RENT at rockdale or penrith?

Hey
I saw the Rockdale RENT yesterday and it was awesome! It really was a lot of fun and most of the cast were very strong vocally.

I was wondering if anyone has seen the Penrith performance. Is it worth seeing? As good as Rockdale?

Thanks!

Rockdale's production was the premiere so not sure about Penrith??? It must be on now?

Ditto on your review, it was amazing!

Hey guys,
Penrith's Rent opened on Friday night, so the two overlapped a little bit.

I was in Rockdale's Rent, thanks for the comments! We are all going to see Penriths on Saturday night.

Tanya

If they are anywhere near as good as the RMS cast they will rock but I kind of doubt they will. I'd go tag along if I wasn't afraid of being disappointed and having the lovely memory of Sat night tainted. That's the problem with performing we never get to see our own performance (unless someone is sneaky and videos), seriously your cast were awesome!

I saw the opening of the penrith RENT and most of the cast are absoloutly BRILLIANT! (although were a little let down by their technical crew) it was a great production and an AWESOME chorus sound... soo good i got chills! although i was a little dissapointed that Angel herself doesnt do any of the drumming. Overall it was a great show and if u can see it you should, im sure te sound and lighhting crew should know what they r doing by then.

I have to agree with MusiKate...I'm sure Rockdale's would have been great too but a wonderfully, engaging and moving performance at Penrith. The audience response was amazing and says it all IMHO:-).

I enjoyed the Sunday matinee performance at Rockdale, I was surprised at the small audience - who wouldnt wat to see the premiere of RENT again in Sydney??!! Well done to the fabulous cast - but special mention needs to go to the awesome band - what a great sound!! Unfortunately due to comittments to Seussical at Riverside Theatres, I wont get to Penrith although I know the director and some key cast members - I wish them a successful season - I reports have been good!

I wish Penrith every success, RMS gave me chills - there were a number of people at the final performance gave the fantastic cast a standing ovation!

Hi there Kate, thanks for your positive comments to our show! I played "Angel" at the Penrith show and it was heaps of fun.. Although I do have a few blisters on my feet from all that dancing on heels!! Everyone in the cast (and crew) were absolutely brilliant to work with.. Yes, we had a few "technicalities" with the sound, but they were eventually sorted out. Our final performance night was just awesome especially because a whole heap of Rockdale's cast and crew came to watch the show and they gave us a standing ovation which was very generous of them. We really appreciated that they had come and supported us.
Our group went to watch their show as well and cheers to Rockdale because they were absolutely amazing. They put on a damn good show!

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed our show..! ;-)

cheers,
Launce

Hey Launce!

You were great! I came to see the show because my friend Belinda was in it but I stayed for you all!!! (especially you!;-).

It 's wonderful that the Rockdale cast and crew took the time to go and see your show...it's great when companies support eachother like that. After all we're all in this together!!!

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.

Warm Regards
Kate

Time to set the record straight... I saw all 3 productions of RENT recently (Canberra, Rockdale and Penrith - yes - i am that much of a geek!) and by far, BY FAR, the best was Rockdale.

Congratulations to Rockdale for an amazing triumph - I was one of those that gave the standing ovation at the Saturday matinee.

My summaries of all 3 productions

Rockdale
=------=

LOVED: The depth of character that ALL members of the cast brought on stage - even the lesser used members of the chorus looked like the had their own back story - eg The "Sirius Black" homeless guy that was eating bugs out of the scaffolding during 'Rent' and falling over at the end of 'Xmas bells' - amazing! Also the Sqeegieman and the Prostitute - hilarious!

LOVED: The amazing vocal talent from almost every member of the ensemble - particularly those that had solos - the 'Will I' Soloist and the Steve/Gordon interchange were chillingly good, as was every single principal - Wow! what a pool of talent Rockdale must have to pull from.

LOVED: The lighting - Bloody brilliant :)

SPECIAL MENTION: The accents! Wow! I could not fault a single one :) Particularly Mark - I would actually place a bet that he is a Yank...

HATED: The staging was a little to similar to the professional production to be coincidental, except for the weird clock on stage left? What was that for???

HATED: There were some bad harmonies in some of the duets - particularly 'Tango: Maureen' (Joanne) and 'I'll Cover You' (Collins) but not bad enough to distract from the over sound of the song - the harmonies might not have been correct sometimes, but at least they stayed in the same key!

