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[antiandrewx]

Posted: 8/7/07 at 1:00pm

Any lotto updates? Has it still been really crowded?

[goofy108]

Posted: 8/7/07 at 1:03pm

so, is it impossible to meet the rest of the cast?
ya know, besides the "brilliant" three.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 8/7/07 at 1:19pm

Yes, but only Nicolette comes out in the barricades. The rest of the cast filters out the other doors while all the attention is on Adam and Anthony. I've seen most of the cast leaving that way; they don't try to hide, they just realize the majority of people aren't there for them.

[matjomae]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 12:33am

Just wanted to pop in to say that I will be checking out the show at the evening performance tomorrow. Can't believe *it* is actually here. After reading through everyone else's reviews, I must admit to being slightly giddy.

I have been out of town yesterday and today for business and am returning to NYC on a flight that gets into JFK at 4. I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be on time and that I will be able to get uptown to my apt and back down to the theater as I refuse to miss this show.....#$@$ work ; )

Edited to note: why in the world does nicolette think she is popular enough to come out through the barricades..i don't get it.

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 12:33 AM

[winter_sky]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 12:43am

She is a main character in the show. Troy and Justin have both come out those doors as well.

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:13am

Edited to note: why in the world does nicolette think she is popular enough to come out through the barricades..i don't get it.

Nicolette Hart might not be very popular, but Maureen is, especially with the teenage girl set.

I haven't seen Troy or Justin exit through those doors, but Luther Creek (of all people) came out of those doors to sign autographs last night. I have to assume that was out of benevolence more than anything else.

[goofy108]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:17am

i really wanted to meet merle.

EDIT: so where are these other doors? it wouldnt be wrong to try and meet the rest of the cast, would it?
Updated On: 8/8/07 at 01:17 AM

[Violet Tree]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:27am

i really wanted to meet merle.

You should have went to Tarzan. That's where she would come out and sign. She usually doesn't come out for RENT and I don't blame her.

[goofy108]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:39am

well. i live in dallas.
so making it to tarzan just for her signature was kinda hard for me to pull off.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:50am

The doors are all on the front of the theatre. There's no back door or anything; they have to come out one of them. If you want everyone but Adam, Anthony and Tamyra, you're better off standing on the far end of the theatre, closer to Bar 41. They'll all come out the lobby doors.

[goofy108]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:56am

great thanks!
ill get adam, anthony, and tamyra thursday and ill go back another night for the others.

EDITits like im a vampire or something.)
Updated On: 8/8/07 at 01:56 AM

[MotorTink]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:57am

Went tonight - show was beyond amazing. I saw it last Tuesday and it rocked, and then tonight just was 10x better than that. They are all really coming full circle in their roles, and as a cast together!

[Chloe]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 2:02am

I was at the show tonight (Tuesday). I'm a very big fan of Adam's, so that's who I paid the most attention to, but it was a terrific performance all around.

So... once again I feel so lucky to have been at this show. Their very first appearance was one of the most exciting events I've ever attended, but I realize now that everyone was feeling their way a bit. Adam was incredible tonight, and Tamyra was much better than the first time I saw her. She really nailed Out Tonight, which led into an electrifying Another Day. I can't put my finger on what made it so good, but it just seemed to flow.

The other big standout for me was Goodbye Love. It was incredibly emotional. Some of you may remember a version from 1997 with Marcy Harriell that's been around. Well, Adam had all that emotion, except that he was in control of it. You felt at any moment he might go over the edge, but he never did. I doubt if he's ever performed the line "Mimi did look pale" better. Anthony was equally fine. The scene between them was devastating. Tamyra was very believable and effective as well.

As for the rest of the cast, I liked Troy Horne a little better this time, and Justin Johnston a little less. I agree with those who feel he needs more heart and less shtick. I didn't mind Nicolette Hart's voice last Monday, but tonight it grated on me. I don't know if that was a function of her performance or where I was sitting. Merle Dandridge was excellent, as she was before.

[RENTingFAME]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:35pm

"You should have went to Tarzan. That's where she would come out and sign. She usually doesn't come out for RENT and I don't blame her."

And when she does come out, she walks like she's on a mission.

5 days... AHHH!

[MotorTink]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 5:28pm

Anthony Rapp at Seth's Chatterbox tomorrow:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/110180.html

[Anakela]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 6:47pm

(my post has pretty much no info about the performances themselves, just about the experience of being in the audience...)


Tried the RENT lotto today, for the Wed matinee. What with it being a weekday matinee, and chunks of the city being without subway access, figured maybe I could win it. I did not.

BUT- after they pulled the lotto seats, they then sold everything that they had left over for today's matinee for $20/each to those in the lotto crowd, so while it was not front row it was at the $20 price- totally worth it.

Full house- every seat that I could see was completely full- nice to see on a Wed matinee.

