Cast:Anthony Rapp (Mark), Adam Pascal (Roger), Gwen Stewart (Seasons of Love Soloist & others), Justin Johnston (Angel Schunard), Nicolette Hart (Maureen Johnson), Lexi Lawson (Mimi Marquez)
For the rest of this wonderful cast, see the official Rent The Broadway Tour website.
As almost all fans of Rent know that Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal (the original Mark & Roger) are still touring with the show along with original cast member Gwen Stewart and a bunch of other amazing performers. I'm sure it's needless to say that I still love the show. I wouldn't have seen it so many times if I didn't love it. I'll simply comment on the things that were different this time around, since everyone knows I love Rent and would recommend it to anyone and everyone (as long as you're not too prejudiced) - especially when it has three of the original cast members touring with the show.
I still need to look up who Lisa is... as many of you may know, they had always intended to change the names of those attending the life support meeting based on friends/family members of those in the show who had been lost to AIDS. The way I've heard it reported, due to Jonathan's death the show got pretty much frozen where it was and no one ever wanted to change the names of those attending life support with Angel, Collins, & Mark. As of the time I went back to see Rent on Broadway with Anthony & Adam (August & September of 2007), they had changed the last name (originally Sue) to Lisa. I figure she has to be someone pretty important, or they wouldn't have made the change that late in the run of the show. They are still using Lisa on the tour.
The sound was the best I've heard in Rent since Adam and Anthony returned to the show. When I saw it on Broadway the mics kept going out and the same was true (even more) at the Pantages last year. This year they managed to get it right in the most unlikely of places (there are often sound problems with other shows at the Orange County Performing Arts Center). It was great to hear this cast with the sound well done for a change. :-)
The current cast is really amazing - they're basically the same cast I saw earlier this year in the tour, which explains why they all work so wel together. If you haven't seen Rent yet, see it before Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal leave the cast - they're amazing and so is the rest of the cast!
Grade: A+
Labels: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Best Musical, Broadway, comedy, drama, musical, theatre, tour
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Josh Groban (Anatoly Sergievsky), Adam Pascal (Frederick Trumper), Idina Menzel (Florence Vassy), Kerry Ellis (Svetlana Sergievsky)
For complete info, see IMDb's Chess in Concert page.
As a huge fan of the musical Chess (and a firm believer that the potential in the show has never been realized in a full production), I was really excited about the new concert version. Sir Tim Rice was involved in this production and said he wanted it to be the definitive version.
This version of Chess has gotten some very harsh reviews and I definitely see many of their points. The graphics in the show are pathetic, there's a huge flaw in the only real set piece, and cheerleaders for merchandise? Ridiculous! However, I think they did a very good job for the most part. I knew they would change a lot of the lyrics and many other aspects of Chess. Most of the horrible reviews seemed to want everything exactly as it was in the original concept album. Not only is that unrealistic, but there are some changes that really improved on that concept album.
Some of the lines being changed from one character to another really helped the show. Clearly, a lot of the changes in the lyrics were not for the better. However, a lot of the changes in the show were for the better - even some of those made to the lyrics. Some of them make a little bit more sense now. I'm so glad they finally had Svetlana sing Someone Else's Story (my best friend and I always thought it would make more sense for Svetlana than Florence). Enjoy the latest version of this great show. It's difficult to hear new lyrics to songs we know so well, but I think they did a very good job with this one. If you like the musical Chess, give this version a chance.
The only problem I had with the cast of this show is that they chose three people with musical theatre backgrounds (Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, & Kerry Ellis) and one who's a singer and has never acted (Josh Groban) as the main four characters. The rest of the cast also seemed to have acting experience. I think with some acting lessons Josh Groban could have done a good job with the acting needed for Chess. However, since he didn't seem to have the time for lessons and hasn't really acted in the past, Groban ended up looking like he didn't belong in a musical theatre cast. If you can get past his lack of acting skills, the cast is wonderful and the story of Chess is better than ever.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2009, Adam Pascal, chess, concert, dancing, drama, Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, Kerry Ellis, musical, romance, sports, theatre, Tim Rice, TV
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:00 PM show | 4 screams
Cast: Anthony Rapp (Mark), Adam Pascal (Roger), Gwen Stewart (Seasons of Love Soloist & others), Justin Johnston (Angel Schunard), Nicolette Hart (Maureen Johnson), Lexi Lawson (Mimi Marquez)
For the rest of this wonderful cast, see the official Rent The Broadway Tour website.