HATED: Some of the Tempos were way too slow - particularly in 'Seasons Of Love' and 'Rent'

HATED: the fact it is still not playing!

Canberra
=------=

LOVED: The band - AMAZING - and the cast did not even acknowledge then with a bow or anything - I went up at the end and made sure they knew how good I thought they were.

LOVED: The wire fence flown in for the end of 'La Vie Boheme' - very nice touch - but then it was gone for the beginning of Happy New Year???? WeirdÂ…

HATED: Mark - he was a 4 foot nothing long haired reject from Menudo (go look Google them if you donÂ’t know who they are!) that had a perma-smile attached FOR THE ENTIRE DAMN SHOW! EVEN DURING 'HALLOWEEN' and 'WHAT YOU OWN!'

HATED: Mimi, she trounced around stage during 'Light My Candle' like a Chihuahua on heat having Schmakos withdrawals - not really trying to seduce Roger at all - so she would have no reason to want to go back to him for 'Out Tonight!' What the???

HATED: Angel - OH MY GOD - they had 8 ANGEL backup dancers come on stage for 'Today 4 U'! Wearing the exact same Santa outfit that angel was supposed to have made as a One-Of-A Kind piece! The ANGELettes also came back on for 'Out Tonight' - WTF???

HATED: The Script changes: From what I could tell - they had an extreme lack of male ensemble, so there was no Priest, No Cops. Also, I guess they couldnÂ’t afford a tree, so the line in 'You Okay Honey?' was changed to "Collins, Tom Collins. That's Me". 'On the Street' was changed to "Smile for Ted Coppell, Mr Collins" and the priest scenes were cut altogether!!!

HATED: SONG Deletions! YES!!! They cut songs! 'Seasons of Love reprise' was gone! Excised! ARRRRGH!!!!!

HATED: ROGER didnÂ’t play the guitar once! He had picked it up for the prologue, but had put it down well before the line "This won't tune!" (it became "That won't tune!") and didnÂ’t pick it up again for the entire show! During 'La Vie Boheme' when he plays the snippet of Musetta's Waltz, and even in 'Your Eyes' - HE PLAYED AIR GUITAR!! YES!!! I DON'T LIE!!!

HATED: ANGEL lying in his death bed UNABLE TO MOVE for all of 'Without You', THEN gets a sudden burst of energy to sit up and sing in 'Contact' then falls over and dies! Cliché city! Wile ROGER looks on all emotional, like it was HIS boyfriend instead of Collins'!

Man - there was so much I hated about Canberra's 'interpretation' that if I keep going, I'm sure to kill myself. Let's leave them there.

Penrith
=----=

LOVED: Mimi - What an amazing voice! Her light and shade is AMAZING

LOVED: MAUREEN/Joanne - AMAZING in 'Over The Moon' and Awesome voices in 'Take Me Or Leave Me'

LOVED: The spinning staircase in 'Out Tonight' - what a brilliant piece of direction - gave the show a lift into the 'Rock Concert' realm that it should reach as certain points in the show

HATED: The spinning staircases in 'What You Own' - too much like West Side Story and when they came together on the word 'connection' and the 2 guys crossed over to each other's? Kill Me.

HATED: The LACK of commitment of most of the principals to their characters. And I'll go into detail:
Mark: looked like he was bored with the whole production
Roger: Looked PETRIFIED to be playing such a huge ballsy sing - and not having the voice to do it! His rule of thumb must be - if you can't sing it - YELL it - because he yelled most of the songs, especially the highs and louds that his wee little voice just could not get to.
Angel: OH-MY-GOD-Kill-Me-Again. Spent the entire show (except when he was collapsing randomly from some unknown illness ( no flames about "IT WAS AIDS you idiot", because you donÂ’t die from AIDS, you die from the secondary infections)) flouncing around like a clichéd Pilipino drag queen, looking like a bobble head figurine you stick on your car dashboard! Angel's Santa coat was hideous - black lace trimming? Gimmie a break!
Benny: (aka. Look at me! I'm a dancer!) If he did that cross-foot-spiral-twist (Usher's U-Turn move) move one more time I was going to leap out of my 3rd row seat and slam his head into the ground!

HATED: The fact that Collins had the VERY AWKWARDLY get down off the scaffolding twice. YOU HAVE MOVEABLE STAIRS! USE THEM!!!!

