Ken and I saw Rent on Friday (and he went Saturday too) and it was great! Jonathan Larson's sister thanked us (and all the rest of the fans from 'the line') for 'keeping the show alive' which was the most touching thing! The show itself was one of the best casts that I've seen. Andy Meeks played Mark and he was remarkable! He was also the sweetest guy at the stage door. MARCUS PAUL JAMES (Collins) was absolutely amazing and continues to impress me every time I see him perform. Ava (Maureen) has such an amazing voice and was having so much fun with the role! TALLIA BRINSON (Mimi) was great also though she played Mimi as it was written and didn't really add anything special to her performance. ADRIENNE FISHE (Joanne)WOW! Take Me or Leave Me was unforgettable because of her! DAN ROSENBAUM (Roger) was too quiet for me but there were a few parts that he was great. DAMIEN DESHAUN SMITH (Angel) wonderful performance and I'm so glad to see that after being with the show for so long as smaller parts he finally got to play Angel. The best part of the show was this kid in the front row who was very loud, completely into the show, and during Over the Moon stood up made horns with his hands and started to act like a cow, everyone was talking about him during intermission and Ken and I ran into him after the show and told him we loved his performance All and all, it was great and completely worth going to see. So go and see it. NOW!
KEN'S REVIEW:
The show was phenomenal. Alex and I went on Friday night, to answer your questions. ANDY MEEKS is the most adorable Mark ever to set foot on stage. He'd breathe life into the role with every lyric and word, and seemed to be the character so well. He's also the sweetest man I've ever talked to at the stage door (except for Adam of course, but I'm biased there). Alex wanted to dump me for him. Good thing he's married, huh? AVA was also the best Maureen I've ever seen. She's got the fiestiness and flirtatiousness down and the most amazing set of vocals I've ever heard. Out of the girls I've seen, she takes the cake for having the most improvisational riffs. Another highlight was DAMIEN SMITH, a cast member I recognized from previous casts who I'm thrilled to finally see portray Angel. And he was damn good. MARCUS PAUL JAMES had the whole role of Collins down to the facial expressions. He's been in the show for like four years, so I'd imagine he'd be great.
On that note I'll Cover You: Reprise was the MOST amazing number. So loud and powerful. I love how they crank it up to blast the flesh off your faces. It gives me chills everytime. As for it being too loud, I don't complain because that's what I love it. That's why I love rock music. That's why I love rock musicals.
As for the "Moo Boy". The cast got a kick out of it too, and he really enjoyed the attention. Attention whore indeed. He had this cute blonde girl with him, think Kristin but at about seventeen and with a normal voice. They're very passionate about the show, said they saw it like twenty-something times, and it's those type of people that keep the show what it is.
"Someone please tell me- when the hell did gravity become the enemy? How has an essential force of nature, something that makes it possible for life to even exist on this planet, come to deserve the scorn and hatred of every teenage girl with no head voice?"- Broadway Matt
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