Friday, October 3, 2008
Sucks to Be Me
Well, I didn't get a new job and it does suck as much as I thought it would since I made it all the way to the final round. I did manage to limit my major crying yesterday to 5 minutes in the bathroom at work when I first found out, which I thought was commendable. Now, I'm just kind of depressed. I need to find something to look forward to. I wish they had told me sooner so I wouldn't have wasted a whole month being stressed out and worried about it and getting my hopes up.
Review: Rent Live
I went to see Rent: Live on Broadway this past weekend and it was very good. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys the musical, and I thought it was better than the film version. The Sony reps who were at the screening giving out surveys said that it had been very positively reviewed and they would most likely be releasing it on DVD.
It was a little disconcerting to learn that it was the combination of two different performances, one performed mostly without an audience and then the last night of the production. Although you couldn't tell that it was two shows, I would have been happier with a slightly less film-like version of only the last performance. I think the energy of the show is different at a real performance and little mistakes in theater don't bother me. They are what makes theater more alive.
In addition, the film tended to use close ups of performers. Although it was cool to see the emotions of the actors up close in intimate scenes, the zooming in on chorus members in big group numbers was distracting. If you're going to film a live Broadway show, I think you need to keep in mind that the blocking and staging was done for a reason and the audience is intended to focus on a group scene as a whole and not each background chorus person.
The zooms were not usually horrible, but they were especially bad in What You Own when the camera kept switching back and forth to face Roger and then Mark directly instead of keeping a straight-on, from the audience view. When filmed that way, it was impossible to see that they were physically moving and switching places without directly addressing each other. I also did not need to be that close to Mimi's spandex clad legs and butt during Out Tonight or see that the soloist in Seasons of Love had fillings in her mouth (audience members actually laughed at this).
These complaints are minor, however. I love it, but Rent as a show is not perfect. Jonathan Larson intended to continue to revise the show before his unexpected death. When he died, it continued on as the version that existed at the time. The plot and character developments don't always make a lot of sense and if you see the wrong production, it can feel a bit tired and dated. The best casts are so emotionally involved and high energy that you forget about all that and just see it as snapshots of "a year in the life of friends." This was one of those casts.
Will Chase was the best Roger I have seen (beating Adam Pascal in the film version, but I may have to revise when I see Pascal live on stage in July). I enjoyed Will Chase in High Fidelity, but he really impressed me in this. Normally, I focus on my favorite character, Mark, but I was fascinated by Roger in this production. The close-ups certainly helped in that regard because Will Chase's subtle acting was superb and you could really follow his emotional journey.
As for the rest of the cast, Renee Elsie Goldberry, who played Mimi, was also the best I've seen in that role. She had the right balance of spunk and vulnerability and had an extremely powerful voice. Justin Johnston who played Angel was probably the funniest Angel I've seen and hit the right notes both vocally and in his interactions with the other cast members. While I love Idina Menzel, Eden Espinosa's performance of Maureen was on par with Idina's.
The other cast members weren't stand-outs, but they held their own. Adam Kantor was decent as Mark, but I've seen better. I adore Tracie Thoms, both in Wonderfalls and in the movie version of Rent, but her voice wasn't quite powerful enough to match Eden Espinosa's. Her acting was strong, but Take Me As I Am was a little disappointing on the Joanne verses. I really feel that Joanne and Maureen need to have equally strong voices. Michael McElroy as Collins was another strong actor with a mediocre voice. I appreciated the convincing love he had for Angel, but his I'll Cover You (reprise), which always makes me bawl, really was no comparison to Jesse L. Martin's great performance of that song in the film. Overall, the cast was very solid though. It was a great group to end the Broadway run and I'm grateful to Sony for letting fans around the country get a taste of what it was like during the final weeks.
It was a little disconcerting to learn that it was the combination of two different performances, one performed mostly without an audience and then the last night of the production. Although you couldn't tell that it was two shows, I would have been happier with a slightly less film-like version of only the last performance. I think the energy of the show is different at a real performance and little mistakes in theater don't bother me. They are what makes theater more alive.
In addition, the film tended to use close ups of performers. Although it was cool to see the emotions of the actors up close in intimate scenes, the zooming in on chorus members in big group numbers was distracting. If you're going to film a live Broadway show, I think you need to keep in mind that the blocking and staging was done for a reason and the audience is intended to focus on a group scene as a whole and not each background chorus person.
The zooms were not usually horrible, but they were especially bad in What You Own when the camera kept switching back and forth to face Roger and then Mark directly instead of keeping a straight-on, from the audience view. When filmed that way, it was impossible to see that they were physically moving and switching places without directly addressing each other. I also did not need to be that close to Mimi's spandex clad legs and butt during Out Tonight or see that the soloist in Seasons of Love had fillings in her mouth (audience members actually laughed at this).
These complaints are minor, however. I love it, but Rent as a show is not perfect. Jonathan Larson intended to continue to revise the show before his unexpected death. When he died, it continued on as the version that existed at the time. The plot and character developments don't always make a lot of sense and if you see the wrong production, it can feel a bit tired and dated. The best casts are so emotionally involved and high energy that you forget about all that and just see it as snapshots of "a year in the life of friends." This was one of those casts.
Will Chase was the best Roger I have seen (beating Adam Pascal in the film version, but I may have to revise when I see Pascal live on stage in July). I enjoyed Will Chase in High Fidelity, but he really impressed me in this. Normally, I focus on my favorite character, Mark, but I was fascinated by Roger in this production. The close-ups certainly helped in that regard because Will Chase's subtle acting was superb and you could really follow his emotional journey.
As for the rest of the cast, Renee Elsie Goldberry, who played Mimi, was also the best I've seen in that role. She had the right balance of spunk and vulnerability and had an extremely powerful voice. Justin Johnston who played Angel was probably the funniest Angel I've seen and hit the right notes both vocally and in his interactions with the other cast members. While I love Idina Menzel, Eden Espinosa's performance of Maureen was on par with Idina's.
The other cast members weren't stand-outs, but they held their own. Adam Kantor was decent as Mark, but I've seen better. I adore Tracie Thoms, both in Wonderfalls and in the movie version of Rent, but her voice wasn't quite powerful enough to match Eden Espinosa's. Her acting was strong, but Take Me As I Am was a little disappointing on the Joanne verses. I really feel that Joanne and Maureen need to have equally strong voices. Michael McElroy as Collins was another strong actor with a mediocre voice. I appreciated the convincing love he had for Angel, but his I'll Cover You (reprise), which always makes me bawl, really was no comparison to Jesse L. Martin's great performance of that song in the film. Overall, the cast was very solid though. It was a great group to end the Broadway run and I'm grateful to Sony for letting fans around the country get a taste of what it was like during the final weeks.
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