but there were positives, and it's still a great show, just a case of bad casting.

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 3/27/08 at 6:04pm

I agree Rentboy --- the show is still as beautiful as ever. It's just a really rough cast. There are ensemble members that are extremely talented and enthusiastic who I still think do a great job. I actually really like Declan's Roger, but I am not a traditional Roger fan so that's probably why I like him.

I love the show, and I was really disappointed this past week. I had a chance to see the show twice, and the second time some understudies sparked up the energy. Still it was nowhere near the experiences I've had in the past at the Nederlander.

Not to mention that the theatre has been completely trashed. The graffiti is worse than it was during the A&A return, and it just makes me sad.


I also saw Sunday from a seat VERY high up. Extremely disappointing production in my opinion, but that could have been due to the seat. I highly dislike sitting far away. I know it's a subtle show, so hopefully I just missed the wonderful performances being SO high because I just love Sunday and Sondheim.