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So, I am a big theatre person. Saw Rent in Charlotte with the Broadway Lights Series. To my fellow theatre junkies: What do you think of the live performances on National Television?
The producers did a huge disservice to the cast and the audience by A) not having understudies, and B) not allowing the cast to perform live. It was obvious that we were watching a dress rehearsal.
That aside, there were some serious issues ... the obnoxious audience who apparently thought they were at a rock concert and screamed over great lyrics, the terrible sound balance that had the instruments overpowering the singers, and the cast members who either could act but not sing or sing but not act.
There were some bright spots and some duds, but overall, it wasn't terrible. I'm still glad that they bring "live" theater to TV because it makes it accessible to everyone. I just wish it were a more authentic theater experience. One stage with moving adapting sets and a quiet audience.
Of course, seeing the OBC at the end was EVERYTHING!! Not ashsamed to admit I cried!
I enjoyed it. Obviously it had some issues, especially with the actor who played Roger injuring his leg. I didn't like that the producers went with the rock concert feel, especially during "What You Own". Some of the lyric changes were weird since they weren't done for censor purposes... such as changing "...3 years ago" to "...6 months ago". And I didn't completely hate the changes they made to "Seasons of Love", but the cast all lined up on stage singing is so iconic that it was a bit of a disappointment to not have that apart of this production.
But overall, I enjoyed it. And I love that the OBC was there at the end.
I've seen Rent in theater 5 times. Twice in New York, and then three times on tour (once sitting in the front row thanks to the ticket lottery!). I was worried with how Fox would put Rent on prime time TV, but was pleasantly surprised that La Vie Boheme was not completely butchered by the censors. I did miss the first 5 minutes, so will go back and try to watch it later.
It was a shame that they couldn't have scenes without Roger live. I understand it would be a challenge, but ugh. So many of the actors are not Broadway trained and you could tell in the recording that they were not going flat out for the dress rehearsal.
Regarding the changes, my thought on the "3 years ago" change was that contemporary audiences might not know much about the AIDS crisis. Few people under 30 have memories of what that time was like. "6 months ago" is actually a much more realistic look at what AIDS survivorship looked like in 1991 - and much scarier to an audience - than the original 3 years.
I thought the sound balance in the audience was off, but don't mind a loud audience. There are many modalities to theater, and sitting silently in the audience is not the only one. It can really add to the ambiance when handled right by the sound engineers - look at Jesus Christ Superstar Live.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mike1003
From a 50 year + theater attendee who saw the original Rent and road show a month ago, this production sucked big time
The performers certainly lacked the passion of the original cast. I think the difference was that the OC was living through those times and drawing from personal experience. The new cast was denied that immediacy. To them it probably felt like a period piece.
It's too bad it wasn't actually live for the most part. I would have liked to see what the performers could have done in an actual live broadcast as opposed to those who appeared to be "playing it safe" (for lack of a better term) in the dress rehearsal.
As someone who never saw the movie or it live in the theater, I found the set confusing. It was hard to tell where some scenes occurred. Between that and the sound problems, I ended up googling the story line so I could follow along better.
It's too bad it wasn't actually live for the most part. I would have liked to see what the performers could have done in an actual live broadcast as opposed to those who appeared to be "playing it safe" (for lack of a better term) in the dress rehearsal.
As someone who never saw the movie or it live in the theater, I found the set confusing. It was hard to tell where some scenes occurred. Between that and the sound problems, I ended up googling the story line so I could follow along better.
I watched a little but it was so far from a live performance I saw....just wasn't worth watching it, to me. I love the play though...
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