There is total fangirl screaming going on at this show, don't let anyone tell you differently (ie: "it's not screaming, but it's just like really loud entrance applauding"- no, it is not), but the fangirl screams were actually completely under control, if that makes sense, in that the parts where there was screaming (ie- start of "Rent," start of "La Vie Boheme," etc.) didn't really take away from what was happening onstage- I was worried there was going to be a lot of screaming over the words being sung onstage, which there was not.

Ok- you people leaving early to get to your *spot* on the barricade at the stage door? Those of you running out during the curtain call/during the dark before the curtain call suck and are distracting (and yes I did laugh at you when you tripped and fell- maybe because that's what happens when you're running around in the DARK)...and those of you running out during the Finale suck even more...but I have no words for the people running out during "Your Eyes," to beat the people running out during the Finale who are trying to beat the people running out during the curtain call. During "Your Eyes." No. Words. That's just a level beyond rude to me; I hope you got your Playbill signed and then it fell in a puddle.

That was a serious minority of the crowd, though- the show was great, and the majority of the crowd did stick around to give a pretty deserved standing ovation.


Edited to note: why in the world does nicolette think she is popular enough to come out through the barricades..i don't get it.

Is this for real? "Yeah, how dare she come out of the stage door of the show she's in?? The nerve!" Seriously?

[MotorTink]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 6:53pm

I agree that the screaming was pretty much contained to beginning and ends of songs. Wasn't that bad.

People with abnormally high spiked hair and people who lean on the railings are the ones that suck.

[misschung]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 8:16pm

I agree about Nicolette - if you're in a show, I say you've earned your right to exit through the stage doors.

and yes I did laugh at you when you tripped and fell- maybe because that's what happens when you're running around in the DARK

This just made me laugh out loud, fyi. If you're going to leave, leave discretely. And btw, you aren't hidden from the actors on stage, believe it or not. Not that Adam, Anthony or the rest of the cast are going to remember exactly who left during "Your Eyes," but still. Be discreet

[another_reprise]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 8:48pm

Warning... Uber review, broken up by character, in case you don't want to read the whole thing...

Okay, so I saw Rent on Monday night and am just now able to collect my thoughts enough to create some semblance of an intelligible review. I actually wrote a hard core detailed review (over 3100 words) but that is more or less for me to be able to “go back and remember” years and years from now… anyways here is the cliffs notes version, PM me if you want to read the whole thing for w/e reason…

Nicolette as Maureen: I’m kind of meh about her. Her Maureen was very aggressive, loud, obnoxious and I found her quite intimidating. There was no real soft side to her character. I thought her Over the Moon was really rushed, I don’t think she paused once through the whole song. One minute she’s in Cyberland w/ the Diet Coke, the next everyone’s mooing. I swear that it was less than four minutes. She rushed in other parts too. During the eulogies, Anthony hadn’t even turned around before she was rattling off her little spiel. Her voice was definitely on the irritating side as well. It seemed kind of strained, her part in TMoLM reminded me of something between a scream and a screech. She’s actually from my home town (Rochester) and I saw her in A Chorus Line a couple years ago (she was the one who sang Dance 10 Looks 3, I can’t remember the character’s name) and I don’t remember her voice being quite that obnoxious.

Merle as Joanne: I loved her, the best Joanne out of the three I’ve seen. Her attitude matched Nicolette’s beat by beat, and I really believed that they were a couple. She was a lot more sarcastic than I’ve seen in previous Joanne’s, and I felt like it really worked for the character. We’re Okay actually seemed to have a point, and really revealed a lot about the character. You got the idea that Joanne was in love with Maureen against her better judgment, and that she knew she was putting herself in a situation that was impossible to control (which seems like the equivalent to hell for Joanne), but she couldn’t help herself.

Troy as Collins: Maybe he was just having an off night, but I was not a fan, not at all. He was utterly forgettable to me. There was absolutely none of the charisma that usually makes me fall in love with Collins. The chemistry was not there between him and Justin. They were just… together, and I felt absolutely nothing for them as a couple. I feel like Troy was going through the motions of the show, and was putting no emotion into his performance. All of his numbers were just… blah. I honestly cannot remember anything about Santa Fe. Even the I’ll Cover You reprise fell flat, I wasn’t even listening/looking at him for most of the song (more on that later).

Justin as Angel: He put on the exact same performance that I saw last summer. There was no change, no development, absolutely no character growth. He’s a good dancer, has a crazy range, but is totally safe. He found what “works” for his character, and he’s not going to change or explore any alternate possibilities. That being said, I thought his Angel was good, a little flaky, but still good.

