Welcome, Anthony Rapp!- Page 72

[thespian geek]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 5:30pm

"thespiangeek, I've never heard that Rent and Hedwig fans don't like the other show. I, and a lot of my friends, have loved Rent since the OBC and also saw Hedwig many times at the Jane, as did lots of other Rentheads. So I don't think that's true. :)"

Eh, it's just something I heard from someone who helped work on the stage production of Hedwig with JCM when it was in California. Apparently JCM and Stephen Trask hate Rent and think it's crap (?! - I love word of mouth /end sarcasm).. and that a lot of hardcore Hedwig fans hate Rent, too. I dunno. I saw the movie of Hedwig and liked it, but it didn't impress me as much as Rent has. Maybe I just need to see a stage production of Hedwig.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 5:35pm

Gotta love those kinds of movies... I still stand by Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back to the Future. (Micheal J Fox's glory days!)
On another note, I actually did get my hands on a *cough* unofficial batch of clips from LSoH and I have to say it was really really good. I wish I could have seen it while it was in LA. Anyways, based on the plotline of RENT and the world's current contreversy over similar subjects, do you think the release of the movie will cause some kind of political and social whirlwind? I imagine because people are making such a huge deal right now about things like gay rights and the AIDs epidemic etc that the release of a movie based on that will really cause a stir in the public.

[stacey717]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 5:48pm

Wow...someone's been busy answering questions...*thanks*

I have a kinda quick question about one of you favorite books-- Catcher in the Rye.
I understand how everyone says it has so much truth and etcetcetc, but how do/did you trust the narrator?
(Anyone can answer or ignore the question)
This is because you really can't, as in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, it just seemed to me that all of my peers resisted remembering/realizing this fact... And I'm not saying I didn't like it or it was bad, 'cause I think it is very good and poignant but *shrug*...

Randomness, but, if you feel like it/have time... what was your filming experience in/at Princeton?


In general about David Searching, which I got my hands on several months ago-- while I found it a decent movie, there were certain aspects that got to me, though these are partially function of low budget mostly, so I understand: The variation of shots and cuts in the film and varying film quailty/exposure at times. IMO, there were several instances of a shot being used a little too long; one angle is used for an entire scene, or almost. Not even mise-en-scene with some interesting movement, there were some stationary shots that I just wish were maybe split up a bit more.
I do understand that the lack of time/money/etc is one cause for the lesser variation of shots though, and as a first film it really was decent.

And also imo editing must be clean and precise for films, just part of the medium... this of course, with a difference between clean/clear/continuous (no continuity booboos as in if you watch the someone you're not supposed to be watching in an OTS) and the clear film quality that's then fixed up as in most hollywood films... I can't remember the specs of DS's editing...(DS was grainy-ish, but that was because of what it was shot on, etc, not the editing, if I'm not mistaken...)



ETA: Go Bill+Ted!
(The movie did handle the problems of time travel well...) Updated On: 1/18/05 at 05:48 PM

[Broadway Style]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 6:12pm

"and then we got to NYC and Ben Brantley in the Times hated us (but loved Kristin Chenoweth, thereby launching her career)"
Hmm I never realized that was the launching of her career. I love Chenoweth but did that cause any difficulty?

Oh, I have another question. We now know you see a lot of movies :) but do you make time to see a lot of theater as well? Also, do you find that being a professional actor makes you look at either movies or the theater in a different way?

[pointpark kyle]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 6:12pm

OMG!!! I remember first seeing Star Wars in 5th grade, what a life-changing experience!!!

Anyway... Anthony - just wondering - how was the "Mister" experience for you? I had spoken to Mr. Vallella (I think I spelled that right) when you were still in rehearsals and kinda got some of the inside scoop!

Another random question... Who is your favorite superhero/superheroine?

Last random question of the day (from me at least! LOL)... Did you have any pets growing up?

As always, I sincerely appreciate your being such a great person for us all to look up to. People like you are so rare these days and don't get enough credit for their humanity. I don't know you on a personal level, but your respect for humanity has been so evident in your writings. I see that being reflected in my own life and thank you wholeheartedly for your inspiration. Well, I'm off to eat! WOO-HOO!

[bwayfan3]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 8:15pm

So...I have just spent the last hour (when of course I was supposed to be catching up on a lot of take-home projects from work) reading this entire thread.
Anthony, I know you don't seem to think it's special that you're doing this so frequently but it's pretty amazing. I'm a bit of a backstage, behind the scenes junkie and this is probably the most comprehensive look one can get at this process. Thank you for that opportunity.
Reading this thread has also made me very excited for the movie. I personally think the decision to cast most of the OBC was brilliant. It seems that you are all so attuned to the vision Jonathan had and will continue to help it become a reality in this version. Congratulations.