As almost all fans of Rent know that Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal (the original Mark & Roger) are currently touring with the show along with original cast member Gwen Stewart and a bunch of other amazing performers. I'm sure it's needless to say (when I saw Rent for the 13th & 14th times this weekend) that I loved the show. I'll simply comment on the things that were different this time around, since everyone knows I love Rent and would recommend it to anyone and everyone - especially when it has three of the original cast members touring with the show.
I still need to look up who Lisa is... as many of you may know, they had always intended to change the names of those attending the life support meeting based on friends/family members of those in the show who had been lost to AIDS. The way I've heard it reported, due to Jonathan's death the show got pretty much frozen where it was and no one ever wanted to change the names of those attending life support with Angel, Collins, & Mark. As of the time I went back to see Rent on Broadway with Anthony & Adam (August & September of 2007), they had changed the last name (originally Sue) to Lisa. I figure she has to be someone pretty important, or they wouldn't have made the change that late in the run of the show. They are still using Lisa on the tour.
The only change they made that I did not like was making parts of the funeral scene like a Greek chorus (where everyone says certain portions). Since this is a funeral and clearly each person came up to talk about their own thoughts and share their memories of Angel, the rest of the cast saying exactly the same thing while the person in question (Mimi, Mark, then Maureen - the three M's, never really noticed that before...) is talking about their own memories. I would give that scene (only because of this change) a C.
The sound board was a mess the last two times I saw Rent on Broadway. In August, I was surprised to see Anthony Rapp have to start "La Vie Boheme" twice (once on time and once rushing things in late, since his mic hadn't been on). This time around, the sound was amazingly well done. They didn't seem to miss any major queues, which is really amazing for songs like "Christmas Bells," which also had a lot of problems the last couple times I saw it on Broadway. In fact, Sunday afternoon Anthony Rapp's mic went out at a horrible time (after Benny tells the pastor he'll pay, everything Mark said was a bit garbled - he then had to go on to do the end of his Buzzline broadcast and sing "What You Own" with Adam Pascal - no time between scenes for them to fix the mic) and they ran a hand held mic out to him very quickly so only a couple of his lines were a little garbled, and "What You Own" sounded perfect (as did most of his sign off to Alexis on Buzzline). Anthony had to deal with holding a mic throughout the one song, but clearly he knows how to hold a mic and this wasn't a problem. When Anthony went off stage, they replaced his regular mic, but I was impressed with how quickly they fixed the problem so everyone there could fully enjoy the show without interruption.
The current cast is really amazing and this weekend's shows were probably the best I've seen due to a combination of the cast and the fact that all the sound issues were gone. I think a few people in the cast were a bit better the last time I saw the show on Broadway, but the overall effect was much better on tour in spite of the Greek chorus aspects of the funeral and the fact that for some reason they kept the house lights on FULL force until Mark said "Smile." in the beginning. This was really annoying for those of us in the rear of the orchestra, since there were very bright lights above us. Personally, my eyes took a while to adjust once the lights went off, since I'd been focusing on stage with the lights above me initially. If you haven't seen Rent yet, see it before Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal leave the cast - they're amazing and so is the rest of the cast!
Grade: A+
**Note: This review encompasses the 1:00 p.m. show on 3/8/09 & the 8:00 p.m. show on 3/7/09
Labels: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Best Musical, drama, musical, Rent, theatre, tour
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Adam Pascal (Roger Davis), Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen), Tamyra Gray (Mimi Marquez), and the rest of the cery talented cast
For info, see the official Rent site.
Everyone who knows me knows I love Rent. I even planned an entire trip just to see Rent with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal last month. I had seen them in the roles they originated in the movie (which I own, clearly) many times, but I'd never seen them live. I'm still kicking myself for allowing the fact that I had just moved to San Diego keep me from seeing the Original Broadway Cast of Rent. When they extended their run to include my originally planned trip, clearly I bought a ticket to see them in it again!
