RENTing Insanity

I also wanted to post a review of a recent performance of Rent that I attended... after I was practically MAULED by a nutjob Renthead who says that she is best friends with Diana deGarmo and that I, a thin white man with red hair, looks JUST like the black man playing Angel.....

I want to say that the state of the Nederlander.. and its tenant.. is awful.

I am constantly amazed at how badly the producers or Rent trashed the architecture of the building. NONE of the original detail will be left after RENT leave... their teil mosaics and other assorted "art" has obliterated anything beautiful underneath. SHAME SHAME. How simple would it be to build a false proscenium with tile mosaic detail instead of ruining a building?

I also noted that, in addition to an excessive playbill insert, EVERY wall has a "no video, photography, or sound recording" sing posted on it.. yet people where still doing it, and no usher made ANY move to stop them.... hell, the ushers are in no way distinguished from the audience, they are in plain street clothes and don't have so much as a name tag!

Now onto the show....

Destan Owens is a fair Collins, by no means great, and at times his voice pinches and goes nasally.

D'Monroe makes NO impression as Benny.

Justin Johnston is a well acted Angel. The way he blocks things he doesn't like with his feet is funny. he has a good falsetto and a fair low range, but they are in no way connected. His mid range doesn't exist and the break in his voice is more obvious that Donna Murphy missing a show.

The ensemble was lackluster. Only Kyle Post, a swing on as Gordon et al made an impression and was a treat to watch.

Someone needs to deflate Frenchie Davis and send her home. She has a beautiful voice, but she did sing anything remotely close to anything written during seasons of Love and she spends the entire show in her own world, ignorant of anything going. SAhe doesn't at all seem to occupy the same space as anyone else.

I am always appauled at how sloppy and amateurish Michael Greif's direction is. Why does this man have anything resembling a career?

Jamie Lee Kirchner was a VERY good Mimi. I loved LighT my cabdle and new that from then on, I was in for a treat in watching her. And I was. Another Day, Goodbye Love, Without You.... she nailed them all. Howvere, Mimi's "wow" moment HAS to be Out Tonight, and, frankly, it made want to stay IN tonight. She was so focused on bending her back as much as possible that her vocals suffered and lacked any danger or excitement.

I was VERY Pleasantly surprised to open my playbill and find Maggie Benjamin back as Maureen. Funny, well sung, well acted. Bravo. She is back and in fine form. Great to see her again.

I very much enjoyed Nicole Lewis as Joanna. No complaints at all. She REALLY sold the difficult to nail "We're Okay".

Tim Hower should be fired on the spot for his perfomance as Roger. Awful. Just plain AWFUL. He found several good MOMENTS. But they didn't salvage anything. One Song Glory.. Your Eyes.. every one of his songs was painful. You can tell that he has a more classic voice and was trying to force a rock sound.. and it didn't work.. and occasionally he would slip into proper voice... he tried to play what he thinks a 'rocker' is and it was COMPLETELY disingenuous. He actually was giggling at him when Mimi "dies". he was that over the top. Absolutely attrocious.

CHRISTOPHER J. HANKE AS MARK COHENM. Wow. Simply WOW. Thsi only confirms that Chris is a VASTLY under appreciated and under utilized perfmer. he had it from second ONE until the very end. he found the layers. He played them. He was well sung. He had hysterically funny but geneuine moments all throughout.. raising his fists in triumph when Maureen calls Joanne 'pookie'... using the camera as a gun to shoot himself when Roger plays guiter in La Vie Boheme... No gripes in any way. I will return just to see him again... hopefully from the front next time!

One thing that bothered me.. the battery packs on some of the mics... Jamie Lee Kirchner spent half the show hiking up thats trap around her lower chest that held her mic in place.. in act one, maggie benjamin's mic was in a flesh colored pouch attached to her lower back and it kapt sagging and flying all around and flapping with every move. Very distracting....