I don't really have a specific question, but I love to read your updates. So thanks again. I hope you are enjoying yourself.

[Staci1818]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 8:17pm

Since I can't think of anything better to ask, I'll talk about A Series of Unfortunate Events, which has been a favorite of mine for 4 years

**Contains Spoliers for books 1-10, but not the most recent, just in case:**
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What would you say your favorite aspect of the series is? Did you like the tone of books 1-4 better (Before the Quagmires), 5-7 (still under Mr. Poe's "guardianship") or 8-11, where you never really know where they will be next? What did you think of the newest book? Finally, for fun, what do you think VFD stands for?
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**End Spoilers*

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 8:34pm

"I'm a pescetarian, the official term for someone who eats fish but not other animal products, so a typical meal for me is something like seared tuna with a side of vegetables, or a vegetarian chili, something like that."


I've been reading your responses since the beginning, but this was the first thing that made me want to jump into the madness.

THANK YOU! I've been trying to explain to people since I was 12 years old that I'm "kind of a vegetarian, but I eat fish", but never knew there was an official term for it. Or that anyone else was like this as well. Yay, now I don't feel like such a loser!


Now for an actual question. How do you feel about movies that have been edited for content when shown on TV? A few months ago, I was watching Adventures in Babysitting on the Disney Channel and they had edited it to a shadow of its former self. Like "Don't fool with the Lords of Heck", and taking out most references to and all shots of the Playboy. It was atrocious.

Does this ever bother you, or do you like that movies with more controversial content can now have a wider audience? Does it bother you more when its a movie you've worked on? And do you get residuals, because Disney seems to show that movie every month. :)

[LariTheLoud]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 9:38pm

"I have a kinda quick question about one of you favorite books-- Catcher in the Rye.
I understand how everyone says it has so much truth and etcetcetc, but how do/did you trust the narrator?
(Anyone can answer or ignore the question)"

Because Catcher in the Rye is one of my *ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOKS*, I'm answering this. Haha.

What I love about Catcher in the Rye is the truth in its mistruths. Do you know what I mean? The story is told from the perspective of a teenager who had a mental breakdown. He's hanging around California telling the story to a mystery person--a therapist, the reader, whatever. All we have is Holden's word to go by.

And yes, we lose a sense of *COMPLETE* trust because it is written in first person. That's the drawback; no one can ever be completely sure that the narrator (in this case, Holden) is telling the truth. But he gives such a gritty, "honest" account of his... two? three days? It's been a couple years since I read this... that we, the readers, are inclined to believe his word. Holden does not pretend to be something he's not; he tells it how he believes he saw it. Everything seems 'phony' to Holden, and generally, it's easy to agree with him until we realize that, by the end, he was really quite sick. It's an honest story about good ol' teen angst and loss of innocence in this way--everyone can *RELATE* to this story in one way or another.

So I guess the trust comes down to the relativity factor. ... I think that's what I was trying to get at. Haha. I lost myself in my literary-dork babble.

I'm interested to see if Anthony agrees. Awesome taste in literature, Anthony. :)

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 11:13pm

Going back to the censorship comment, is RENT going to be at all censored or toned down? I guess alot of it depends on whether this is a movie where the goal is to win lots of awards and positive raves or if it is intended to be made true to the storyline and let whatever reactions people have come. I really do hope its the latter because it really bugs me when producers tweak a great storyline and tone it down to a point where it isnt taking any risks. Personally I think it takes away from the film and story. In all honesty its not like we all havent heard **** or **** in our lives so why they take a good movie and dub over those words with really cheaply done bleeps or "Darn" instead of Damn in a voice that is completely unlike the actor's completely ruins the movie. They recently aired Back to the Future and when he called Biff a "son of a bitch" it was dubbed with this much higher voice saying "jerk." Lame beyond all reason.

[iheartmark]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 11:20pm

Anthony- thanks so much for the info! I was so excited to read that you like the Series of Unfortunate Events books- they're some of my favorites! Great taste, haha. Out of curiosity- have you read Fruits Basket or Imadoki? They are great, maybe you would like them! :)
"D'oh!
It's been a few years...
:::::::::sheepishly hides from the others::::::::::::"
Haha That's okay we still love you! Some of us (well, me, at least) have bought the script and memorized it so don't worry lol. I have some questions about Hedwig, I'll PM them to you, if you get a chance to answer them thanks!