HATED: The Techno Tempo of most of the show! GAWD! WAYYYYY to fast.

HATED: The Aussie accents that permeated almost every member of the chorus, particularly the 2 female cops, that were also dressed in Australian Cop outfits - talk about displacing your audience!

HATED: Probably the WORST piece of direction in the entire show - Angel's ghost rising up the staircase behind the cast singing 'IÂ’ll Cover You (reprise)', raising his arms out to hold the shroud out like bat wings, and the entire cast turning around to raise their arms up to him for the final notes of the song? GIMME A BREAK!!! I laughed out loud at the hideous piece of staging! Horrid!

Thanks for setting the record straight Jo!

Ditto your kudos for Rockdale for an amazing triumph - I was one of those that gave the standing ovation at the final performance.

Re your summary

Sirius Black would be very happy to hear you appreciated that beard considering the time it took him to cultivate it. I agree the whole cast was very strong

If only the talent stuck around show to show, unfortunately in today's age loyalty to one society is rare - the talent follow the shows!

I recall seeing a dialect coach credited in the programme and you are right obviously it worked. Usually I cringe at the ocker accents ringing through like you I could not fault a single one :) I thought the same about Mark

I was well peeved to learn I was at the final show I was geared up to go back for the Sunday matinee

Hi im the guy who played Benny in Penrith show i think you should really learn some respect,just maybe you should come back when you have done a show.Also when you have studied acting 3 years full time at nida and 15 years dance you should have a say but untill then i think you have no right to bag me and the cast of rent penrith

Hi Jo,

While you are entitled to have your opinion, and thanks for coming to see the show (by the way, which of our shows did you come and see)? i was wondering exactly what experience in performing and directing is? Have you directed? Studied? Taught? Performed? Oh and you didn't mention the lighting?

Thanks.

Actually they do have a right. They are YOUR audience. If you plan to have a professional career in this industry, remember that 95% of your audience haven't been to NIDA or studied dance for 15 years, but they are your harshest critics as they are the ones paying money to see you.

The audience always has a right to be critical and have their say - they have a right.

Jo,

Your review of the show is rather harsh. I was a cast member of the Penrith production as Homeless Person/Pastor/Ensemble and on behalf of the cast I believe we did a bloody sensational job. If I must say so myself.

The review also reeks of jealousy. We worked our backsides off for over three months to put that show together and presented it as our own interpretation.

I personally wouldn't want to see a show if it's a carbon copy of what's been done before.

Also too your review over stepped he boundarys of personal insults. Fair enough you can comment on someone's performance but when you bring someones race into the picture it justs makes you look like a fool.

I think you should take a long hard look at yourself and grow up before casting judgement.

A true RENT geek wouldn't say something like this. You are not a RENT fan

Some people are meant to be performers on stage, the rest are meant to be critics in the audience. Most critics just don't have the balls to say what they really think.

Am I not entitled to voice my opinion? Or can I only speak after I have *paid* my WAAPA fees?

If you can't take criticism, you will never grow as a performer/choreographer (I noticed this in the program).

Yes I may have been a tad bitchy with my comments (I certainly did not mean to cast aspersions on anyone's race and deeply apologise if i have, but the comment still stands if you remove the word Pilipino - the comment is about his portrayal, not his race) but it's how I truly felt about all 3 productions. I'm not one to dull down my comments after time - this is how i felt while I was actually sitting in the audiences, watching the shows.

Look - overall, Rent at Canberra and Penrith were both very good shows - however there were things in all 3 productions that I didn't like.

Congratulations on a good show and I hope you keep growing.

Hi all

Wow the passion of RENT the show lives on in this thread!

Personally I would have thought that someone who had seen all 3 productions would be best placed to compare them and what ever JoÂ’s background may be it sure sounds like a voice with theatre experience behind it, with some very technically specific insights into all three productions.

Luke: While harsh (especially while you are all on a post show come down) reading Jo’s crit, I see no racial slur intended – try to put the emotion aside and think similes, think metaphors – remember we are meant to be the literary creative types familiar with ‘colourful’ language.

Robbo: You are spot on, PAYING audiences do have the right to be critical and have their say!

