Rent attendance anecdotes — Page 10

Forgot to post this - while waiting on line there was a little debate between people about who was a bigger fan, who was a fan for the longest amount of time, etc. Mind you, this was the 30+ set, not kids.

This one was hilarious:

"When did Rent debut?"

"1995."

"Then that's when I saw it."

"Off-off broadway."

"In a tiny theater?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah that's where I saw it. It was amazing. And then it moved to The Netherlands."

HAHAHAHAHA! :o)

---

I saw it at a twenty screen theater in Overland Park, KS. This is a wealthy suburb of Kasnas City, Mo.

I went to a 3:15 showing on Wednesday afternoon and the place was packed - it was the smaller of the two screens the movie was playing on (maybe 75-90 seats) and it was pretty much sold out. There might have been a few open seats up front.

Later I went back to see Harry Potter again with some friends and noticed that the 9:30 showing of Rent was sold out. It was the only sold out showing on the board.

I just went to see it in a movie theater near Rhode Island and there were like 12 people but they all LOVED It...cried at appropriate times, laughed at appropriate times...it was great. BUt granted it was thanksgiving and who goes to see a movie on thanksgiving, so thats why it wasn't packed.
xoxo
Sarah

Can you believe in the first showing I went to NO one laughed at the sucking except for me??? I was hysterical.... that was the funniest face I have ever seen!

---

I saw the movie again, and I thought I'd update on more people's reactions. Again, I live in a medium town in Ohio. There was about 9 other people in the theater besides me (my guess is there would have been more if there wasn't a semi-snow storm going on outside). Not much audience reaction during the show, but afterwards I overheard some girls talking in the bathroom saying that they really like Rosario Dawson, and they never knew that Jesse could sing. One said that the way Chicago did it was better because it was more believable, and that people bursting into song was better for the stage, but I think that anyone who likes musical theater to begin with would disagree. I don't know why so many people are freaked out by musicals, and I love that in the Rent movie the music drives the plot and the emotional reactions that the audience has.

Just back from my second visit after having been at the 'crazy Ziegfeld' on Tuesday night.
Saw it again at the Ziegfeld this afternoon, this time the crowd was a lot older. It warmed my heart to see people in their 60s speaking so highly of Rent and having seen the movie a few times already.

The crowd cannot be compared with the midnight screening but I am sorry to say that What You Own and The Cliff still got giggles. Oh, why, Columbus???

QM

---

Mr. Rapp,
I saw RENT last night in Saginaw Michigan...bout 70,000 people live there, and it is probably the least "performing arts" oriented city in the nation.

I paid 8.50 for my ticket and another 8.50 for a friend.

The theatre was filled with people of all ages.

The older couple in front of me was by far the cutest...probably in thier late 60's.

After the film ended we all clapped and dried up our tears.

It was the best experience I have had at the movies in a long time.

I saw Rent onstage the first time last year and the emotion LIVE and the emotion OnSCREEN was exactly up to par. I loved every moment.

Saw it this afternoon (Thanksgiving Day) in Manhattan with a surprisingly well behaved crowd of mostly young people in their 20's and 30's. There was no talking, no cell phones ringing, no sing-alongs, no snickering or laughing in the wrong places for the wrong reasons, and thankfully, NO MOOING! You could hear some sniffling during a few of the more poignant scenes, and about half the audience applauded at the end of the movie. All in all, an extremely positive and pleasant movie going experience.

PS. There wasn't even any snickering during the trailer for Brokeback Mountain. This was an unusally sophisticated and mature audience!

---

Updated On: 11/24/05 at 05:57 PM

notsovirginmary--

You're kidding! I'm in Spearfish too! Man, we probably know each other...I'm not involved in any theatre, I just love watching it. Was the sound quality below average when you saw the film? Maybe I'm just picky...

Wow, small world!

---

StageWhore, although i can understand how that conversation would be hard to hear; however, those two girls went to show they obliviously never knew, from what i can assume they enjoyed it, and their curiosity will bring a stronger meaning of the film to them... after seeing the movie they are curious about the story behind rent... who knows they may become HUGE Rentheads

I never post online, but i figured i'd add another state to the list of audience reaction:

Just saw the show in New Hampshire on Thanksgiving with my mom (who has never seen it). It was a small theater, maybe 20-30 people, teenagers through senior citizens (maybe late 60's) - mostly college/mid-twenties age though.

This may have been the quietest audience i've ever had. Loudest reaction was to Maureen's mother's, "so maybe you two can get back together." Talk about a brilliant one-liner!

Only comments I heard the entire time:

The older woman next to me did turn to the man she was with and said, "it's almost over" before YE. I assumed she was the one who wanted to see it at that point!

And my mom, during LVB, when everyone was on the table at the end, said (about Mark), "he's all alone." I'm glad she picked up on the not-entirely-subtle interactions between the group - especially since Halloween was cut.

Not a dry eye in the house, from Angel's death to the very end. (I don't know if the audience could have handled Halloween and GL part 2 - but I certainly hope its on the DVD because the Mark/Roger argument scene is my favorite from the stage and i still think their relationship would make more sense with it included.)

If i get any better reactions in Delaware next week, i'll try to post those. I would love to add a "screw the critics" (because i really loved the show) but i think they had a few good points. However, regardless of what some critics may think, this music and Jonathan's message will always shine through.

---

Updated On: 7/31/13 at 07:29 PM

this isn't necesarily small town (i live in westchester), but last night I went back and saw it with my 4 best friends...all who hate musicals. the one who hates them the most went downstairs to barnes and noble after the movie and bought the soundtrack. she cried, and she DOESN'T cry, another cried but she tolerates them more, saying how she MUST go back and see the show, and the other two really liked it "for a musical" but I don't think they were crazy about it.

but it still blows my mind that my friend went downstairs and bought the soundtrack...and i got kinda choked up later about it cause she has a REALLY hard time relating to things...and it really got her in a way that little does. (she's a big hedwig fan, too!) so, thank you for that (and of course for everything else you do for everyone, but i'm not gonna get into that)

the rest of the audience fully enjoyed it, there were definitely some idina fangirls there, and jonathan got a loud cheering for in the beginning with his credits, but i would say a good 30% either hadnt seen the show or were not huge fans, which was sooo nice cause at the end you heard absolute RAVINGS coming out of everyone's mouth. and everyone was THOROUGHLY impressed with the cast and the direction (well, how could they not be?)
i might see it in philly tomorrow, but the response i would expect to be similar to NY's...i should ask my friends in florida about their audience...

Updated On: 11/24/05 at 08:26 PM