Rent attendance anecdotes- Page 14

[broadwayboy430]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:37pm

saw rent. after behind me, a wife asked her husband what he thought. he said..."rent is just your typical story of bad people who make bad decisions, and are punished for it"...i turned, around, gave him my best "choke on sh*t" look, huffed, and left

[Anakela]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:38pm

finally saw it tonight, 7:10pm Saturday night show, Loews theatre on 34th Street, NYC. Theatre was at maybe 80, 85% capacity. Really diverse audience- tweens there with their parents, a few couples that had to be at least in their 60s, a group of middle aged men, groups of teenagers and 20-somethings, etc., of all races. Over the Moon and everytime the answering machine went "speak" got the most laughs from the crowd, applause at the end, and about 12 or so of us stayed through the very end of the credits and there was another mini-applause at "Thank You Jonathan Larson."

However, I was completely reminded tonight of why I don't go and see movies during opening weekend that are marketed to teenagers. No offense to the teenagers on this board, but the teenagers in my audience tonight that I was in earshot of were some of the worst movie going people that I have ever had the pleasure of sharing a theatre with. (And I am only in my 20s, it wasn't too long ago that I was a damn teenager myself!) Nope they didn't sing, or moo, I wish they had! Instead apparently I somehow ended up in a theatre full of homophobic teenagers. In the middle of freakin NYC!!

Problems started during the previews, specifically during the preview for Brokeback Mountain, where nothing but comments of "OMG they gheys!" "But he's too hawt to be ghey." "Ewww, the gheys, liek kissing, ewww." Lather, rinse, repeat through the whole preview. Great start to a movie with two gay couples that hasn't even started yet, right?

Sure enough, Angel's "you ok honey": "OMG he just called him honey, ewww..."
Today 4 U: "ewwww that's a guy, ewww"
Laughter during Life Support when Angel takes off her wig.
Grossout noises during Angel and Collins' kiss.
Etc. etc.
Although, surprisingly, no comments during Angel's funeral for some reason.

I finally got the kid sitting closest to me to shut up by just staring at him...and staring...and staring, until he finally shut up. Actually he was probably still making comments, but I couldn't hear them anymore. But seriously, who past the age of like what, 5 or so, thinks that sitting there going "ewww" is appropriate? If you didn't realize that there are gay couples in the movie, well, I don't know how you could not realize that, since this musical is ten. years. old. now, but if you didn't realize it then leave, don't sit there making comments until I have to stare at you to make you shut up.

I want to go see it again on the big screen, but I think I'll give it a couple of weeks and wait until the MTV-ers have stopped going before I do so. I've been spoiled by attending the 'no one under 21 allowed theatre' back in L.A., I'd forgotten how miserable it can be to share a theatre with some annoying teenagers. Again, no offense to the teens here, but the teens in my audience tonight really were the suck.

Oh- and not really an audience anecdote, but on the train home the A train bootleg dvd man already had Rent for sale.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:41pm

the A train bootleg dvd man already had Rent for sale.

hah. I'm surprised it even took this long!

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:43pm

heh, so we got tickets to go to the ziegfeld showing at 7:00 on the 23rd (yeah I realize I'm posting this sorta late but that's okay :)) anyway, and then for some reason they couldn't match my dad's credit card number to any reserved tickets or something. So it was really scary because for a second we thought we wouldn't be able to get in. And at one point the woman was like, "you know this is the movie, not the play, right?" and my dad was like YESSS hahaha. But then he bought three more tickets so it was all good :). Anyway, it was, of course, phenomenal and incredibly moving and touching.

Gail

[Billboard Girl]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:48pm

Analeka, I had a very similar experience with rude teenagers in the audience at the theater I went to in Brooklyn yesterday. I was really disappointed that people were so disrespectful to everything Rent stands for in a neighborhood not that far from the one on the screen.

[jeremykushnier1fan]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:50pm

On my 2nd time seeing it, which was a Friday night, the audience was almost full, and the show after the one i was in was sold out. So that's good news. Saturday afternoon, when i saw it, the theatre wasn't as full, but one of the night shows were sold out too!

[Anakela]

Posted: 11/26/05 at 11:57pm

Billboard Girl- you live in Brooklyn? Me too!!

