What's with Everyone Thinking Rent's Closing? — Page 2

I don't know if Maureen is just an insanely hard role to play, but I don't think too many women have done good jobs at her at all. Take Me or Leave Me is always great, but otherwise.. not especially.

IAMmyownMUSICAL-I adore your signature!

Maybe this new cast will bring RENT back up. *crosses fingers*

But with Anthony and Adam, things are sure to perk up, not including the awesome cast that comes after. God, it better not close. It's one of those shows that just wouldn't work for a revival. It needs to keep on.

"I don't know if Maureen is just an insanely hard role to play, but I don't think too many women have done good jobs at her at all. Take Me or Leave Me is always great, but otherwise.. not especially."

I think she's really difficult; her purpose in the story (besides merely being someone weighing on Mark's mind) isn't very easy to find, nor is an arch for the character. Put that together with the idea that she's pretty much an over-the-top character that can't come across as affected or self-aware of her own egocentrism, and she's very difficult to pull off.

Oh, okay, thanks. I'm still bummed I never got to see Christopher J. Hanke in the role. I heard he was really good.

Jeez, Grease in previews, Little Mermaid in previews, and the new RENT cast starting, looks like Hairspray mania is over!

can I just say that they might as well have destroyed the nederlander? no one wants theater because the changed basically EVERYTHING about the theater. I have a friend who works for the nederlander organization, and he said it took so long to put in all those details and broken mugs in the walls and he said it'll take even longer to clean up.

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I don't know if the role of Maureen is that comparatively difficult, but it can be highly subjective. I think different interpretations of the character are sort of built in to her material. But the idea of Maureen as someone who takes herself seriously, even when being absurd, does usually get lost. Sad to say, I don't think Tracey McDowell is much of a departure from that.

he said it took so long to put in all those details and broken mugs in the walls

Aww. The Mosaic of Domestic Violence, I love it.

As I've stated before, Harley can barley sing the part of Mark which isn't a difficult part to sing at all.

As I've stated before?


Not the same thing as barely. (Barley Jay, lol.) Harley was great the night I saw him, so I think his issue must be inconsistency, not inability. Which is also unfortunate, but contains some hope.

And Declan needs to find another emotion as Roger. First, his British accent slips all the time, and he is just constantly "angry" for no reason. And his voice isn't much to be happy about either.

I have to disagree with you Rentboy re: Declan. I felt his characterization of "Roger" was spot on - and he was one of the people that really stood out for me. I thought he struck a perfect balance between agst, intensity, anger, sensitivity, etc. I found myself watching him when he wasn't the focus - he was constantly reacting to everything and was *always* in character. I didn't feel he was "angry for no reason". Roger is angry, and Declan played him consistently - but reacted appropriately in situations (like letting his guard down in "La Vie Boheme" and really enjoying himself, or in moments with Mimi, etc.) When he showed anger and intensity - I thought it called for it. He seemed to really *get* the character.

I've probably heard his accent slip on a word here or there, but honestly? It's never been anything that I thought was distracting or important enough to note. (When I spoke to him I could barely understand him for the thick accent - so it's amazing to me that he covers it to the point that my cousin didn't realize he wasn't American.) Not to mention I love his voice. Love it.

Guess we disagree on that one

For me, Declan's Roger was withdrawn to a completely unreachable extent. Like he wasn't present. I don't think it was laziness, I think it was deliberate and I respect that, but I think the introverted angry moodiness was maddening overkill. He had zero chemistry with Jen Talton.

I didn't have a big problem with the singing, I enjoy his tone. His enunciation is absolutely awful, but the trade off on that is some pleasantly unique phrasing. He couldn't sing the higher parts in a supported voice, though. He went into a sort of half-assed falsetto when he should have essentially been belting.

I found Jen Talton decent, but unremarkable. I thought Harley Jay was solid and engaging, no vocal problems the night I saw him. I notably enjoyed Declan in his scenes with Harley about twice as much.

Tracey McDowell is good, but...potentially obnoxious. She reminded me of Maggie Benjamin, but I liked Tracey a hair better.

I guess I saw an opposites day performance, though. The general consensus around here seems to be that Declan is amazing and Harley is awful.

