Thursday 31 January 2008

rent remixed: in review

ok, so a little warning. this is going to be a long entry. really long. i'm no critic, but i'm a rent-a-holic, which means i love rent. i particularly fell in love with the original version of rent. mostly because of the movie version of it. and when it came to london last year, i knew i just had to watch it. and i did. i have. yesterday. it's really sad that's it's closing on saturday. anyways, if you're gonna ask me how was it, there are two ways i can answer that question. first way is "i'm gonna say, it was good. eventhough there were some parts that, in my opinion, they 'murdered' some songs. but it was not bad at all". then there's the other way. i could critise (or praise) each part of the show and really talk about everything in detail. so if you want to know more, sit back and make sure you're really comfortable and then read on.

RENT
Duke of York's Theatre - Wed 30 Jan 08 - 07:45pm

CAST: (in order of speaking)

Mark - Oliver Thornton
Roger - Luke Evans
Collins - Leon Lopez
Benny - Craig Stein
Joanne - Francesca Jackson
Angel - Jay Webb
Mimi - Ruth Augilera (suppose to be Siobhan Donaghy)
Maureen - Jessie Wallace

Musical Numbers:
Act1
Prologue
Tune Up
Rent
One Song Glory
Light My Candle
Today 4 U
You'll See
Life Support
Out Tonight
Another Day
Will I?
Santa Fe
I'll Cover You
We're Okay
Tango Maureen
Christmas Bells

Act2
Over the Moon
La Vie Boheme
Happy New Year
Take Me Or Leave Me
Without You
Contact
I'll Cover You Reprise
What You Own
You Eyes
Finale (No Day But Today)
Seasons of Love


tick-tock-tick-tock. 525600 minutes. what i like about the begininng was that there was this electronic banner counting down seconds. it was so nice. plus i always wanted something like that in my room. haha. what struck me next was their british accents. it was so wierd and kinda cute and sounded quite different.

enter mark cohen. i also pictured him to be have quite a geeky personality with his camera always in hand. so to see a macho-type mark kinda surprised me. it was kinda funny to me. but he had a good voice. quite operatic though.

anyways, i reserved my tickets through london theatre which offers discounted tickets. they told me they would be giving the best seats, (yeah right.) but i have to disagree with them. it was nice but i just couldn't the upper level of their stage. i always had to slouch down or lean right or left to get a glimpse. argh. there was also the lights that blocked my view of that upper part. so that's what you get when they say 'the best seats'.

i have never seen a broadway production of rent (well except for youtube videos of course.) so i didn't have any expectations on how the stage would look like. so the dancers and drama effect on the side was really good. at the same time, they were slowly changing the set. efficient, nice.

enter angel dumott schunard and tom collins. oooh, i was so disappointed for angel. i don't know. i guess angel just wasn't too girly. i want to see angel with high heels and short skirts. then collins, hmm.. he seemed quite gay in some scenes. and then seeing them together, hmm..they look cute together. (but i still love jesse l. martin and wilson jermaine heredia.Ü)

ok, before i continue, i just realized that i talk more about their look than their singing. but you see, their singing was good. so there isn't much to talk about there. try and understand that i feel even the look of the each character contributes to the production. hmm..what do you think? now moving on.

enter roger davis. ooh, i just love the character of roger! even if he had aids. plus i love adam pascal from the original broadway and movie version. now i also love luke evans. not to forget that one song glory is one of my favorites. even though that they remixed the song into more of a ballad, love song. but wasn't bad at all.

today 4u, tomorrow 4 me. this was shocking, really. it started out okay, however again, he was almost half naked throughout the whole dance. but he was a good dancer, nice moves. i just never imagined angel dumott schunard to be half naked dancing and singing and showing off his muscular build. just imagined him more feminine.

enter benjamin coffin iii also known as benny. the former roomie turned landlord yuppie. when he (craig stein) was singing 'you'll see', he had this rnb or soul kind of singing. yes, he seemed like one of those rnb artists, such as ne-yo, mario or chris brown. plus he had the look of someone professional, suit and tie. he just looked so like a yuppie.

life support. this was a really wierd and quite awkward for mark cohen. plus this was the part he seemed gay. oliver thornton doesn't really look like the mark cohen i imagine (which is more like anthony rapp. i love him.Ü). here's a short clip.

enter the feline fantasy, miss mimi marquez - at the catscratch club nightly. this was what was written on the electronic banner. cool. but she started from the upper level and like i said, i couldn't quite seat from my 'best' seat. she was sing out tonight and it was different from the original one, but in a good way. it was a jazzy remix to the original and her performance was chicago-ish. in a good way.

time to dance. tango maureen. the part where 'pookie' became 'pukie'. well mainly because of the accent. but the shocking moment is when mark cohen was just in a sando. and he was so touchy touchy. ok ok, i get it. this is to be the sexiest cast there is. fine.

christmas. it's so cute that the blue christmas trees were falling from the sky like snow. haha. and that's the end of act1. only then does maureen johnson appear. at the very last line. alas act2 begins.

mooooooooo. of course, it begins with over the moon. it is really such a great performance. and again, maureen was looking sexy. it's quite funny she was wearing the same throughout the whole thing. (ok so it reminds of idina menzel. i love her.Ü) and then straight to one of my favorites. la vie boheme! for this song, i so like the first one better. mark began with an operatic tone. but i must agree that oliver thornton can sing. and a dancing remix to the song, hmm..sorry but i'm not feeling it. hee hee.

ok so probably now you're thinking that i compare this with the original broadway production in new york and the movie version with all the original cast members a little too much. and i say how i love everyone there (especially adam pascal and anthony rapp.Ü). putting that all aside, i would say that rent remixed is really good. if i haven't watched the movie version or didn't have a clue what rent sounds like, then i would definitely recommend to you to go watch. (without any bias of course) sadly though, rent remixed in london is closing on february2. and the original broadway version in new york is closing too on june 1. oh i'm so sad to see them both close. i love rent. and i guess i always will. no day but today.

** SORRY, THIS IS JUST MOST PART OF THIS ENTRY. IT IS SUPER CLOSE TO COMPLETE. I'LL UPDATE THIS TOMORROW. COME BACK LATER. SEE YA. **

1 comment:

Stanley said...

I heard that its popular there! Too bad its not here in my country....sounds like fun nontheless.