Not as anything against Brooklyn, but I was hoping for a really good, diverse audience with the 34th street location which was why I ended up there (and I wanted to sit after shopping all afternoon :)), but man I was *so* disappointed with the teenagers, what I posted above was actually like my second draft, I'll probably put all my R rated words in my LJ later. :)

[gertrudejessalynn]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:00am

I've seen the movie twice. Both at the same theater... a Cinemark at the Pittsburgh Mills (a huge freaking mall 12 minutes from my house, yay). If it helps you at all... it's about a half hour northeast of Pittsburgh off Route 28. I think (I'm so bad with directions). The people I know in my area are pretty conservative, but since the mall brings in so many different people... the audience would be rather diverse.

The first time was on the 23rd at 10:45am. There were 8 people in the theater other than my sister and I. I heard giggles at the right places from them and they were a good audience. It was a bad choice of times, although I'm not even sure people know that theaters open that early around my area. Oh well. My sister unfortunately hated the movie, but I wouldn't count too much on her opinion. (She tends to hate everything I love.)

The second time around was much better. I went tonight at 10:25pm. The whole Cinemark was packed full of people and I'm glad to report a lot of people were seeing Rent. It's only playing in the one theater here with 5 showings each day. It was so much fun and the audience loved it. There were the minor disruptions of people leaving to go to the bathroom, but they all came back... no walk-outs. But my only gripe were the two annoying teenagers texting their friends in front of me. Their seats got kicked a few times! Don't text in the theater, it's rude. :P I stayed so I could watch the credits, and see "Thank You Jonathan Larson", and so did three others. That was nice.

I'm so glad the movie seems to be doing well. YAY! (And Anthony, you were amazing!... as always.)

[Idinarocks2]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:39am

I have now seen Rent 4 times in 3 different theatres and it has been a different experience each time. I can feel the energy in the theatre when there are many Rentheads in the audience. I took my 66 year old close minded musician father to see it on Thanksgiving and was very interested in his reaction because he had only heard about it from me. He said that there were some things in it that he did not agree with, but he was overwhelmed by how well the show was written and performed. He loved the music. With that said I knew that Rent really can reach all audiences and touch everyone in some way.


After seeing Rent 4 times I have been trying not to be sad about "Halloween" and "Goodbye love" missing. I read an interview with Chris Columbus saying that they really just didn't work. Anthony, I was wondering if you could tell us your opinion as to why these songs couldn't work in the movie and if you felt it was ok to take them out. The movie still works without them, I just think that those songs are important in the depth of Mark, Roger, amd Mimi's character. I think the fight between Roger and Mark is so important in understanding their friendship and where they are in that moment in their lifes. It shows the love in their relationship by being able to call each other out on the things they might not not realize on their own.

[wicked_mimi]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:32am

Ok.... RENT viewing number three for me was very disappointing. I saw the 10:15pm showing in Syracuse, NY on 11/26. I was happy when I first walked in, it was a decent sized audience... probably about 40 people or so. Mostly teens and 20's... some parents as well. Anyways, music starts and the sounds system was absolutely terrible. I honestly thought you could barely hear but my mom said it was fine and to not go and complain. Everyone was fairly respectful but didn't seem to want to laugh. You would hear a couple chuckles but not flat out laughter like I had the first two times I saw it in NYC. Granted, my first to viewings were at the Ziegfeld and Symphony Space on the 22nd so audiences don't get much better than that, but still. There were a few "ew's" when Angel and Collins kissed which pissed me off sooo much! There were some sniffles when Angel died though and it was obvious these weren't regular RENT fans I saw the movie with because many were shocked when Mimi was alive. I was like, oh yea, that could be a surprise for some huh?!?! Anyways, the audience was ok, not NYC by any means but still more close minded than I would have thought Syracuse would be.

[Michael Berry]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:41am

I loved Rent, I thought it was soo good. I was really nervous, because I bet it was soo hard transferring it to the screen, but I was very happy with how it come out. My favorite song was Take me or Leave Me. My least favorite was Today for you Tomorrow for me, just because you could tell it was pre-recorded because there was no way he did all of that crazy choreography and still sing. I still loved the movie as whole though!!!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:43am

Everything was pre-recorded, except for Over The Moon. The actors sang along to the pre-recorded tracks while they were filming.