I apprecited Chris all the much more because I had seen Matt Caplan before him! Chris is a must see!

Frenchie did not take liberties... she rewrote it! It was even more suprising considering that the producer was in the audience. Too bad he wasn't passing out a few pinks lips.

Yikes. I haven't seen her in over a year, I can only IMAGINE what it sounds like by now.

I'm guessing you didn't like Matt Caplan? I saw him last sumemr and liked him. Granted, I had only seen drew Lachey before him, so I didn't have great comparison.

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I've complained about Grief lack of direction from day 1.

Hmmm.... there are VERY attractive performers who I think are God AWFUL onstage and unattractive perfomaers that I LOVE to watch. And for the record, the friend in attendance with me doesn't find Hanke attractive in the least and felt that he was the best thing about the show.

Now Namo, BUZZ OFF.


Caplan didn't bother doing the show. Caplan just goofed off.

I dont know that it should ever be considered too late to share an opinion about a currently running show on a message board dedicated to broadway...

I think Chris Hanke stood out because hes a new addition to the cast and all his moments served his character whereas others seemed to be entertaining *themselves* more than anything...

Tim Howar on the other hand was trying entirely too hard to come off as a metalhead or something and it wasnt working. Giving the horns and sticking your tongue out is NOT appropriate. His acting at times was a little overdone and his singing was hit or miss.

My biggest gripe of the show has always been the giant sculpture that I think fails to represent all three of the things its meant to: the original sculpture, christmas tree and steeple.

hey, when i saw RENT in March, i thought the entire cast was fantastic
i would really prefer to see them than the OBC (which i saw in the movie, and thought they were horrible)
maybe they were better live, but i still think that the current cast i saw was great

sorry to hear others dont think so...

me or broadwayguy?

Agreed! It's so distracting to read a review (or any post, or that matter) full of mistakes.
If you'd like to make a point, take the time to have it make sense.

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I enjoyed reading this. Thank you

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OK...I didn't want to say anything....but broadwayguy2, you need to edit that review and correct the many mistakes in your spelling. It is a bit distracting. Appauled?

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uncageg, I intent to do that. I posted that LATE last night after a LONG day and was exhausted and have not had the time to do that. I just wanted to get them up. I am going edit later today.


*side note* can the PMs from nutjob Rentheads please stop... get a life.. geez.

Becoz_i_knew_you21 - I put a smiley face after most of my posts because there are too many and negative things on this board and in the world... I'll try to stop *rolls eyes*

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Updated On: 10/14/06 at 03:05 PM

I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion of whatever, but I must disagree with you on this. I believe the show is fantastic now, and I hope it doesn't close in the near future. Sure, some cast members aren't great, but not everyone in any show on broadway or off is fantastic. You can't hate one show because you weren't happy with one cast member. I saw Phantom of the Opera again a year ago, and the Meg was horrible in my opinion, but I still loved the show.
I think the interior of the theater brings me into the story of the show. I think it's an interesting look and a great breath of air from your usual interior of theaters that look extremely fancy, and I feel out of place going in jeans.
I must agree that I'm not too fond of Frenchie, but I still enjoy the show. The last two times I saw RENT, she wasn't there.

Tim might not have the best voice ever, but I think he gives a lot of emotion to Roger and his chemistry with Christopher J. Hanke is great, and they look like they really have been friends for years.

I didn't like Jamie too much as Mimi. She seemed like she was TOO high, and her Another Day makes me cringe. I understand that she really wants to be with Roger, but there is a time during that song, where Mimi has to stop bouncing and stop smiling and relax. But then again, I saw Antonique Smith as Mimi, who I found to be the best Mimi.

Christopher J. Hanke makes the show, so I agree with you there. He's a great Mark and a great guy in general. He gives Mark so much more, and really makes the character real. I could go on and on about how great he is...so I think I should just stop here.

I'm sorry your very disappointed in the show...and these are just my opinions. I just wanted to add my two cents in on this.