I liked the original art work for 'Rent' worldwide when it first opened but i like the new London production colours etc much more. I think it could help sell it a little better than the original. Its much more sexy. This from a non Rent lover. x
A young actress with Noel coward after a dreadful opening night performance said to him 'Well, i knew my lines backwards this morning!''
Noels fast reply was ''Yes dear, and thats exactly how you said them tonight'!'
At least it looks fresh and sexy which can't be said for the stale museum piece currently playing at the Nederlander. What I don't like is that the cast lacks the multicultural aspect that the American production always tries to include. Isn't there a girl missing?
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
Yea Ray thats it, it puts a new, fresh look on the show.
A young actress with Noel coward after a dreadful opening night performance said to him 'Well, i knew my lines backwards this morning!''
Noels fast reply was ''Yes dear, and thats exactly how you said them tonight'!'
'"Contrairiwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."'
~Lewis Carroll
New and fresh doesn't equal good. Yes, they are good attributes, but that's not enough to make it work. That ad campaign may be new and fresh and bold, but that's not enough to automatically make it attractive -- or to convince people that it's good. I hope the production is those things and then some -- and that it is a success. Although I guess I'd take stylized CGI RENT-the-video-game over dizzying pink and purple pinwheels, which is also ugly and not at all representative of the show.
This production certainly appears...different. I'm not sure I care for the graphics, really. It appears to polished, like a fashion shoot or something, and I find the original designs highly preferable.
The blonde one. Maureen is the one missing. I am so excited for this! I hope they release a cast recording with all of the new orchestrations etc.
This interview gives me a little more faith in the show. I think they are really thinking about what they are changing up:
Musical Director Steve Anderson Talks to Dont Stop The Pop about (Kylie, Siobhan, Rent, Robyn...)
For the full interview please vist Dont Stop The Pop!
So how are things going with Rent the Musical?
Really well thanks, we open in October at The Duke of Yorks in London and its quite a labour of love as you might imagine but the heart of the piece is all about love so you can't help get inspired. Also its a great team with William Baker directing (who I have worked with for 10 years on Kylie), Terry Ronald (again who I have known and worked with for years and is arranging all the vocals), Ashley Wallen choreographing (another Kylie team member) and the creative team at Ambassadors who are superb, headed up by our executive producer Andrew Empson who approached us with the idea in the first place. I am actually becoming more and more in awe of Larson's writing as I go through the show, its really clever stuff and the melodies are beautiful especially once they are freed from the original rock adaptations which no-one can deny have been hugely successful thus far but that version exists if people want it , this is a new take on a classic.
A very London Rent (note the Gilbert & George references)
How much "remixing" has been done?
Firstly let me say that I have always viewed remixing as the modern day form of orchestral arranging so It varies from radical re-workings to enriched new versions, all of the rock guitar is gone and a lot of the moments when it went very 90's Bon Jovi have been removed, its a bit like a restoration using various elements from contemporary and classical worlds, its very orchestral but tough in the rhythm section. In general the structures (verse/bridge/chorus) are the same although we have edited some songs down without losing their integrity or relevance to the story line. I am particularly pleased with Without You which is purely orchestra and Take Me Or Leave Me which has undergone a dramatic twist which suits the song perfectly. What we've done with Out Tonight will shock a few but again fits with the new direction perfectly.
The Original was pretty much updated the genre of the musical itself! Does the new version go back to the rawness of the first show?
In a way yes, we hope to provide an alternative to the big west end shows with the emphasis on emotive performances set against a simple chic backdrop, the story is all in the songs so the less to distract from that the better.
So will this new version become British? A lot has changed in musicals but so have the realities that faced those citizens of New York.
There are so many lyrics quoting New York it would be impossible to change the setting, however the actors will speak and sing in natural dialect as they would if they were living there.
Musically how have you adapted the show? Its original music could be classed as "rock-opera".
William Baker refers to our version as more of a 'pop opera' which I think is better. The opera part stemming from Larson's original inspiration of La Boheme thus the rich orchestration which accompanies the songs, however as brilliantly displayed by Marius DeVries and Craig Armstrong in Moulin Rouge, when you mix this element with contemporary pop music the results can be breathtaking.
Pop Princess Siobhan Donaghy
Ok so going to the cast! Siobhan Donaghy plays Mimi a role that made Daphne Rubin-Vega a dance legend with her confluent hits I Found it and RocketMan. Siobhan has some very distinct vocals on her. I saw her live and she managed to wrench out pride, tears and joy in her performance. How will this very unique power alter Mimi?
Well you just said it all right there - Siobhan is incredible - so much passion and emotion when she sings , Without You will have the entire audience captivated as will the rest of her performance as Mimi whose character is beautifully flawed and vulnerable but relies on a defense mechanism of flirting and dancing to hide behind. The whole cast are brilliant singers, of course Luke Evans as Roger who many people will remember from "Taboo" and in the newcomers Francesca Jackson as Joanne has one of the best voices I have heard in years.
Yes, I've always felt that the power of Rent in the U.S was that it connected with its audience. I believe with the power of British singers like Siobhan and her ethereal voice, people will identify with Rent that might have given the American one a miss. This is more than simply breathing life into something isn't it?
This is not a resurrection it is a restoration - again in existing versions including the film, some of the story gets lost , clever moments which tie the piece together are swept aside so we are trying to bring out the important parts of the script. We have been very precise with our casting and every character is a natural extension of the actor playing them as we see it , (something I believe is in keeping with how Larson originally cast the show) so I think the believability will stem from that. The connection is that it a story about friendship and love which affects us all on a daily basis.
