Rent, A Decade Later

I saw Rent last night for the tenth time. That’s right, tenth. A milestone in itself, it was also the time I saw the show with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, the production’s original Mark and Roger. I have a bootleg video of the original Broadway cast on opening night, but of course nothing compares to seeing these two powerhouse performers live and in person. After failing (at least 5 times) to get rush tickets, I broke down and bought a seat in the front mezzanine. After seeing the show from the front row in the past, it’s difficult for me to want to see it any other way. But the ticket didn’t cost me much, and I had a great view of the stage, so I couldn’t complain.
Well, I couldn’t complain about the seat. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to see these two new legends perform the roles that made them infamous in the musical theater world, as well as Tamyra Gray from Season 1 of American Idol. But this show has been around for 11 years, and it shows. Every time I see this show, I leave wondering if someone who has never seen the show before would be able to understand what was going on. And last night was no exception. Lines and important plot points are skipped over, and it seems as though the performers work under the assumption that everyone in the audience has seen the show before (which may have been true, in this case, but still). It was clear, however, that tiny changes were made to make the plot clearer to the audience (particularly the detail with Angel killing Benny’s dog), but these came off as passive and cheesy, at best. The mics seemed scratchy at times, which I couldn’t decide was because of the system, because the voices were too big for their mics, or a combination of both. And I felt as though the actors needed to add in quirky bits in order to entertain themselves, truly making the show the ADD student in high school of Broadway theater.
Let’s go character by character, shall we? As Mark, Anthony is flawless. I have always felt as though he had the strongest character analysis of anyone I’ve seen as Mark (with competition from Matt Caplan), and since he created the character he’s had over a decade of time and world experience to add to that analysis. The man is brilliant. He commands applause after “Halloween,” which is usually one of the more forgotten songs in the show (albeit one of my personal favorites). You will never hear me complain about this man’s performance. Ever. In anything. Adam Pascal, on the other hand, was vocally impressive, but his acting seemed tired and, well, he seemed bored. I felt this way about him when I saw him in Aida, but he had been in the show for three years or so and was getting ready to leave, so I dismissed it to him being over the show. But maybe that’s just his acting style. Fortunately for him, his vocal performance last night was almost enough to make up for it. Tamyra Gray baffled me as Mimi. Vocally, she was the most impressive one, and I should hope that she should be, as a recording artist, and would be runner-up of AI, if it weren’t for that MJ/Side Show Bob look-alike Justin Guarini. Her acting seemed robotic, static, and forced at times. But then there were moments where she shined, especially Angel’s funeral, “Without You,” and “Goodbye, Love.” I couldn’t figure out if I liked her or not, and eventually dismissed it to the old American Idol impression: ‘She was good…when she was singing.’ (see Fantasia in Color Purple and Diana Degarmo in Bklyn for more examples of this saying). Angel was another star of the show. That man has his character down pact. Even though he was the main culprit of letting lines and plot details slip through the cracks, he was so funny and fun to watch and his dancing and singing were so phenomenal that it was hard to care. Collins was equally as impressive vocally, and his performance and character development was some of the strongest of the entire cast. And, he was making his Broadway debut, which makes him that much cooler. Joanne was only okay. Her performance was good, considering all of her bits seemed a bit rushed by the band. But her voice a little too nasally, especially paired with the overly nasally and obnoxious Maureen. Her character was a little ‘out there,’ and her vocals were very nasally and almost too painful to listen to. Benny (played by Byron Utley, the original male “Seasons of Love” soloist on Broadway) brought compassion to the character, which was refreshing for a change. But just like every actor to play Benny, his character causes him to go mostly unnoticed. The rest of the ensemble had their moments to shine. Some of them did, some of them didn’t. Telly Leung, a Wicked veteran and understudy for Angel, was compassionate and gentle as the Squeegee Man, and very likable (easy on the eyes with an amazing voice to boot). The Seasons of Love soloist was good and bad, with an amazing voice but was overly expressive and a bit too loose with the free range of her solo. The other members did a good job supporting the others, but unfortunately were not strong enough to make an impression.
It will be interesting to see how much longer this show lasts. It seems very tired, yet it always envokes deep emotions about my feelings of performing and I just wonder if what it’s riding on right now are its guest stars (sound familiar, Chicago?), and its nostalgia for Rentheads who have helped keep the show a success for such a long time.