[zzannahk]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 6:32am

i saw RENT wed 11/23 on staten island, nad if i heard the usher guy correctly, they sold too many tickets and had to shut down a Chicken Little to show RENT in two theaters. BOTH were packed!


apparently people couldn't follow the whole Angel thing because when she/he takes off the wig at life support people GASPED, i guess it wasn't clear


the THANK YOU JONATHAN LARSON all the way at the end of the creddits was too little/too late. thats how to movie should have started or it should have been before the credits. the only reason i saw it was i was early to the show and caught the end of the previous shows credits
i was with a rent newbie and they got it, everything. but on the car ride back we filled in the missing links and she thought that she had seen a different movie than us

Updated On: 11/27/05 at 06:32 AM

[Therese]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 6:46am

wicked_mimi wrote:
it was obvious these weren't regular RENT fans I saw the movie with because many were shocked when Mimi was alive. I was like, oh yea, that could be a surprise for some huh?!?!

LOL, yes it could! It was a shock for me! And as a life-long Disney etc. animation fan, you'd think I would know the "death fake-out" trick by now. I was so expecting Mimi to die by the end (doesn't Mimi in La Boheme die?), the finger-wiggle was a total surprise. (I thought the close-up on her limp arm just before the wiggle was going to tell us something about whether or not she'd been using again, needle marks/no needle marks). Heh, I guess sometimes it's fun to see something without knowing the whole story going in.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 9:33am

A RENT Lament (from the original thread which i wish to leave to die out from good advise by greenegirl :) )

Well, I saw the RENT movie on Wednesday (opening day) at 7:30 PM, and my sister and I were excited as ever, wanting to see this movie since June when we saw the movie trailer, and instantly becoming fans (but not RENTheads, mind you ) Anyway, we got the CD which we listened to constantly, I got a shirt, we were constantly talking about it, and even tried to convince our parents to see the show in October.
Good thing we decided to wait for the movie...
We went to sit down in the movie theater, which was packed (with about 3 full rows of a bunch of little RENT/Idina fan girls), and so my sister and I sat next to each other, and our parents sat in the back of the theater. So, we watched the movie and enjoyed it very much, one of my fave movies prob. It was very good, and I loved it.
But likewise for my parents.
Once the movie had finished, we went to get up out of our seats, and as my mom walked down to us, we asked her "how did you like it?", expecting a good response, i mean come on, this is RENT!!!, a big raved-about show that everyone supposedly loves!!! my mom said "that was horrible" and we continued walking out of the movie. i thought maybe I head wrong, but no.
Once we got out, and were walking to our car, for the next half an hour I heard about what a bad movie that was from my parents- "the most disgusting I have ever seen in my life", "the worst movie i have ever seen in my life", "the biggest waste of 2 and a half hours" "promoting gay and lesbianship" "songs all sound the same" "i hope the musical closes on broadway" "hope this movie does badly" "spent 2 and a half hours watching druggies, lesis, and gays" and to sum it all up in the words of my mom "thank goodness that is over"

so basically, my sis and i had loved the movie, and my parents absolutely hated it. we're not allowed to see it obiviously anymore, and they dont even wanna hear "seasons of love" again after this...
i was wondering if anyone else has had this sort of response from parents, and yeah
sorry about this vent, but this is a very emotional sort of thing for me...

[Feathah]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 9:37am

What surprised me most - and maybe I've been living in my own bubble - was the clear discomfort with gay relationships. I just kept thinking - seriously?? this bothers you??

BUT at least these people were there at the movie. And regardless of the laughing or "ew gross" comments during the Collins/Amgel scenes, when Angel died they were still very moved. Maybe when their siblings, children, friends and co-workers come out to them they'll be more tolerant.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 9:44am

yeah, my parents are strong Conservatives, having worked with the Republican party personally and everything, so maybe this wasnt the wisest choice of movie for them...
but i even explained there was some "edgier" stuff in there, and they're like "oh, thats fine!'
didnt turn out just fine...

[Billboard Girl]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 10:28am

Analeka, I actually live in Queens, but not far from the Brooklyn-Queens border, and the theater closest to my house that was showing the movie is in Brooklyn.

[N0tThatGirl213]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 10:30am

I'm part of like a 5% liberal minority at my school. The rest of it is very, very conservative. Now, I've had RENT pictures in my locker for the past 5 years. All of a sudden this fall once the trailers started airing, that made me popular. I had people coming up to me telling how they couldn't wait for the movie to open, how they had seen the trailer and were counting down the days. Now these were all popular people who were telling me this. It led to any number of "wtf" moments. I haven't heard back from any of them, but I'll be very interested to see reactions tomorrow.

On the other hand, I will say I know of any number of conservative people who go to my school and love the stage show. It seems like because of the music, and because of the way in which the story is told, the message still reaches the majority of people.