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 11:24pm

Anthony, my admiration for you grows by the day. Now on top of everything else, you're a Python fan!
Which one of the four movies is your favourite? Mine is Holy Grail but I LOVE the dead parrot/lumberjack scene in And Now For Something Completely Different.
Also, what do you think of Spamalot coming to Broadway?
As always, thanx plenty

[Chloe]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 11:37pm

Dream, when a film is aired on network or basic cable, it will be these cleaned-up versions that you'll see. These stations won't show *any* film unless the language has been changed and even some shots changed or removed sometimes. If you want to see a movie the way it was in theaters, get the video or DVD, or see it on premium cable.

[Racetrack]

Posted: 1/18/05 at 11:55pm

I can see why they would change stuff like language, scenes, etc. to air the movie on Disney or something, while some of us might not like it we just kind of have to deal I guess. I do agree Dream that we have heard those words before "and will a million times more and used it ourself along with some that are worse..." Sorry had to quote The Fix right then. I just remember watching stuff like Adventures in Babysitting and Goonies, etc when I was a little kid so I never had a problem with the language or anything(not that I actually knew what half of them meant then).

Anyways I love A Series of Unfortunate Events. They're cute and fun.

As to whoever said Nick Hornby About a Boy was really good too.

[LaeloftheLakes]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 12:07am

Also, the censored version of "School Ties" was really funny. They would take out Jewish slurs and replace them with the word "Jew," and you couldn't really tell what Brendan Fraser was always so mad about. Also, I think at one time he was called a "Sweeny Jew!" When of course they really said...something I will never repeat, obviously.

Just...funny.

[chaos_dragon]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 11:49am

ha, i know this is kinda random, but for some reason i was watchin clips of the Macy's Day Parade online. Anyways, do actors actually sing when they do things like that (parades, or things like The Today Show?). the particular one i was watchin was of Brooklyn, and the song sounded the same as it did on the CD...just curious i suppose

[zippyjen]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 2:03pm

Racetrack I wrote about Nick Hornby who i adore! I still have not read about a boy do to a busy scheduale but i think i have read all of his other books. That man is a genius! Well maybe not but he is my favorite author! Anthony, you need to read his stuff!

[Racetrack]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 6:40pm

Cool zippy. I couldn't remember that it was you who wrote about Nick Hornby. I agree I love his writing style.

[BEKA531]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 7:12pm

UGH. catcher in the rye. don't remind me. that project is due TOMORROW. someone kick me off BWW!

[Racetrack]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 7:18pm

Okay Beka go do your project! Speaking of homework I should go do my Spanish and study for biology test tomorrow. At least I don't have to do my 10 Year Plan anymore for American Government(done and turned in :))

Anyway enough threadjacking here. I'm off talk to you gang later.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 7:54pm

YOu can't always trust the narrator. Catcher in the Rye, is written in a way that shows Holden's negative attributes.

Hopefully you've read the book enough to know what I mean - it has been a while...

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 8:41pm

Well I can see why they would censor movies for the Disney Channel (Don't want to corrupt the next generation of youth any more then we already have) but I still don't see why they do it for more adult stations like TNT etc. Like whenever I see CSI on CBS they are calling people bastards etc but they censor out damn in movies on the TBS. Or maybe I'm just used to it because I go to an artsy public school, who knows. :-P I admit I have a "trucker" mouth.

Since we are all talking about books has anyone read Lord of the Flies and if so, what did you guys think? I just read it and my class spent about 2 months discussing its metaphors. At first I wasn't a huge fan but after a while it kind of grew on me plus its interesting to think about all the differnet possibilities and hidden meanings.

[Bwaybaby109]

Posted: 1/19/05 at 9:18pm

Wow it's been forever since I've been on BWW, and I'm glad you are on it too Anthony! I just love listening to you ever since when YAGMCB came out. You have such a beautiful voice! God gave you quite an instrument. I actually started to listen to Rent because I heard you were in it and I was a bit testy to listen to it, and now that I have (and over a 100 times) I just love the music and I can't wait for the film! I'm actually coming up to NYC on Sunday to audition for the role Tracy in Hairspray ::::crosses fingers:::: I can't wait tho, it'll be fun whether I get a callback or not. But I'll stop rambling, I wish I had a question but everyone seems to have asked ya everything I've been wondering. I hope you have a great day Anthony and to everyone else!

[CAtheatrelove]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 1:27am

hey I was just wondering if you stayed close with any of the original cast after performing in RENT, or who you kept in contact with the most? You guys are all awesome and I can't wait for the movie!

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 5:15am

Well, backing this up a few posts-
I dont think John dislikes RENT- i dont know what stephen thinks, but John was actually a friend of Johnathan Larson's and was offered to play Angel in Rent in the Workshop, but turned it down. He couldnt do it, because he was working on getting hedwig together. Atleast thats what he told me.