I'm so glad that Adam and Anthony decided to go back to their roles of Roger & Mark at the same time. They extended their run through October 7th, so if you still haven't seen them in Rent get tickets now! It's even been at TKTS, which is shocking to me, but clearly this is a slow time for Broadway with kids just getting back to school, etc.
The reception for Adam and Anthony (on stage and at the stage door) was not nearly what it was last month, so I'm really glad I planned that trip to experience the rock concert atmosphere at a Broadway musical. I doubt I will ever seen an audience so excited to see a musical in my life.
Clearly, it was amazing to see Anthony Rapp as Mark and Adam Pascal as Roger again. Tamyra Gray was amazing as Mimi. Definitely the best Mimi I've seen out of the 12 times I've seen Rent. I was a bit bummed that she didn't have long hair, since I love that part of Out Tonight, but it was worth it to hear her singing Mimi's songs.
I was surprised how much the cast had changed in just one month. The Benny I saw this time around (Rodney Hicks) was better than D'Monroe was on Broadway. Not sure why he changed his performance so much from how he did on the tour, but Rodney Hicks was definitely an improvement. Tonya Dixon isn't as good as Merle Dandridge, who was probably my favorite Joanne Jefferson to date. Everyone else was about the same as the last cast in performance levels.
I also noticed that they added Lisa (subtracting Sue) from the Life Support meeting. I wonder who Lisa is... I'm guessing she's someone who recently died of AIDS and I'm sorry to hear that. Initially, they say that Jonathan Larson had planned that the names of the Life Support meeting attendees would change with each cast and they'd be friends of the cast who had died of AIDS. When he died just before the opening of Rent Off-Broadway, I think that froze the show in many ways and no one wanted to touch it. I can understand that and I find it interesting that they did allow another name to break in to the meeting.
If you have a chance to get to see Rent on Broadway before Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal leave, do it! I'd still love to see the entire movie cast do the Broadway show, but I'm guessing that will never happen. At least I got to see Adam and Anthony. It's a moment I will cherish forever!
It's been over 11 years and Rent still rocks! I definitely recommend seeing it on Broadway if you haven't yet. The theatre was renovated specifically for the show, so it's definitely part of the experience. I was surprised to see that after 11 years some people still left the show, since they were offended by the content. It really makes me sad that there are still people who are that closed minded in today's day and age, but at least they wasted quite a bit of money, which is nice to know.
Unfortunately, they were still having problems with the microphones. I really think they need a new sound design guy. This should NOT be happening on a Broadway show - especially one that won the Tony award for Best Musical (even if it was 11 years ago). They were cutting out from time to time in the first act, so it sometimes seemed like someone had missed a line, but if you were watching them you could tell that they were on cue, but the mic just wasn't on (or wasn't working). Disappointing, but NOTHING could ruin the experience of getting to see Adam and Anthony in Rent. It was sad to be watching Anthony singing something then checking his mic to make sure it was plugged in properly, since no one got to hear the "I think we've met" or whatever else was being sung at the time... Very sad.
Grade: A+++
Labels: 2007, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Best Musical, Broadway, dancing, drama, musical, original
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Adam Pascal (Roger Davis), Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen), Tamyra Gray (Mimi Marquez), and the rest of the cery talented cast
For info, see the official Rent site.
Everyone who knows me knows I love Rent. Nothing new there. This time, I planned an entire trip just to see Rent with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. I had seen them in the roles they originated in the movie (which I own, clearly) many times, but I'd never seen them live. I'm still kicking myself for allowing the fact that I had just moved to San Diego keep me from seeing the Original Broadway Cast of Rent.
I'm so glad that Adam and Anthony decided to go back to their roles of Roger & Mark at the same time. Of course, it was only for 6 weeks and ending right before I planned to get to the city, so I had to plan a weekend trip to go see Rent with them. As much as I love my friends on the east coast, they all know that Rent was the important thing to me this weekend!
