Rent - current cast — Page 2

Tonya Dixon doesn't seem like an educated graduate of Harvard law. Troy Horne was the worst I'll Cover You Reprise I've ever seen. You could tell he was FORCING himself to be upset and to make himself cry. You don't feel bad for him. I have seen Tim quite a few times and I keep going in their with an open mind cause I try extremely hard to like him but I can't. I saw him his first weekend and couldn't stand him--he improved for awhile but last night it was like I was watching his first weekend all over again.

Hanke is the perfect Mark. I am a Matt Caplan fan and I did enjoy his work -- more in the 2004 -2005 days -- but Hanke just fits the role like a glove and his voice is amazing. Justin NEVER disappoints me and I will be really sad that day he leaves RENT. Nicolette was on fire last night and belting out notes left and right. She sounded amazing. I do know she was battling horrible allergies when she first started so you may have caught her on an off night but she was fantastic last night.

I've seen the show quite a few times and I've seen a lot of different casts and I walked out of there last night without the same feeling I use to get say when Jeremy Kushnier was Roger or Mark Ford was Collins. Those are two men who are extremely talented and fit those roles perfectly and I sure do miss them

A Valley Girl with a totally wrong pop singing voice, even.

I think that's the way it's supposed to be.

I agree, but it's extremely atypical for me to connect to any media the way it's intended. I can recognize what arc I'm supposed to follow the closest, and even appreciate it, but I rarely find myself invested in the A-plot characters and romances.

With so many strong characters, Rent is a great show for that. You can take it as delivered, or you can be just as entertained or touched in letting your attention wander to tertiary details.

That's why it was surprising for me subjectively, though certainly not objectively.

but I rarely find myself invested in the A-plot characters and romances.

So you're basically saying that you usually focus on the subtextual troo luv between Mark and Roger, right?

I wouldn't doubt that the Broadway cast is very inconsistent right now. There are alot of cast members leaving and entering the show. Regardless of how professional they are, you can't expect a comfortable working relationship or effortless performance right away. I was lucky and had the chance to see Maggie Benjamin as Maureen. She was spectacular.

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im sorry but i still think Tonya is not a good Joanne. Her voice is very screechy and she doesnt come off as a stern, hard core lesbian, layer. id rather see Tracie Thoms on stage.

I still think Tim Howar is a fantastic Roger. I love his voice because he is really sincere about it. Roger is suppose to be Angry , he is suppose to be depressed... i dont think many people understand that. there are very few actors who have played Roger that can sing and act, some can sing and some cant act... vice versa. And well Justin is the Dynamic of the show. hes amazing. and Jamie i love her as Mimi, she has the perfect voice, and wow does she have a body.

I saw Rent tonight with Kyle Post as Roger and Crystal Monee Hall as Joanne, among a couple other understudies.

I've heard good things about Post as Mark, but he was absolutely painful to watch as Roger. One of the worst performances I've ever seen on a Broadway stage. First of all, I wasn't convinced that "Roger" was straight. Many of his mannerisms and even his voice at times seemed very effeminate. He had no chemistry with Jaime, and as much as I laugh at the Roger/Mark shippers, he seemed a hell of a lot more interested in Christopher Hanke than Jaime. He was almost always off-key. I'm by no means a vocalist and still observed various points at which he was painfully sharp or flat. Also, he had no stage presence to speak of whatsoever, and didn't even bother trying to develop the character. I'm vehemently against interpreting Roger as a character with all angst and no softer side to speak of, but Post basically just played him as a little wimp with no anger, hurt, resentment... nothing. I felt NOTHING for his character. He also missed a line and seemed out of sync with Hanke during "What You Own," but that's so incidental compared to all of his other problems in this role. Lastly, his voice is not suited to the character at all. Roger's a rocker, not someone with a choir voice. The only positive thing I could say about him is that he looked the part of a "prettyboy frontman." I felt that Hanke wasn't completely "on" tonight as well, which I'm guessing was the result of a poor Roger (although, who knows).

Maybe Post is good as Mark (in fact, I can kind of see why he'd work in the role), but I never want to see that him put into the role of Roger ever again. I'm surprised that anyone could be that truly awful.

Crystal Monee Hall suffered from Nicole Lewis syndrome times fifty - she did absolutely nothing to draw me to the character. Her voice is decent. Her stage presence is okay. But she still managed to bore the hell out of me.

Troy Horne, the new Collins, is pretty good. He's a more playful and flirtatious Collins, which is fine by me. I felt like he was still settling into the role a bit and not entirely comfortable in his shoes, but he didn't disappoint me overall.

T.V. is fine as Alexi. I miss the Mayumi touch to the character, but again, I wasn't disappointed by T.V. Telly is a great Squeegee Man/waiter. Looks like he's having a ton of fun up there. As a sidenote, can Frenchie please leave the show already? She looks positively bored in every one of the ensemble scenes - I realize she's "homeless" and probably supposed to appear apathetic, but it's obvious that she's bored with the show.

There were a few seats open in the orchestra and just a couple rows filled in the front mezz - the rest of the mezz was completely empty.

Overall, a very disappointing performance, mainly because Kyle Post was essentially a black hole in the cast.

Updated On: 1/19/07 at 12:37 AM

"Well if he isn't british he has the strangest way of speaking for a North american I have ever heard."

He is from Canada but has lived in England for much of his adult life (his band, Van Tramp -which is really good, btw- is from England)

he does have a weird accent, but I absolutely adore it.

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In my opinion Tim being angry is the only good part of his performance. That isn't my reason for not liking him. My favorite Roger was Jeremy Kushnier and he use to throw the table. I just dont think Tim's voice fits the songs very well cause I've heard his band stuff and enjoyed his voice there but it sometimes pains me to listen to him during the show

Nicolette is amazing.

Haven really is great. I enjoyed Nicolette's performance, but she seemed to be missing a certain spark overall. Also, her voice, while not bad, isn't absolutely stellar.

And I am beyond glad that Antonique is gone. The girl couldn't sing.

Thank you. I am glad that I am not the only one to think that this show is in nightmare shape! I love Rent-I still get chills at the Finale of "No Day but today", the show deserves better!

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He mentioned about a month ago that he was leaving in March, but that type of information is always subject to change. He's a great Mark, and I'd definitely recommend trying to see him before he leaves.