Allie: To me it does sound like Jo has got some theatrical background, but IÂ’ll keep an eye open for a response to back it up

Andrew: We would be nuts to think that any of the 3 casts didn’t work their arses off – all shows, especially those high emotion filled ones like RENT take a huge efforts from all involved. As I said to Luke I don’t think Jo intended any personal/racial insult – having not seen the Penrith production I immediately got a visual image of the character when reading the crit, as I imagine was the intent and after all the purpose of any piece of writing is to help the reader visualise. Who are you to say that Jo is not a fan? In my experience people who love something passionately are often the harshest critics.

For those who have had negative comments remember that this is ONE person’s opinion and from the sounds of it each of the 3 casts had standing ovations that proved other people including other members of a ‘competing’ cast thought the performances were great. Plus you can take the comments on board and be open to considering them for growth for future performances.

Cheers

Ann

www.wildplacesphotography.com/rent1.php

Three pages of RENT pics from the Penrith show.

Setting the record straight?? pffft! What a load of crock! It seems that Jo's professional qualifications lie in licking the asses of Rockdale's production - which was, I agree technically good. But unfortunately, the glitzy facade of Rockdale's production did not deliver on the emotional side to RENT. In fact, it was all showy but shallow.

Anyway, IÂ’m also a RENT geek and IÂ’ve seen all 3 different productions of RENT in Canberra, Rockdale and Penrith.

First of all, cheers to all of you for putting on a show. It's not easy to put a show together and I know from my years of doing shows that those 3-4 months of rehearsal time is hard work, but also a really rewarding time.

The 3 productions all had their strengths and weaknesses. Here are some that I've noted and hopefully, a little more constructive than Jo's "bitchy" and baseless remarks.

CANBERRA

* STRENGTHS
- The band was very good. Awesome sound and great lighting!
- Canberra had very strong principle roles. Mark was very engaging. Riveting scene between Mark and Roger in “What you Own”. Both actors delivered an outstanding performance in this scene and outshone the other two renditions of this song in the other productions.
- Mimi, although a little shaky in “Out tonight” gave an emotionally moving performance in “Without You”, very fragile and heartfelt. This was definitely the best performance of the song between the 3 productions.
- Great overall performance by Joanne, very engaging and attractive.
- Overall stage direction of the production was well done

• WEAKNESSES
- Chemistry between the characters was lacking. Collins and Angel are meant to be totally enamoured with each other and even though both actors gave good performances, the lack of chemistry between them was a little disheartening
- When Mimi said “Angel was one of my closest friends”, I found that hard to believe as there was little or no contact between them throughout the course of the musical. This could have easily been rectified by more contact between them in “La Vie Boheme” or in “Happy New Year”
- The opening song, “Rent” was well choreographed; however, the performers did not deliver the intensity of that song. “Rent” is meant to be an angry song and some of the performers were smiling throughout that number.
- Personally, I felt that watching the answering machine deliver the messages was a little boring. Interesting interpretation but not as effective as seeing the actors deliver the messages.



PENRITH

STRENGTHS

• Overall the cast was very strong. Special mentions go to Joanne, whose strong vocals resonated through the beautiful recital hall of the Joan Sutherland Performance Arts Centre.
• Mimi had very good vocals and her sweet voice carried her through an almost wooden acting performance. No doubt that with a little more acting coaching she will further develop her skills as a performer.
• The minimal usage of the staging (in comparison to Rockdale’s or Canberra’s) was a little disconcerting at first. I found myself wondering where the scaffolding was and thinking “was that it?”, in terms of the staging. But in the end, their minimal approach (and possibly due to budgetary reasons) worked for them. I found myself looking and concentrating on the characters on stage more. Also it enabled them to use the gliding stairs which was very effective in “Out Tonight”
• Out of the three productions, Penrith Rent had more energy and spark on the stage with the principle characters. In the Penrith show (the last Rent performance I saw of the three productions) I was finally relieved to see chemistry between Angel and Collins. In fact, there was so much sizzling between those two characters that it made up for my disappointments with Rockdale’s and Canberra’s Collins/Angel’s relationship. The duet of “I’ll Cover You” in Penrith just cemented the believability of their relationship and by far outshone the other two renditions of this song at Rockdale and Canberra.
• Angel and Maureen were fabulous. Maureen’s performance was hilarious, real and edgy. But it was Angel’s “Today for You. Tomorrow for Me.” Which was well choreographed and excitingly delivered that captured the essence and “spark” of Angel that was missing at Rockdale and Canberra. Throughout the musical, it was Angel that I was looking forward in seeing on stage. Also looking around me, people were emotionally very moved when Angel was dying. By far, out of the 3 productions the performance by Angel at the Penrith show exceeded the other two. By far! Also at intermission and after the show, it was Angel’s performance that people around me were raving about. Hence, this is a totally different outlook to Jo’s personal attack. What would you know about Filipino drag queens Jo? By the way, if you are going to bag out something especially in reference to a particular culture make sure you get the spelling right - it’s “Filipino” otherwise it just makes you look like an ignorant fool – totally agree with Andrew. The Penrith Angel looked beautiful and stunning in her costumes!! By far the prettiest one than the other two and I think there might have been some straight men in the audience with a hard-on .
• The ensemble performance of “Will I” was great – good staging with everyone walking around the stage looking lost and uncertain, fully delivered the message of the song, great harmonies - very moving piece!