When Adam walked on stage, it was like a rock concert crowd. There is always applause for whoever is playing Roger, but this was wild. Anthony got the same reception when he came on stage. I've never heard anything like this in a Broadway theatre before, and I doubt I ever will again. It was just a wonderfully electric crowd. :) I'd guess that almost everyone in the crowd had seen Rent a few times (like me). I'm sure there were some there (like my friend Kenny) who were fortunate enough to see this cast in their first production of Rent, How lucky they are!
Clearly, it was amazing to see Anthony Rapp as Mark and Adam Pascal as Roger. It was really a dream come true for me. I didn't know much about the rest of the cast, though I'd seen a couple of them before. I don't watch American Idol, so I hadn't seen Tamyra Gray before. She was amazing as Mimi. Definitely the best Mimi I've seen out of the 11 times I've seen Rent. I was a bit bummed that she didn't have long hair, since I love that part of Out Tonight, but it was worth it to hear her singing Mimi's songs.
James and I both believe they've added some background choreography, since the last time either of us has seen Rent and we really enjoyed that. It added a bit, but wasn't too distracting.
I also noticed that they added Lisa (subtracting Sue) from the Life Support meeting. I wonder who Lisa is... I'm guessing she's someone who recently died of AIDS and I'm sorry to hear that. Initially, they say that Jonathan Larson had planned that the names of the Life Support meeting attendees would change with each cast and they'd be friends of the cast who had died of AIDS. When he died just before the opening of Rent Off-Broadway, I think that froze the show in many ways and no one wanted to touch it. I can understand that and I find it interesting that they did allow another name to break in to the meeting.
If you have a chance to get to see Rent on Broadway before Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal leave, do it! Of course, getting tickets will be difficult. It's great to see Rent selling at about 100% again! If I could have gotten tickets to see Rent the night that I saw the matinee, I would have gone back that night in a heartbeat. In fact, I look back and wonder what I was thinking buying tickets for just ONE performance out of the three I could see in the two days I was in New York for this trip. Oh well, live and learn... I'd love to see the entire movie cast do the Broadway show, but I'm guessing that will never happen. At least I got to see Adam and Anthony. It's a moment I will cherish forever!
The only down side was that they were having some real problems with the microphones. They were cutting out from time to time in the first act, so it sometimes seemed like someone had missed a line, but if you were watching them you could tell that they were on cue, but the mic just wasn't on (or wasn't working). Disappointing, but NOTHING could ruin the experience of getting to see Adam and Anthony in Rent.
Grade: A+++
Labels: 2007, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Best Musical, Broadway, dancing, drama, musical, Rent
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen), Adam Pascal (Roger Davis), Rosario Dawson (Mimi Marquez), almost the whole original Broadway Cast of Rent
For complete cast information, see IMDb's Rent page.
I'm not going to review every DVD I own (it would take forever), but I had to review the Rent DVD for obvious reasons...
Of course, you all know from my Rent Movie review that I loved the movie. There have been quite a few movies that I loved in theaters and was not impressed with on DVD (no extras or too few, etc.). The Rent DVD is wonderful!
I just finished watching all the special features tonight. (With the Olympics and not enough recording time on Tivo, I didn't have a chance to watch anything on the DVD till this past weekend and didn't have time to watch everything till last night.) The special features on the Rent DVD include a feature commentary by Chris Columbus (director), Adam Pascal (Roger), and Anthony Rapp (Mark). It was a great commentary! Although many might say that they wish more people were on the commentary (and I was one of them initially), there have been many movies (like American Pie) where they allow the whole cast to comment and it becomes a horrible commentary overall, so I respect their decision.
There are a bunch of deleted scenes - including Halloween & Goodbye Love. Although I can get some of Collumbus' points on cutting Goodbye Love, after seeing it (with and without commentary), I wish even more that they had at least kept the part about Benny paying for the funeral, always hating the dog (Evita), etc. I think that shows more of the lighter and friendlier side of Benny... I can understand cutting the whole song, since it is long, but that part is very short. I will never get why they cut Halloween, but felt a little bit better, since it was set in the cemetary, which doesn't make as much sense to me as being in the lot (where it was on stage). The alternate ending was interesting to see, but I'm very happy that they went with the ending they chose.
