Rent attendance anecdotes — Page 3

*googles Treo* Oh, pretty.

I wasn't going to post to state the obvious fact that I wont be able to report until tomorrow (er...today?), but since everyone else is, I wont be able to report until later. There.

ha, I just looked at the time on the post. Then I scratched my head for a second and went "oh, wait. Treo!"

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IT IS HERE!

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aha - treo....
well then that explains it. I can just see anthony sitting around, having nothing better to do since he had to come back for the end of the movie, writing on BWW.

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I tried to go to an advanced screening here in the Dallas area tonight that I had tickets to - and couldn't get in. That's a good sign. Also, another theater was having a "Rent Party" in front of a theater (not showing the film yet, however) with karaoke contests, give-aways, etc. I don't remember the last time they've done that for a movie...if ever at all.

I'll be at the first showing tomorrow - and can't wait....

Just got back from the screening down in 23ed...what an odd audience! Definetely full of RENTheads, lots of enthusiasm, but the ending was....weird. Definite laughter during WYO, which bugged me, I thought to myself that it looked a bit silly, but not a laugh-out-loud moment...then with the last shot of Angel there was a short burst of applause, then an expectant pause...then the credits rolled and more awkward applause. LOL Very strange crowd, but I had a blast!

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Updated On: 11/23/05 at 03:40 AM

Just got back to my dorm after the midnight screening. What an audience! I was afraid it would get on my nerves - but I ended up really enjoying the fact that everyone was so into it. Lots of mooing! It was a lot of fun.

But here's a good anecdote: we were sitting in our seats, and noticed a "mark scarf" lying across the seats in the row in front of us. Thought it was weird when the people didn't take their seats so close to the movie start time. Suddenly, we heard applause and screams, turn around, and there are Anthony, Rodney and Tracie.. coming to sit in those reserved seats. So.. that was pretty cool! lol

Great screening overall - lots of fun, definitely something I'll remember forever. And as for the movie? Amazing.

That's all!

God, I can't wait . . . especially after reading these heartwarming comments.

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Tonight I attended the midnight show here in San Francisco. The Metreon (Lowe's cineplex) had a show at 11:59PM. I already seen the movie twice and wanted to go again just to watch RENT with the biggest diehard crowd of Rentheads. The entire show must have sold-out due to high demands because earlier that evening (at approximately 8PM), I checked Fandango and saw another show schedule at 12:05PM.

THE LINE
My friend and I was there around 9:30PM. When we arrived, I overheard that there were people lined up hours before. I went to the box office and then up the stairs to the auditoriums. I expected a line from hell, but I only saw at least 40 or 50 people in line and it didn't look that bad because not everyone was there yet.

THE BOHEMIANS
There were people dressed up like Angel (yes some were in drags), Mark (the glasses and striped scarves), and Maureen (cat ears & leather pants). A latino guy was totally decked out in the black and white stocking and santa outfit with full make-up and a wig to boot! He was stood and greeted people at the ticket taker podium. There were a lot of people that sported their RENT shirts, sweaters, and buttons. Some of them were wore their homemade RENT shirt with pride. And still more and more RENT-dressed movie-goers came in and joined the line. At about 10:30PM, they opened the doors to the auditorium and the line moved inside. So to answer Anthony's questions, here is the audience demographic for this screening: The crowd were of both genders of all ethnicity, but the majority of the audience were obviously caucasian females and gay males. Age ranges from 18 to 35, with the majority of them leaning towards teenagers and early twenties. I saw a several older people (ages 40-60) there too, a few decked out in Rent attire.

THE STAGE
Inside the stadium seating auditorium, it felt like everyone was excited to be there and the wait was finally over. Some of the girls got anxious and shaky. Some were bratty and ran up and down the aisle and stairs. Some went around and introduced themselve to other Rentheads and commented on the costumes. It sorta felt like high school. The people in line before me sat in the middle to back row. We wanted to sit away from the "kids" so we sat closer to the front but still in the middle, about 8 rows up. My fear was to sit near any group of teenagers that would comment and sing throughout the movie. It became real tonight, a group of teenage girls sat right behind us. They were all dressed up like mini-Maureens and mini-Mimis. Before the show, they took pictures of themselves. Many times they left their seat and dashed to the side of the row so they could hug their other friends that walked in. I could hear them repeatedly saying "Like Oh my gawd! Rent is like the best thing ever!" They also compared their Rent screensavers on the phone to each other. At one point, a similar group near us sanged "Out Tonight" and screamed out "Who saw the play!?" Everyone was so loud, you couldn't even hear the intermission music in the background. But the good news was that they behaved during the entire movie. An annoyed audience member yelled out, "NO SINGING PLEASE!!!" before the show started.

