Rent review- matinee 8/23 and question

Hey guys- just wanted to do a quick review of todays matinee of RENT! I think I have seen Luther before- but regardless, he was in today, and very stale. He was not memorable at all and I was so disappointed! Maybe because of the death of his niece, but either way, he was very stiff and just totally lacking energy. I liked his voice but other than that he may as well have been part of the background. Maybe he just had a bad day, but if it was then it was a really bad one!
Christopher Hanke I thought was adorable and really great. I liked his voice and I think he was very "Mark" with a little bit of a goofy side but just really enjoyable- def recommend seeing him!
I saw Antonique for the first time and although she has a nice voice, I thought her acting was awful! She went from being over the top to just annoying- and during Goodbye Love could barely sing at all because she was crying (not sure if it was real or just over the top acting) so hard. Her mouth was moving but nothing was coming out!
Other than that the show was great as always, Justin was ALL over the place and really great and energetic and I believe it was Crystal that was in for Frenchie although there was no slip in the playbill about it- she was great except that on that last big note in Seasons Of Love she totally cracked but then got it going and hit it. The mics were a bit off today too- at some points they were too low and then too high- it was very odd.


Anyway besides that- quick question, it may have been asked before so sorry in advance if it has- but who is Lisa?? and what happened to Sue? During "Life Support" after Pam introduces herself instead of "Sue" it is now "Lisa". I have heard this the last few times I have seen the show but does anyone know why it was changed?

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Updated On: 8/23/06 at 07:48 PM

Hey, you beat me to it! Guess I will just add my two cents here!

So, as promised, March Richard Ford was in for Collins and was very good. Loved his "I'll Cover You: Reprise".

I absolutely LOVED Christopher Hanke. His voice was amazing, he was funny and very likeable. His "happy dance" when Joanne says, "Pookie? You never called me pookie before," is hilarious.

Ava was amazing as always. Justin, as my sister said, was funny and full of energy. Although he has a good voice, I'm not a big D'Monroe fan. Don't know what it is. He just doesn't do it for me. I liked Nicole as Joanne. I wouldn't go so far as to say I loved her, and it isn't anything she did, I just felt like she wasn't as "there" as she could have been. *shrugs*

Antonique . . . oh, Antonique. I had never seen her before and I will say she has an amazing voice. But give me Karmine over her any day. Her acting seemed over the top through most of the show. And, as my sister said, she was very emotional through all of the second act. It was almost as if something really had upset her backstage and she was hysterical. Don't know if this is how she always portrays the character or if something was going on, but whew! There were points where she was screaming her lines through tears. Other times where she would be moving her lips but nothing really came out. I wouldn't say I disliked her, but . . .

Haven was out today but we did spot Karmine in the role of Mark's Mom and others . . . didn't get to hear much of her but it was nice to see her anyway. She had these highlights in her hair that I can only hope were fake (the kind of looked like they were clipped in) that made me do a double take and second guess whether it really was her or not (there was no insert regarding her).

I'm not entirely sure who was in Luther's usual spot as "the man" and Gordon, but whoever it was was really good and very funny. During "On the Street" he was sitting next to Karmine and was stroking her leg . . . she shook her head at him, but that didn't work, so she tapped his hand, that didn't work so she pushed him away. Then he started trying to talk to her and she just kept looking at him, wide-eyed, shaking her head. Really funny to watch.

I have to say, and then I'll be done, I promise, that I love Robin!

So really, does anyone know why they no longer say Sue during "Life Support?" Of course I've taken so long to write this that someone may have already answered, but that just seems odd to us!

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I'm guessing it was the emotional toll that was Luther's problem. There's no way he is "uncomfortable in the role". He played Roger for a long time years ago and is one of the most popular actors to have ever covered that role. It's a shame that his opportunity to go on as Roger this week coincided with a personal tragedy.

The life support names do change occasionally at the discretion of the actors.

Jeesh. It's not like there's a lack of former Rogers out there. Couldn't they give the guy some grievance leave and bring someone else in for a week?

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But why would the actors change the names? Just for fun?

I read a while ago that the cast was originally encouraged to continually change the Life Support names to the names of HIV/AIDS victims they knew personally, but I don't think they've done that in a very long time. I know for a fact that as early as December 1996, the OBC members were saying "Lisa" instead of "Sue"--and that's the only change I've ever heard. It seems like it's just always been "Lisa" since the early days. It always throws me off a bit as well...I'm so used to hearing "Sue" on the OBCR.

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Updated On: 8/23/06 at 09:16 PM

"About the name during Life Support, I believe that the actor is allowed to change the name if they know somebody who has AIDS or has passed away from AIDS. I'm not completely sure though"


That is really intersting- although I have seen it several times over the last like two years maybe (I really can't remember before then if it was Lisa or Sue) and it has been Lisa- maybe whoever it is that says that line (sorry I am not sure who it is) has been there for a while?


As for Luther- I really think if he is usually better that they should have put someone else in the role- unless maybe he felt as if he should go on with doing the show. I do remember his face (and of course that hair!) and I think I have seen him before and I would have remembered disliking him as much as I did today, he was just so off and really just stiff and distant, maybe he was on medication to help with his grief over his niece? He just wasn't all there- so sad

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He doesn't like it that much either, he'd much rather be Gordon, or Mark, yanno?

Niiiiiice...

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rewindbuttongirl: I will agree that perhaps my sister (the original poster) phrased her sentiments badly. However, I do not think that we were being unsensitive. I feel for him, really I do. And not only am I trying to make it to the benefit for his niece, but if I can't make it I fully intend to send a donation. But we are entitled to our opinions and we just didn't like him as Roger. Maybe it was the circumstances and we did say that if that was it we understood . . . but if that is just how he always portrays the character it didn't do it for us. Thats not to say that he didn't have a good voice or that it wasn't noble (is that the right word?) for him to be going on after going through such a tragedy but we just didn't like him as Roger. I don't consider that picking on someone. I didn't say he was a bad actor or singer I just said I didn't like him in the role. Please go jump down someone else's throat.

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I wasn't overly fond of Nicole either. Didn't dislike her, just didn't find her memorable. Have never seen Jamie, so can't comment on that one. You're right I guess . . . Antonique is a more goofy 19ish Mimi . . . I do like her but I just found her second act to be over the top. When she first started crying during "Goodbye Love" I really felt a connection to her character, but then she got more and more hysterical and was just too much, in my opinion. *shrugs*

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It is tomorrow at 8:00. I'm dying to go but still trying to make it work. Hopefully those who go will post "reviews". Sounds like it will be an amazing night.

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