The documentary on Rent & Jonathan Larson was so interesting. I learned a lot that I hadn't realized and I have read up a lot on the topic. The interviews with Jonathan Larson's friends and family were so touching. The original cast comments on how difficult it was to go on for opening night at the NY Theatre Workshop the night after Jonathan Larson died were so moving. Anyone who loves the musical Rent needs to own this DVD!
I even enjoyed watching the clips on the charities. They were so well done! Even my husband, David wanted to see the pictures they used in the charity bits. That says a lot! Watching all the extras made David want to see the movie again almost as much as I want to, I think. He may regret it later, but tonight he said that he really wants to see Rent (the movie) again, since he only got to see it once and it was a long time ago (even though it was only 3 months). Yippee! Twist my arm...
Grade: A+
Labels: 2005, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, drama, movie, musical, romance, Taye Diggs
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Anthony Rapp (Mark Cohen), Adam Pascal (Roger Davis), Rosario Dawson (Mimi Marquez), almost the whole original Broadway Cast of Rent
For complete cast information, see IMDb's Rent page.
As a huge fan of the musical Rent, I was partly thrilled and partly mortified about the idea of a movie version of my favorite musical. Then, years passed and I thought perhaps it would never happen. Next thing I knew, they had cast almost the entire original Broadway cast of Rent and were starting to film. I wasn't sure Chris Columbus was the best choice, given his background, but then I found out that he's a big fan of the musical Rent, too.
Chris Columbus did an amazing job using the OBC I have loved for almost a decade and preserving my favorite musical for all time. I couldn't be happier that I'll be able to own this on DVD (February 21, 2006 release date) soon!
I saw Rent in movie theaters 5 times and would have seen it more when I was off the week between Christmas and New Years, but sadly it had closed by then. I almost never see a movie twice in theaters, since there are so many movies I like to see, but Rent was well worth the time. I cried every time I saw it. I was amazed at how well they captured the emotion of the musical I love so much.
If you haven't seen the musical Rent, go see the movie (or rent it)! If you have seen the musical, go see the movie! Steve Chbosky did a great job adapting the script, the cast is amazing, the sets and filming were really well done. Definitely a must see! And, in my case, a must own.
Grade: A+
Labels: 2005, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, drama, movie, musical, New York, Rent, romance, Taye Diggs
Reviewed by Kat at the 10:10 AM show | 0 screams
Cast: Jack Black (Dewey Finn), Adam Pascal (Theo), Sarah Silverman (Patty Di Marco), Mike White (Ned Schneebly)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's School of Rock page.
This was a fun movie. If you like Jack Black, then you really should check this out. It's funny and has some really good music. School of Rock is a cute movie about a guy who pretends to be a substitute teacher at a prep school when he's in urgent need of cash and ends up teaching the kids a lot about life in the process. Very entertaining and definitely worth the time to rent it.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2003, Adam Pascal, comedy, Jack Black, movie, musical
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kelli Fournier (Amneris, understudy), Adam Pascal (Radames), Heather Headley (Aida), Damian Perkins (Mereb), John Hickok (Zozer)
For complete cast information, see IBDb's Aida page.
What a great show! I already knew I loved the music. Although I normally don't listen to recordings before seeing a show, I couldn't resist the concept album, since it was released so far before Aida was going to Broadway. I loved it! A lot of things were changed for the musical, of course, and I really love the show.
I'm especially happy with the changes they made to the opening and ending. I think that the opening and ending really tie the whole thing together with this time period and make the story seem so much more applicable.
The cast is amazing! I finally got to see Adam Pascal on stage (I've been a huge fan of his since Rent) and Heather Headley and everyone else did an amazing job. I'm sorry I missed Sherie Rene Scott, but Kelli Fournier did a wonderful job as Amneris. I can't imagine it being done much better than that. Amneris is such a fun roll.
Aida is a timeless love story and I'm glad that Elton John & Tim Rice have made a musical version of it that I can enjoy. (I don't think I'll ever be an opera fan.) I highly recommend this musical!
Grade: A
Labels: 2000, Adam Pascal, Broadway, drama, Elton John, musical, original
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams