Run and Tell That: Rent Pre-Recorded

Note: Wowza. By now ya'll know that I'm a terrible editor. So be prepared for me to be editing this AFTER I upload it. Also, I'm not a professional reviewer nor do I try to be in these. I'm simply stating what I thought.

"Rent... was over the top and did not really... grasp the message that Jonathan Larson had envisioned"

My first experience with Rent was when my mom bought me the movie for Christmas one year. It was eventually lost in the depths of my messy room for a few months before I started cleaning it. I eventually found it and said: "Okay let's give it a shot." So I put the DVD into the laptop and I watched it and I was changed. I have no idea what, but something inside of me clicked and I was hooked. I would watch it over and over. I then watched the Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway performance and I also saw a local high school do a production of it. I was enamored with the show. Fast forward about 8 years and Fox announces

Company

they are going to do Rent Live! (Well now more like Rent Pre Recorded!) and my first thought was "Well f*ck! They're gonna ruin this." Guess what? I was right! The production was absolutely awful! First and foremost what needs to be talked about is the annoying screaming coming from the audience that drowned out everything. Then there are the absolutely atrocious changes made to the script by Kristoffer Diaz. As soon as Mark, portrayed by Jordan Fisher, said "December 24, 1991" my face went still. Seriously? You can't change one of the most iconic lines of dialogue in this show. Then we had all of Mark's unnecessary monologues and that awful new dialogue between Collins and Angel before "I'll Cover You" that did nothing to advance their relationship. I understand that they changed some of the lyrics to make it less explicit, but there were many things that Diaz changed that should not have been touched. While the show was helmed by original Rent director Michael Grief his directing turned the show into a circus and Sonya Tayeh was trying to turn Rent into a dance musical with the Bohemian ensemble popping and locking during some of the most inappropriate times, such as the drug dealer section of "Christmas Bells." To make matters even worse there was the atrocious production design by Jason Sherwood which was in no way effective. Rent is supposed to be simplistic and there was too much going on with the maze style jungle gym he designed. 

Vanessa Hudgens

Next, is the completely over the top lighting design by Al Gurdon who clearly was trying to induce seizures. However, what was really the stale icing on this moldy cake was the camera work by Alex Rudzinksi who clearly had diarrhea of the camera angle considering it changes every five seconds. I was getting motion sickness during "Christmas Bells" and how many times can you have the camera go in a 360 movement? (I'm going to make a compilation of those later.) The more simplistic Rent is the better. Clearly, the above people didn't get that memo. The only good production element of the night was the costumes designed by original Rent costume designer Angela Wendt. Wendt managed to update the costumes and brought new things to the table while still keeping the spirit of the original production. My personal favorite change being Maureen's cow pants. Now, before I go any further I would like to say that up until the final scene everything was pre-recorded from the night before's dress rehearsal. It was obvious that people were holding back to save their voices for the big night, but since Brennin Hunt, somehow, broke his foot during the dress rehearsal, that night never came. (THIS IS WHY YOU NEED UNDERSTUDIES PEOPLE!!!) This is a shame because what was

Jordan Fisher, Valentina, Brandon Victor Dixon
and Brennin Hunt

shown was an unfinished product and I'm sure had we gotten the real show it would have been much different. However, I think instead of showing us the dress rehearsal footage they should have showed us the concert that the cast performed for the live audience. I think that would have been much truer to original show then the over the top showing we recieved. Despite the medical problems, I'm still going to review the actors for their performances. The supporting roles of the parents, homeless, life support and other soloists were played by many stage veterans (Most memorable were Keala Settle, Alton Fitzgerald White and J. Elaine Marcos) all of which had exceptional vocals and acting skills... except for Matt Saldivar who played Gordon. His voice was clearly struggling to hit the notes and even when he did hit the notes it was not pretty. One of the better performances of the night is accredited to Mario as the douchey landlord Benjamin Coffin III. While I don't normally pay attention to Benny Mario had strong vocals and good acting chops. Kiersey Clemons portrayed a vocally weak Joanne Jefferson who didn't really challenge Maureen at all during their duet "Take Me Or Leave Me" and her acting left much to be desired. Joanne's on again off again girlfriend Maureen Johnson was delivered by a surprise standout from Rent alum Vanessa Hudgens (She previously played Mimi in the Hollywood Bowl production.) Hudgens vocals have improved immensely and she opened her mouth and out of nowhere, she had this strong belt. Not to mention her acting which was a huge improvement from Grease Live! It felt like I was looking at some brand new human being who acted and sang like she was in a Broadway show.

Tinashe

Hudgens managed to find her own comedic elements in "Over the Moon" and she truly raised the bar on my expectations of her. She especially surprised me with her strong vocals during the ultimate diva-off "Take More Or Leave Me." Unfortunately, not all the performances were as good as Hudgens. Valentina was a huge disappointment as the fabulous drag queen Angel Dumott Schunard who did not handle the score at all. She clearly struggled with all of it. Her performance of "Today 4 U" was incredibly lackluster and I wish I could say her acting made up for it, but alas she hit all the wrong notes in every way possible. Angel's love interest Tom Collins is portrayed by Brandon Victor Dixon who again just was lackluster to me. I didn't think he was anything special he was rather bland and didn't stand out in any way. Just like in Jesus Christ Superstar his high notes sounded like screaming as opposed to good clean belting. The most memorable performance, in my opinion, goes to Tinashe as Mimi Márquez. She thoroughly surprised me delivering strong acting and absolutely sublime vocals. Her rendition of "Out Tonight" was powerful and sexy. If only the same could be said for her scene partner Brennin Hunt who delivered a mediocre Roger. Where he had some strong vocal moments it didn't make up for his overall blandness as Roger. I could tell that Hunt was trying to

Brennin Hunt and Jordan Fisher

deliver to all the fans, but he just fell short. Finally, we have Jordan Fisher who clearly did not understand his character at all. Fisher portrays the dorky, geeky, awkward, camera lover Mark Cohen. However, Fisher rather decided to play Mark as someone who is dipping it and doing it as well as crawling sexually across the floor instead of being a lovable dork. I'm not saying that dorks can't be sexy, but Fisher was doing the most with his sexual moves and that simply isn't Mark, in my opinion. Fisher also seemed to have cared less about his camera from some of the ways he was holding it. Fisher did have strong vocals and was a good actor, but he wasn't the dorky and lovable Mark Cohen. Overall, Rent Live Pre-Recorded was over the top and did not really seem to grasp the message that Jonathan Larson had envisioned. If you want to watch a production of Rent either go see a local community theatre production, the tour or just watch Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway it will be a much more enjoyable experience than whatever Fox was trying to accomplish last night.

"There's only now, there's only here. Give in to love or live in fear. No other path no other way. No day but today."