WEAKNESSES
• There were some problems with sound which at times detracted from the performances. It kind of ruined some of the songs, honestly. Mimi’s microphone had problems which was annoying because she was a lead and of all people, she had the worst microphone problems.
• At times, the lighting seemed a little dim and not as well lit as Rockdale and Canberra’s. More focus on the lighting of characters as well as the central happenings on the stage was needed.
• At times, the band would overpower the actual singing so better sound control would have benefited this production more.
• As I know the musical quite well, I noticed the miss-timings of Benny in “We’ll See Boys”. I had a bit of a cringe at this. However, the actor made up for it in his stronger performance in the 2nd act in “Happy New Year”.


ROCKDALE

STRENGTHS
• The production design/set looked fantastic. They had obviously invested a bit of money on the scaffolding which looked terrific. Their stage didn’t seem as big as Canberra’s or Penrith’s but they worked well with what they had.
• Overall, strong principle roles. Joanne in this show was fantastic to watch. “Tango Maureen” with Mark was definitely one of the highlights of the show.
• Out of all the relationships it was the relationship between Joanne and Maureen that was the most believable and their number, “Take Me or Leave Me” was nicely performed and reflected the volatile nature of their relationship.
• Overall, the vocals were very good. The ensemble numbers especially.
• The “homeless” were by far the stars of the show and were funnier than the other two productions.

WEAKNESSES
• Although technically good. The weaknesses showed in the chemistry between the actors. Again, Collins and Angel in this show (more so than Canberra’s) lacked any chemistry. Vocally they delivered (especially Collins) but their relationship was not believable. Unfortunately, I felt the same way about Mimi and Roger (both were technically good) however they lacked passion in each other. Don’t know if it was the direction or the acting, but their supposed “love” for each other didn’t seem real. Sadly, the two key relationships were lacking in this area and it was detrimental to the musical overall.
• The character of Angel in the Rockdale show lacked any “spark”. Angel is a vibrant, flamboyant character with attitude that is central to the overall development of the other characters. Angel is someone who is unapologetic for being who he/she is and I didn’t get that from the Angel in the Rockdale production (The Canberra Angel was a little better, but not much). This was lacking from Angel’s character which makes his death less tragic and meaningless. Angel’s costumes in the Rockdale one were a tad bit boring and looked a little bit “wannabe trannie”. At the end, I did not feel anything for Angel and/or Collins which resulted to not feeling anything for Roger/Mimi whose relationship parallels with Collins/Angel.
• In the Rockdale production, the “Will I Soloist” was definitely NOT “chillingly good” and there was nothing extraordinary about the Steve/Gordon interchange. In fact, out of the minor roles it was these two unfortunately that were the least believable or vocally good. The Will I Soloist was vocally shaky and/or seemed nervous, but can happen to a lot of actors so it’s forgiveable. Good performance by Mark’s mom.
• I felt that Rockdale was trying too hard to be “pretty” and sexy. Was the sex scene at the back of the restaurant really necessary? It had nothing to do with the plot nor did it add anything to it. In fact it was detrimental to the scene and was a distraction to what was really going on. The dramatic moments were “stagy” and too concerned with what looks good rather than finding the “heart” of the scene. An example is Roger’s solo “One Song Glory”, sung nicely but lacked any oomph. The Canberra and Penrith shows may not have been as “polished”or as “pretty” as Rockdale’s but one thing that stood out for me was that Canberra and Penrith definitely had more spirit and it showed through their delivery of the performances and music.