DMonroe as Benny: Same as Justin regarding the exact same performance from over a year ago. It was still solid, but it was the same old thing. Oh well, whatever works I guess…

And now onto the good stuff…

Tamyra as Mimi: After reading all of the mixed reviews about her, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I absolutely loved her. I thought she was infinitely better than Karmine and Krystal Brown from the tour, in the role. Her voice was flawless and made the vocals look effortless. I loved the way she looked, the way she sang, the way she moved, pretty much everything about her. She did a great job in the first act portraying the feistiness of her character, but can that girl angst. Her Without You and Goodbye Love were the most emotional I’ve ever seen. You could actually feel her heart breaking. I was more caught up in her performance during the I’ll Cover You reprise than in Troy’s. I don’t think either of the Mimi’s I’ve seen ever lined up during that scene and acted as sick and weak as she did. That was one of my favorite things about her portrayal. The one thing that irked me a little bit was the first part of her verse in Another Day. She was completely zoned out, staring off into somewhere in the audience when she sang, instead of directing the lyrics at Adam. It wasn’t a big deal, she realized what she was doing before the end of the verse and fixed it. It was just something I noticed. I felt like the chemistry was definitely there between her and Adam, I don’t know if it was as strong as it should be, but I’m sure it will build as they get used to each other. Their voices blended perfectly, the harmonies in I Should Tell You were definitely the most beautiful I’ve heard. Overall, I was very impressed with Tamyra’s Mimi, and I hope she continues on Broadway after her stint in Rent.

Anthony as Mark: Absolute perfection. He was everything I’ve ever dreamed Mark should be. There is nothing to critique. He was the perfect spazz, the perfect narrator, the perfect Mark. During Goodbye Love when Roger was confronting him about detaching, you could just see the emotion building into his eyes and then exploding in the “Perhaps it’s because I’m the one of us to survive…” line. I actually got chills. I loved his performance. There were so many little things he did throughout the show that made him the best Mark I’ve ever seen.

Adam as Roger: I’ve never seen Adam live before and have heard a lot of good things, and was probably looking forward to his performance the most, and he did not let me down. Every line, every gesture revealed something about his character. The other two Roger’s I’ve seen (Declan and Tim) portrayed him as completely withdrawn when he wasn’t busy blowing up at someone, but I did not get that from Adam. There wasn’t so much anger in Adam’s Roger as there was utter desperation and fear. At the end of Out Tonight when Mimi enters the apartment, Adam gave a little smile, which quickly disappeared when he saw what he wanted. You could see how torn between giving in to Mimi, and resisting her, and it absolutely broke my heart. I loved this new “softer” Roger, I feel like Adam played him with a lot more emotional depth than either Tim or Declan, and he brought something new to the character. I’m usually terrified and intimidated by the Roger’s wild unpredictability, but Adam made me feel compassion for the character, while still maintaining that wildness. I can only hope that future actors recognize this and maybe steal a little bit of Adam’s Roger for their own.

Wow, that was a lot longer than I meant for it to be, sorry. I ended up not stage dooring, I didn’t want being crushed or bruised or kicked to tarnish my perfect memories of this show. I ended up waiting across the street and watching them come out and sign, which is kind of creepy in retrospect, but I wanted a picture or two of them, so I stuck around. Thanks to everyone patient enough to read this and for advising me on the stage door situation all last week, I really appreciate it!! ?

[hermionejuliet]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:19pm

Very nice review, and I agree with you on Anthony and Merle. Anthony is Mark in every possible way. As for Troy, generally I am in the "Marcus should be Collins camp," but I enjoyed Troy's performance alot. He is a quiet Collins, but his emotion during Without You and ICY is so sweet. I really enjoyed this take on Collins.

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 09:19 PM

[another_reprise]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:43pm

Thanks!
Hopefully Troy was just having a little bit of an off night, but I could not get into him as Collins at all... he just seemed so flat, I saw absolutely no dimension whatsoever.
I think the fact that I was totally overwhelmed by Adam's stage presence to the point where my eyes were just stuck on him whenever he was on stage, made me miss a lot of the little things Troy may have done to enhance his character, but yeah, I was just not feeling it.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 9:52pm

a_r - I wasn't too crazy about Troy when I saw it last week, however I did warm up a bit last night to him. He is not as quirky as I like in the role...very mellow and subdued, and very little chemistry with Angel, but he rocked ICY:R last night.

I, too, really didn't digest the rest of the show accordingly the first time because I was too busy watching A&A, but last night I still paid a bit more attention to Adam, I got to dive back into the story as a whole and loved it.

[another_reprise]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:01pm

I'm glad he sang the reprise well last night. As much as I try I absolutely cannot remember him from Monday... I was just completely so sucked in by Tamyra standing in front of me all sick and feeble looking that I stopped listening to the song. Troy may have sang the piece beautifully that night, but I honest to god cannot remember it for the life of me.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:03pm

and I ironically paid no attention to Tamyra during that scene, lol. Now I wish I had. Generally during that scene, I kind of blank out and just listen to the song, it is that powerful and beautiful.

[another_reprise]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:12pm

I know! the song is one of my favorites and usually moves me to tears, I was just taken so aback by Tamyra that it just made everything else irreleverent. I didn't even look twice at Adam haha. You should definately check her out during that song if you're going again, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.