[Feathah]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 10:31am

bwayondabrain - I'm so sorry you had that experience. ((HUG))

[Broadwaygirl22]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 11:59am

Hi all! I saw Rent yesterday and I loved it! There was a large crowd, but I was able to get a good seat. The whole theatre wasn't filled up though. I live in Massachusetts and a lot of my friends have talked about seeing Rent or have seen it already. Some of my favorite scenes were "La Vie Boheme" and "Take Me Or Leave Me". All in all, I loved Rent and plan to see it again!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 12:29pm

My dad made us all go to Harry Potter last night (I unsuccessfully tried to convince him and my brother to see Rent) and I theater-hopped during a bathroom break, just to see what part of the movie Rent was at and watched Santa Fe. Adam's faces are funny. And I also noticed the boarded-up subway station at the end this time.

Updated On: 11/27/05 at 12:29 PM

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 1:20pm

thanks for the hug, feathah!
yeah, it is too bad i have to wait till im like 18 to see this movie again, and dont have parental constraints, but i did manage to get the movie CD with a mimi cover, and i have been listening to it constantly!
and btw, rosario is hot...
and idina sure has a nice...rear-end!

:)

[greeneyed_one]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:15pm

I saw RENT twice. The first time was opening night at 7:40. Sadly there was only one tiny theater for RENT. Me and my three other RENT-head friends got there 40 minutes early and there were at least 10 other people waiting in front of the theater! The theater was packed by show time and when the movie started the room was completely silent. It was an amazing energy. There were a lot of laughs especially for "speeeeeeak" and you got tons of laughs during "Tango Maureen" Anthony. Maybe about 15 of us moo-ed and about half the theater clapped at the end.
My second viewing was at 3:45 on Friday. RENT had now been put into two theaters! Surprisingly this showing was also sold out. There were a bunch of people in their 60's infront of us who had never seen RENT and we talked a little before the show. I went with my cousin and although she let out a little "ewww" when Maureen kissed a women in the "Tango" dream-sequence, she was crying by Angel's funeral. The bit that got the best laugh both times I saw it was the Angel-breaking-the-padlock scene. Hardly anyone clapped at the end of this showing but I think people enjoyed it. My three cousins and my little sister are now addicted to the music.
I was lucky enough to see the show on broadway last summer and was worried how the movie would stand up against the show. However, I thought the movie was AMAZING! Sure somethings were different, but the overall message was still there. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the removal of the second half of "Goodbye Love." I'm trying not to dwell on it too much though. The great part about the movie was how real it felt. It was as if I was watching a part of someone's life. I never felt like I was watching actors. The little hugs and looks you guys shared really made the movie so much more intimant than it would be possible for the stage show to be. In my mind the movie lost some character development with "Goodbye Love" but gained a lot of character depth.
Sorry, I know this is an extremely looooong post but I have to add one more thing. The movie actually affected my dad more than anyone else. He's 56 and he LOVED it. He said it perfectly captured the feelings of being a starving artist. He lived in a loft as a photographer during the late-seventies to mid-eighties and he said the movie was amazing for him to see. Thanks Anthony for being so involved with us fans and for being part of such an amazing movie!

[QuiteSo]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 2:48pm

Hooray for procrastinating from finishing college essays...heh..heh.

Anyway, thought I'd post about my experience with the Rent movie the other night.

I went opening night, and initially I thought that the attendance wouldn't be very good. I live in the suburbs of Manhattan, and even though Broadway is only a short ride away, I do not happen to know many people who have an avid interest in theatre.

My friends and I had to go to the second showing at 10:25pm because the first was sold out.

Most of the audience were teenagers and 20-somethings, but it was an interesting atmosphere. Many dressed up - saw a lot of Mark outfits and one Maureen catsuit. Oh, and a group of fairly young teens were singing (offkey) to the end credits when we walked in, which was frightening...though my friends and I ended up singing not only the end credits but through La Vie Boheme (quietly, of course, heh).

I was surprised by the show of support for the movie in this area - there's a generally conservative attitude around here.

The movie was so much more than I expected. Greatness in a few hours, a nearly perfect representation of the show's message - I think I even cried harder in the movie than I did at the show. I know that the rest of the theater felt its impact, too...the silence after the parting shot of Angel could have been cut through with a knife.

Anthony, you and the rest of the cast and crew did a phenomenal job. I don't think I can even express my feelings about the movie much more than I have already. Your love of each other and of Rent itself shone through in a way that I don't think can ever be rivaled. Much love to you and the rest, and congratulations!!!!!!!!

Updated On: 11/27/05 at 02:48 PM