Rent Closing Rumors/Marketing - From an Old Renthead — Page 3

"But you did imply that there was not a single person actually involved with Rent understands it."
Actually, the implication was that those involved with the show, whether they "get it" or not, seem to have no interest in maintaining a certain level of integrity for the show. It's as though they've become desensitized to the whole piece to the point where there's no genuine, urgent need to engage with the work anymore; hence my desire to see them just wipe the slate clean and get some people in there who have their hearts in the piece at this point in time. It's not that they don't understand it or have the capacity to understand it (though there certainly ARE those who don't...), it's that it's become a mere job for most involved, or merely that show that's making them money.


As for the rest of your post, I think you've made it quite clear yet again that you really do NOT understand where I'm coming from, nor do you make the effort to, so why you feel the need to attack me (yes, attack me...WHY do you never actually DISCUSS things with people?)each time I post my opinion on this show is beyond me. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it's my failure to clearly communicate what I actually mean when I discuss this show. And I'm very sorry that I post my opinions about the way the show is being handled too often for your taste, but I do believe that you've been attacking me like this since I can remember, and not ONCE can I recall you having anything constructive to say or anything to contribute in regards to the actual discussion of the show and the way its being handled.

So when it all comes down to it, I'm still curious, orange. Do you actually find that when you've seen Rent in recent years that it feels as fresh and vibrant as it did years ago? Do you honestly believe that the show it be handled with the same care it was over ten years ago? You really don't think they could at least do a little better?

I'm also curious about what I'm going to think about Adam and Anthony when I see them on Monday, since you OBVIOUSLY have my entire psyche figured out.

Updated On: 7/23/07 at 08:08 PM

I dont hate RENT. I have seen it live over 40 times...... I just think it is time for a break! The show has just gotten really played out.....

Maybe it seems played out because you've seen it "40" times and you need a break. The people who are seeing it for the first time night after night probably don't share your opinion.

i didn't have time to read everybody's response but here's mine coming from a huge renthead:

as much as i love rent maybe it's about time for it to close. it's had an amazing run. the producers should wait 5 maybe 10 years and open it back up. maybe there will be a huge rent phenomena again.

i don't know it's just a thought. i know i will be terribly sad if rent closes, i'll probably cry for days and days on end but all good things must come to an end, right?

honest living,
kasey

Harley Jay (who played mark in the 2006-2007 tour) just anounced that he will be playing Mark on broadway for a 7 month run. so i guess we have atleast about 9 months.

www.officialharleyjayfanpage.com

I agree, after 5 years you should be out of there....

I think this whole A Chorus Line/Phantom/Les Miserables approach to running shows for years and years and years is absurd. The broadway of 1989 had all of these shows...

Rent needs to close, less revivals, more original works. Broadway used to be the thriving vehicle for the American Composer and librettist. What happened?

I agree. I think Broadway needs a radical change in producers or theater owners. What happen to the artistry? It's only become a "business" because we've let it.

I have no problem with movies turned into musicals, but there's a way to do it with grace, and a way to do it to just make money.

You can't rush great art.

He can barley sing the show and Marks the easiest vocal part!

Barley is a hearty and nutritious grain. An odd analogy to compare someone's vocals to barley, but certainly not unflattering.

Updated On: 7/24/07 at 01:59 AM

RentBoy, I'm more or less talking in idealist terms. You're talking about the general pattern of a long-running show that opens with a bang, and then after a few years starts to become stale. But I'm saying that's entirely BECAUSE of the people involved. If there were producers (and other staff) who considered a certain sort of care for the shows they produce and work to be part of their job rather than just bringing in enough people and raking in enough money for the show to squeak by as it slowly dies out, that wouldn't be the case. That's what I'm talking about. A good show shouldn't have to close after 5 years if it's done the right way, nor do I think it should have to die a slow painful death like Rent is. At this point, they HAVEN'T closed it after 5 years so it could go out with some dignity as you recommended, so...I'm suggesting they put some more into it and let it run its course the way a show with some integrity would. I mean, in an ideal world, a show would run with a certain vitality and it would just close when it stops selling the tickets to keep it open...in other words; when almost everyone who would seen the incarnation has.


erinrebecca, that's exactly the complacency I'm complaining about. You really think people are going into Rent having their lives changed the way the show supposedly did years ago? I'll tell you, the first time I saw the show in about 2002 or 2003--before I was at all familiar with the show--I didn't like it. I loved the music, but the whole thing came across as concert that had a vague story about whiny young adults who didn't want to pay their rent for no reason. And I can't tell you how many times in the past few years I've heard the same reaction (or that it's..."the AIDS show")from virtually everyone I know that saw the show recently. Now, of course when I watched the original cast and sat down and listened to the CD and READ the thing, I realized that that is not at ALL what the show is at its core. And truthfully, I think it's entirely because whatever's happening on stage is not coming together to tell a cohesive, meaningful story and despite the flaws with the unfinished work, the fault is not really in the libretto, as it's been proven in the past it can work.

