Posted: 10/2/05 at 5:00am
Who do you prefer Daphne Rubin-Vega or Rosario Dawson singing the songs from RENT?
Posted: 10/2/05 at 5:04am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 8:36am
I'd much rather Karmine be in this movie, or even Krystal.
Posted: 10/2/05 at 9:46am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:00am
Karmine Alers would have been perfect. She completely wowed me in the role.
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:10am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:12am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:29am
Updated On: 10/2/05 at 10:29 AM
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:33am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:39am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:39am

Yes, Simone did Rent.
She was Daphne's understudy for a short while on Broadway before becoming the original Mimi in the First National Tour (Angel Company) that started out on Boston before moving on to St Paul, Chicago and Detroit for long stops.
That company opened on 12/6/96 and Simone left on 4/29/98 in Detroit to work with her band Liquid Soul. The Angel Tour closed down permanently in San Francisco on 9/5/99.
Simone vocally was a powerhouse as Mimi, but seeing it was a different story all together.
You can't really tell it so much from the picture I added, but Simone was very fit. She was sculpted and muscular in a lot of ways and I just didn't buy the "sickly" aspect of Mimi which is rather important for Mimi to be believable for me.
It didn't help that the original Angel tour Roger was Sean Keller who wasn't a big guy at all and it just always seemed like Mimi was going to beat the hell out of Roger if he didn't go out with her that night. Keller didn't last long because he was terrible vocally (they had to change the harmony in Rent so that Mark (Luther Creek) sang the high riffs because Keller couldn't do it) and they brought in Manley Pope who at least looked a bit more "manly" (pun fully intended) next to Simone.
(The truly scary thing is all of that is from memory.
)
Updated On: 10/2/05 at 10:39 AM
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:45am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:46am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:49am
She is the full time Maureen now, but apparently is still an emergency Mimi understudy.
Just a head's up for all of the Karmine fans. Her last performance as the full time Mimi is 10/16. She is staying with the company as a swing, but you might want to go see her final performance.
Updated On: 10/2/05 at 10:49 AM
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:51am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:53am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 10:59am
Her bar work in Out Tonight was second to none. One of the times I saw her she jumped from the 2nd stair down to the floor in Out Tonight. She had no fear at all up there.
I also saw her go on as Joanne here in LA which was odd, but that's an even bigger threadjack.
Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:01am
If I had my pick I'd have to vote for Maya Days. She was AWESOME as Mimi. And I feel like her voice has gotten a lot stronger since Rent (after her reflux surgery) and I would love to hear her tackle that music again. Plus, her dancing in Out Tonight was the best!
Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:05am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:25am
But I'll take Simone over them both.
Updated On: 10/2/05 at 11:25 AM
Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:27am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:33am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 11:35am
Posted: 10/2/05 at 12:18pm
I've heard several different Mimis though, my favorite one of all is Marcy Harriell.
Posted: 10/2/05 at 12:25pm
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