Overall the three productions did a pretty good job! They were all very different in casting, staging and in their interpretation. Which is a good thing, otherwise I would have been totally bored seeing all three of them. As someone who is not affiliated with any of the productions, honestly I didnÂ’t think any one of them were better than the other. In analyzing each one thoroughly, quite frankly as IÂ’ve noted they all had their strengths and weaknesses and in such different ways. Where one succeeded in a particular area, the other didnÂ’t do as well..

But these three productions did get their show off the ground and all had great audience response/applause, particularly the one in Penrith who had an overly appreciative crowd.

So congratulations to all three productions, Canberra, Rockdale and Penrith for getting the music of RENT out there and for letting all of us enjoy it.

I went to see both the productions at Rockdale and Penrith, didn't know there was one going on in Canberra. But I have to completely disagree on the comment with regards to "Angel" in Penrith.
OMG! I went to see Penrith's show twice because of Angel, once with my group of friends last Friday and again on the final Saturday performance with my teenage neice and her group of friends.
Angel at Penrith without a doubt, stole the show! My friends and I loved everything about Angel, the outfits, the dance moves, the acting. Just simply gorgeous! I actually thought that Rockdale would have been a much better show if they had Penrith's Angel..
My neice and her group of friends are the harshest critics, like your everyday ordinary teen chicks but they were absolutely crazy about Angel!! So much so that they tracked him down after the show and asked for his autograph. Loved the Penrith show! Loved you Angel and so did heaps of others!

thankyou jess for setting the record straight,its good to see that people can be honest and not be one sided with comments,im glad you enjoyed the penrith production,i enjoyed it and wished they had an extra weekend or two,the cast worked extremly well together and had that bond on stage that makes us the audience sit back and feel like your apart of the story,thumbs up Penrith you all did an almighty job,I feel every one of those cast members did a hundred percent,and to the other companies that did this production thumbs up too,im sure you all did a fantastic job aswell.
WELL DONE!!!!!!

I was there on the closing night RENT at Penrith. What an amazing show!! Brilliant casting. The sound, the lighting and stage direction was very awesome.
Really enjoyed the performances of Maureen, Angel and Mark. Oh and the rest were top notch as well. I thought Angel's santa outfit was very sexy!! Well done guys on a good show.
Too bad I didn't get to see Rockdales - oh well.

Hi all,

Before I begin, just so you know where I am coming from, I was involved in the Penrith Cast, I was Assistant Director and Stage Manager.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has commented on our show (both the good and bad). I would like to thank Jo for being honest with how she thought our show went. I hope that you continue to do this in the future, the only thing I can suggest, is you look at how you phrase or word things, so they don't come across as a personal attack on the performer and not their performance (as I 1st thought when I read your message) This was cleared up after you explained it a bit better.

Also thankyou to Jess for your comments about our show, you had a very good way of presenting the strengths and weaknesses of all shows, thank you for being Honest. I hope to also hear from you in the future being just as honest as you have been. It is the only way we can learn a better way to do something next time.

I saw Rockdale perform, and they kicked ass, there were somethings that I went damn, wish we had of thought of that, but then I'm sure we had some moments like that too.

I didn't get to see Canberra's performance, but I'm sure they also did well.

Thank you everyone for the comments you have posted, and I hope to hear/see more in the future.

Also any cast members who read these messages don't take them personally, you all did a great job, and I was proud of of you all in every performance you did, and I'll see you at the reunion party. Love you Guys.

Bye everyone else, I'll be checking back to see if anyone else has any more comments on all of the RENT productions.

Megan

Hello All!

i went to go watch Rent at Penrith on the Saturday because i heard it was playing and i must say i was impressed! it wasn't what i though it was going to be, it was very entertaining and i must say when "angel" came out i had such a good laugh to see someone take up a role and be SO into the part! They all had fantastic voices but i have to say at the end of the day my favourite was angel! The voice was right on and the acting and dancing that went with it.. it was golden! Good job all!

angel fan!
lin =)

Hi all

A question.

