Tamayra Gray/RENT/Last night — Page 3

Yes, her thinness would make sense for this role, but I'm assuming she's no actually shooting heroin, so it can't be healthy for Tamyra. I hope she doesn't have an eating disorder.

oh thats for pointing that out lizzie... i always eff those kind of things up...they should both be too...i was just so caught up in her new costume :)

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Ok so I know this isn't a tamyra question, but is Nicolette Hart still playing Maureen?

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yes Nicolette contract is up in September I believe. Tracy from the tour is suppose to come in..who is amazing as well! But back to the topic..Tamyra was overall pretty good! I forgot how good she could sing! I see her getting really good by the middle of the summer. Also Maia(Seasons of Love) who is also one of the original church ladies in "Color Purple" gave hands down one of the best versions of the song I have heard! That girl has a voice on her as well! Pretty good cast right now! They should have thought about Tamyra long time ago..this is a really good role for her!

Better than Rosario? Now THAT is saying something :P

Im sure it was sarcasm

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Updated On: 6/1/07 at 03:24 AM

I will admit, I wish she had the long curly hair. It's a Mimi "trademark" and I enjoy it. I'm not going to say she sucks and she's ruining the show because her hair is wrong, but yeah. You all know what I mean.

Regarding Maureen, I never saw Idina in the role (except for on a grainy thing-that-cannot-be-named-here) so I've never judged the character based on how she played it. My favorite Maureens are Tamara Podemski and Maggie Benjamin. Tamara played it a little more subtle, so she was probably closer to Idina's original interpretation. Maggie is an over-the-top goofball, but I can't help loving her. I will also fully admit that my opinion of her is biased due to her extreme hotness and her outgoing personality. Even if she has a bad night and sounds like crap (which I have seen) I still love her. I would love to see Haven as Maureen. In all the times I've seen her in the show in both the Benny tour and on Broadway, I have never seen her go on as Maureen. And I've heard she's really good.

Honestly, I think it's difficult for me to judge RENT objectively because of my history with and attachment to the show. That show and certain cast members (some of whom are still hanging around) were a big part of my life for several years, so it's difficult for me to judge them based solely on their performances. I have too much "prior knowledge" of them both as performers and as people to look at them with a critic's eye.

Sorry to veer off-topic again. I look forward to seeing Tamyra, but I'm waiting until Adam and Anthony are back in because I'd like to see them as well.

Plus, I'd rather see ANY recycled "Roger" than sit through the current "fresh" Roger they have there now. In all the years of seeing this show, I've never seen a more bizarre/inconsistent performance *ever*.


wait, but hasn't Tim been there for awhile? Or do you mean he was "fresh" when he started the role?

Emcee, I like how you coined The Return.

Is she the first Mimi to have short hair? I always wondered if they would ever change wardrobe/hair - sometimes I think its not necessary for every Roger to have bleached blond hair, but thats just my opinion - and not that big a deal obviously!

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Just curious...but does anyone know why Maia Nkenge Wilson would go from originating a small supporting role in a new show to this?

misschung, there have been several look/costume changes through the years in the various casts. Also, not every Roger has had bleached blonde hair. A few examples: Christian Mena, Sebastian Arcelus, Ryan Link, Joshua Kobak, Cary Shields, Constantine Maroulis, Bryce Ryness, Dan Rosenbaum, Declan Bennett. :)

"misschung, there have been several look/costume changes through the years in the various casts. Also, not every Roger has had bleached blonde hair."

thank you! That was bugging me for awhile because I havent seen the show in so long. For some reason I thought they all did have the hair. I know there has been a lot of discussion about tweaks in Mimi's Out Tonight outfits.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that Tamyra is doing such a great job.

On the subject of Maureen - I loved Tamara Podemski when I saw her. She was very subtle but still funny. I think Maureen should be almost a sympathetic character in a very small way, and she conveyed that, I thought

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Yes, she was: http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=94177

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misschung, I agree with you about Tamara's Maureen. She was excellent in the role, one of my favorites. She learned from another excellent Maureen, Jen Aubry, and, although she certainly developed her own take on the role, much of Jen's performance could be seen in Tamara's. Tamara has a very successful singing career now in Canada and is involved in film, too. She's another of the talented Canadian castmembers who have had great success since their Rent days ended, unlike a lot of others who have been in the Broadway and touring casts who have vanished once they left the show. Maggie's Maureen was similar, too, in her early days, having also learned the role from Jen, but, unfortunately, she eventually turned the character into a caricature with her craziness.