Rent tour 11/14/06- Page 2

[everything is rent]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 3:52pm

I saw this cast in East Lansing, Michigan (at MSU) on good friday and I have to say:

Declan Bennett downright confused me for about the first five scenes...he would bounce around from a horrible american accent to a shady british accent and I actually thought something was wrong with his speech. The night I saw it, he actually DID put emotion into One Song Glory and I've never enjoyed that song before I heard that rendition of it...obviously it was a one-night-thing

Krystal Brown was incredible! I've been spoiled by her performance, and I can't listen to Daphne Vega or Rosario now without cringing...Rosario can't sing very well and Daphne sounds like a 40-year-old toad to me. Krystal was amazing and she was so damned sexy in Out Tonight.

I have to say, a lot of the lines were lost in the shuffle of (a) overly loud orchestra music or (b) actors talking over each other or (c) actors not enunciating or projecting.

I did get sick of Declan's inability to portray emotion

I loved Harley's awkwardness. end of story. He was so awkward and it was exactly how I have always imagined Mark's character, but I've never seen it done that way.

The rest of the cast was alright. I thought Maureen (I can't remember the actress' name--i don't have the playbill right next to me) sounded a lot like Idina Menzel when she sang -- a weaker Idina, but the quality of their voices and their interpretations were very similar. Joanne was good, but forgettable, and Collins was pretty good--a different interpretation than i've ever seen before. I liked it. I can tell Angel was picked because he was a dancer, not because he was a singer (although I think I saw the understudy...) The ensemble was very strong, they brought some spark to the show.

I was very moved by the performances as a whole, and how they worked together (for the most part) There were moments that made me as an actress cringe, but I did enjoy it a lot.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 3:55pm

Nice job using the search feature!

[willact4food]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 4:17pm

Krystal Brown is no longer in the show, hasn't been for a little over a month...

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 4:21pm

"I saw this cast in East Lansing, Michigan (at MSU) on good friday"

I was also at that performance. It was pretty much the same cast I saw last year with a few exceptions (if you want to read my full (although old) review check out the BWW Rent tour schedule page. Mimi was much better than the one I saw before. Roger was not very good at all. Other than that it was pretty much the same cast. Although it said on the board outside the theatre that Angel was an understudy, I believe he was the same person I saw before. I was happy that the SOL soloist was very good (the last one I saw was very dissapointing). I still believe Chante as Joanne is the best part of the tour.
On a side note, at the beggining of "You'll See Boys", Benny's mic went out and he had to use a hand one. Although I have no clue where it came from, since he seemed to pull it out of nowhere (perhaps I couldn't tell because I was in the balcony?). Also I've only been to the Wharton Center a few times, but this is the fullest I've seen it yet. When I saw the show in Chicago the theatre was barely half full. The audience was much more enthusiastic here and made the experience that much better.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 4:38pm

JustChillin, if you saw the tour in Chicago last year, you didn't see Declan, Harley, Jennifer (unless she was on as an u/s), Jenna (ditto the u/s), Jade, Mimi, Joe, Kristen, or Dustin.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 4:46pm

While I don't recognize all those names (I don't have my playbill in front of me), I've seen it twice. Once April 2006 and once April 2007.

I did however forget to mention the guy who played Mark, who did a good job. Sorry about that.

Also after looking over my program, I was simply refering to the main characters. I know some of the people playing multiple characters may have changed.


Updated On: 4/9/07 at 04:46 PM

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 4:53pm

"Already saw it on tv."

???

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 5:06pm

Well seeing it live is a COMPLETELY different experience (as is with most shows).
Updated On: 4/9/07 at 05:06 PM

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 5:43pm

JustChillin,

Declan - Roger
Harley - Mark
Jennifer-Mimi
Jenna - Mark's Mom
Jade - Alexi
Mimi - Mrs. J/ bag lady
Joe - Steve
Kristen- Paul
Dustin - Gordon

All new to their roles since Sept. '06.

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:05pm

Out of those characters I only consider Roger, Mark, and Mimi MAIN characters.