I just had to jump in and say that im going to take a wild guess that the people who are calling Rent dated are kids.

Rents message is just as relevant today as it was 11 years ago. we are loosing the battle against HIV and homelessness is still rife.Rent also has a message of hope and unity and if you have been looking at ANYTHING which has been going on since sept 11th that message still needs to be heard.

Rent will always be relevant whilst the issues it challenges continue to exist.

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craww, nothing wrong with differences in opinion. I saw Harley a few times early in the run and then a few times late. His portrayal hadn't changed. There was entirely too much smiling, too much bobbing and weaving, too much of the supposedly funny punching Declan's arm, etc. That is not how Mark should be played, and I've never seen another actor do it. I did not enjoy his Mark, at all. Part of this may, however, be a result of how much I enjoyed Jed Resnick's Mark. His, in my opinion, was better in every possible way to Harley's.

I didn't have a problem with Declan's enunciation and none of my friends who were not as familiar with the show as I am seemed to have difficulty with it either. I think perhaps the reason I enjoyed Declan so much in the role is that he succeeds where I believe Tim Howar fails in playing the role as a very distant Roger, withdrawn, with underlying anger ready at any moment to bubble to the surface. Jeremy Kushnier was also good at this, but in a different way than Declan, in that he was much more obvious. I've probably seen close to 20 different Rogers and I'd have to say that Declan's performances are some of my favorites.

Part of the reason that I love Tracy's Maureen is because it reminds me a lot of the beauty of Cristina Fadale's early runs in the role. That sense of strength accompanied with vulnerability is of such importance to me in making the role believable. The only actor I've seen be able to successfully, and believably, play a ditzy Maureen is Jen Aubry. Maggie learned Maureen from Jen but she never quite 'got' it, in the same way. Early on, when she was Mark's mom and covered the role for Jen, she was better than later when she just let the ditzy factor overwhelm anything and everything else in her performance of the character.

One actor we haven't discussed who I would love to see join the Broadway cast is Warren. I enjoyed his Collins tremendously. What did you think of him? It would be nice to see him paired with an Angel who I liked as much. :)

s&dman, I agree with you totally about the relevance of the issues in Rent. Anyone who thinks that it is 'dated' in that regard is simply uninformed.

Updated On: 7/26/07 at 12:42 PM

he succeeds where I believe Tim Howar fails in playing the role as a very distant Roger, withdrawn, with underlying anger ready at any moment to bubble to the surface

I couldn't have said that better myself. I'm with you erinrebecca - he's at the top of my list as well. His characterization seems more layered than others I've seen, and that's an interesting comparison you made re: Jeremy. I never thought about that, but you're right.....

And Craww: He had zero chemistry with Jen Talton

Jen was wonderful vocally, but I didn't feel her acting was as solid. I felt Declan was acting the show on a whole different level than Jen. I also agree with erinrebecca on some of her opinions of Harley's acting. I *really* hope he tones down the silliness a bit (like the ridiculous laugh at the end of "Tango" for instance) - because I did think there were some things he did very well and I think he has the potential to become a pretty good Mark.

I just had to jump in and say that im going to take a wild guess that the people who are calling Rent dated are kids.

The majority of the people that I've seen refer to Rent as dated are the people that first saw Rent 9 or 10 years ago and have lived through the gentrification of Giuliani's New York to witness how the lifestyle portrayed in Rent has all but disappeared and with medical advances, AIDS is no longer the immediate death sentence it once was.



AIDS and HIV may not be the same battle, but cancer is becoming more and more threatening--a disease that puts its victims in a similar position of having to live with their death looming over their heads and a dissonance with the very cells that make up their body.

At the risk of being accused of attack, I'd like to point out that the difference between AIDS and cancer is that AIDS is contracted by young people. Cancer, while it can occur in young people is usually found in middle-aged to elderly age groups. There's a huge difference between a 50-year-old facing death and a 19-year-old, which is the entire tragedy of AIDS in the first place. Cancer has been around for all time and picking off members of the population at random, but it hardly compares to AIDS popping up out of nowhere in the 1980s and wiping out an entire younger generation.

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Updated On: 7/26/07 at 07:27 PM