If you, as a fan of the show, are complacent with people walking out thinking that sort of representation of the show IS what Rent's all about, and you're fine with people thinking it's a washed up joke because of it, go ahead. But it frustrates the hell out of me, because I think it's so much more than that.

Updated On: 7/24/07 at 11:50 AM

Part of me agrees with this "5 years is enough" idea....but i have to say - I saw The Phantom of the Opera in Toronto well into it's run (probably 7 or 8 years into it) and I LOVED IT. That was the show that inspired me to become a designer...so I think some shows can stay fresh with the right cast choices and an occasional update.

I think anybody who's seen any show more than two or three times is going to have a pretty warped vision of what they're seeing on stage in terms of the show as a whole instead of its parts and how the audience is reacting. And I am including myself in that statement. Just because people are still walking out moved doesn't mean the show is as vibrant as it used to be, nor does the fact that the show is becoming a tired, stale, joke in many circles all that telling of a measure either. But in my opinion, the people over at Rent are NOT doing the job they could be, and even if they're pleasing people, I think they could easily be pleasing more, and reaching them more deeply. Why would you settle for merely pleasing casual theatre-goers, when you can have higher standards for the work? People in the audience with higher standards will be more pleased.

I tend to think in these terms because of my first experience with the show; it, to me, was really telling that what later became my favorite show was so empty to me the first time I saw it, and in retrospect, I think it's because the actors, sometimes as individuals, but even more importantly--as a company, as an ensemble--were not doing their job in telling the story. No matter how extraordinary a libretto is, if the people doing the story-telling are not collectively doing their job, the work itself comes across as less than it is. That's generally something repeat viewers of a show won't see in the same terms; instead it's easy to pinpoint that such and such an actor is not so great, or the show is having an "off-night," etc.

Updated On: 7/24/07 at 04:49 PM

But in my opinion, the people over at Rent are NOT doing the job they could be, and even if they're pleasing people, I think they could easily be pleasing more, and reaching them more deeply. Why would you settle for merely pleasing casual theatre-goers, when you can have higher standards for the work?

How do you know how deeply people are being reached - or how pleasing it is - or what the standards of the theatergoers are? All I know is what I've gathered from listening to people engage in conversation, looking at their reactions, and reading thoughts posted online. I just don't happen to think it should close to please the people who have had the chance to see it upteen times and are done with it (as long as new/old audiences are still coming). I also don't happen to agree with the opinions that people/producers involved with the production are sitting around collecting checks and could care less about the state of the show. I've never felt that was the case and don't now.

I've seen the show go through its ups and downs over the years as far as the energy level or how they "click" as a whole. I've also been at a show with people who commented on how "bored" or "bad" someone was when others had the exact opposite feeling. So how good the cast is at any certain time is purely subjective.

**BTW, I'm beyond happy that they are bringing Declan to Bway in Sept. One of the best casting moves in a long time IMO.

Updated On: 7/25/07 at 05:26 PM

How do you know how deeply people are being reached - or how pleasing it is - or what the standards of the theatergoers are? All I know is what I've gathered from listening to people engage in conversation, looking at their reactions, and reading thoughts posted online.

Like you, all I know is the information I gather about the show from people I know that have seen it for the first time recently and the way people on message boards that AREN'T specifically for Rent respond to it, and in the eyes of so many of these people, it's mediocre, washed up, or a downright joke. And frequently I'll ask people who they saw, and much to my dismay, it's often a strikingly similar set of people as I saw and was enormously disappointed in when I have seen the show. *I* personally have not sat in the theatre watching the Broadway cast of Rent--I, a huge fan of the show--and felt the urgency and depth delivered. I see very little attention given to the story and it's bigger ideas. I see a lot of singers who can ham it up but not act; I see a lot of potentially good actors who don't even make specific choices; I see a lot of actors giving line readings without actually adding anything to the text; I see a lot of characters who are written with an arc not going through the entire journey they need to; I see a few individual actors who are quite good but are simply not open to or not surrounded by people who are willing to give and take with them in scenes, and in my opinion, that's NOT going to allow Rent to reach people in the way that it could. Maybe it's fine for some people, but given what I often hear from people who see the show, I've a hunch I'm not the only one who feels that way.

And I'm certainly not saying that anyone and everyone from '97 on has sucked (as orangeskittles often likes to pretend). I'm just saying that...from the times I've seen it over the past few years, it hasn't exactly been what I'd call Rent. It's the book, the music, the lyrics, but these things never really come to life the way they could. And while I haven't seen everybody, it's not exactly promising that some of those people who I felt were really bringing the show down are still in the show.

Updated On: 7/24/07 at 07:22 PM