THE PERFORMANCE
The audience clapped after every trailer (The Producers, Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of A Geisha and Freedomland). Everyone cheered and applauded for Matthew and Nathan in TP and for Jake and Heath in BM. The lights dimmed after the trailers and when Johnathan Larson's name appeared on screen, everyone cheered. The crowd applauded after SOL also. Everyone applauded after T4U, TM, OT, ICY, LVBs, TMOLM, and FB. Everyone laughed so hard during OTM and Moooooooed so loud that some the theatre staff went in to see what was going on. There were people that had the case of the sniffles and some cryed during WY, ICY: R, and YE. The only negative comments was about WYO. Most people laughed at that part of the movie. Some said that it was the worst part of the show. During the credits, those that remained seated sang along with the songs at the end. Overall, the reaction was great. It seems like everyone enjoyed the film. I heard some people will come back to see it again with their friends and family that missed out.

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GREAT REVIEW MUNKY! I was at the screening too. I did like the movie all that much. I thought the CINEMATOGRAPHY was AMAZING, the voices were fantastic, but there was still something missing, maybe focus or drive. I do agree that WYO was very, very laughable, I thought it was ruined the whole movie for me.

I also felt like I wanted to get into the characters more on film, and I could not. Maybe it;s because I know the show so well and so well, that it made it hard. It had it's moments but that was about it. I will see it again, just to see it again!

Drtheatre

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Based on my screenings of Rent, each time with a different crowd at a different theatre...I think it would be safe to recommend screening Rent in an auditorium with good audio format (Dolby Digital), a large size screen, and good seats. The audience could also make the movie as well. At times, a positive and responsive audience may influence those to have a better time. Speaking for myself, I found this true based on my experience in any film, even if the film was below expectations. (I would say the film was at least entertaining.)

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I too was at the Boston advanced screening of Monday. Me and 3 friends left our little town of Bridgewater at 3:30 and arrived at the theater at 5:00. By then, we were pretty much freaking out because we were afraid of not getting in, but when we found a relatively small line of less than 50 people, we knew not to worry. Though, less than half an our later, the line was wrapped around the block.

Anyways, after waiting for 2 of the longest hours EVER and making some friends in line, we finally got into the theater (despite the fact that people were cutting like crazy......i seriously hate people that cut lines). When we got to our seats, I just sat there quietly, attempting to listen to everyone else's conversations....all of whom were very excited to see the movie. I must say, in the audience, I was everyone from teengagers to some older people, most likely in their 60s.

After a little short film at the beginning, everyone sat silently for the movie. You could seriously feel the tension thicken as the beginning credits rolled on the screen. Then, at the first notes of SoL, there was a collective gasp and squeals of anticipation, it was amazing.

Surprisingly, I heard no one singing along. Though, there was clapping along during SoL, lots of laughs, cheering when Angel entered the loft (which I, for some reason, found really funny), mooing, and whimpers and sobs towards the end. After the movie, there was an applause like I have never heard at the end of a movie. After listening to everyone's conversations again, I could tell everyone was amazed/thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I KNOW im going back again either today, tomorrow, or friday...or maybe all three? Excellent job anthony (and the rest of the cast for that matter!)

So I didn't go to the midnight showing of Rent, but I was one of the lucky people ::cough, cough:: :) to work at one of the theaters in Hollywood for the midnight showings of Rent. I work at the Arc Light Cinemas and it was packed. We actually had to add a couple of showings, originally there was only going to be one midnight showing but we added two others ones and they were sold out as well.

The crowds from what I heard from my co-workers who were ushering, said that the crowd was really pumped and excited.

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 11:11 AM