I am currently directing RENT in Campbelltown and I got the chance to see Rockdale's production of RENT. (Congrats to the cast, great show)

One thing I did notice: the direction and choreography of Rockdale's show was nearly an exact replica of the professional production of RENT (both the American and Australian production)

Down to Mimi's Out Tonight pole sliding to Maureen's "Over The Moon" (tied to the hood of a yellow rental truck etc etc...) as I was watching the performance, I suddenly realised that I knew all the staging and the choreography for the whole show, with maybe two or three slight changes (By the way, the woman who played Maureen was fantastic and Blanket Woman, you rocked the performance with Seasons Of Love, Mark - you were awesome as well)

So, my question: as an audience member, do you like to see an amateur or pro amateur company staging a musical as the professional would, basically resulting in gaining the chance to see what the professional version would look like for a lesser cost and some great talent in the amateur theatre circuit...

or -

do you like to see new ideas being fleshed out on the stage such as Penrith's version of I'll Cover You and the ghost of Angel for something new and a different translation or interpretation of the text.

This is simply a question, there is nothing else in it. I have my own ideas for my production of the show which I'm going ahead with so it doesnt matter in that respect.

And I'm not just talking about RENT, but any show.

Thoughts, feelings, sensations??

Cheers
Jonathon

Jonathon,

While knowing evey stage movement of the professional productions is definately required, i think as a performer and or artist and definately as a director, you have to take that on board, but make it your own. Your own passion is what will make it an awesome show. I think if you mimic everything, your true passion cannot be felt, because you are essentially mimicing someone else's passion.
I would much rather see a show that has its own unique interpretation rather than an exact replica. That is what makes us performers and not just lemmings!

This is just my opinion, but i hope it helps.

Regards,
allie b.

Cant wait to come see your show!

God why, unless you were getting hugh sums of money and the producer demanded it, would you want to bore you and your cast and hopefully your audience, but stuffing everybody's creative insticts in the hopper.
if they want that they can rent the rent cd. blow them away, ain't no reason in the world that you can't make better theatre than the new york crew. trust your actors creativity and your creativity and fly baby fly. if we were supposed to be bean bags to be tossed where somebody else told us to toss ourselves we would never have any fun.
ciao,
jeremy
www.mosaicacting.com

God why, unless you were getting hugh sums of money and the producer demanded it, would you want to bore you and your cast and hopefully your audience, but stuffing everybody's creative insticts in the hopper.
if they want that they can rent the rent cd. blow them away, ain't no reason in the world that you can't make better theatre than the new york crew. trust your actors creativity and your creativity and fly baby fly. if we were supposed to be bean bags to be tossed where somebody else told us to toss ourselves we would never have any fun.

I have to repost this after reading the other comment sent. I urge you to throw everything you know about the show out the window completely, and instruct your actors to do the same. All that history, no matter how good it might have been, was not creativity that came out of you and your crew. The name of the game to me is i don't need any tips, clues or whispers from the past to tell me how to create a role/show. I just want to roll up my sleves and go as deep as i can and drag out ever drop of creativity i got and demand the same from everybody i'm working with. you do that and anybody doesn't like it, well we have a saying in new york "F**k em' if they can't take a joke."
ciao,
jeremy
www.mosaicacting.com

Bravo,

It is all too prevalent in Community theatre to try to recreate characters in the image of previous productions, certainly easier to characterise but hardly creatively satisfying.


Thou spleeny hedge-born puttock!

Bloody Marvellous show Penrith! My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She was a blubbering mess during the 2nd act! Couldn't stop bloody crying! Great performances by the leads; Roger, Mark, Mimi. Angel was a classic! Good job by all. Congratulations!

look at the end of the day all three productions were great.I think all three groups should get together and do a huge big musical.There is so much talent out there,playing benny was fun and i dont mind good and bad gestures.so i think we should all get together and do one big show. WHAT DO YOU THINK

I saw both Canberra and Rockdale's Production of Rent and was involved with the Penrith's Production. Some very interesting comments and yes as an audience member you have every right to your opinion - however if it is a case of getting a rise from people involved some comments did exactly that while in general it was good to see that there were positive constructive criticisms. However there is one very important issue and that it is live theatre and every cast is different and in the preparation stage the show should evolve - the vision is a common ground and then everyone's input is important. With reference to the tempos - yes they were different and that is deliberate - some comments referred to the fact that there were energy and tempo does have something to do with that. At the same time it is also sung through and there are times where the tempo needs to move with the context on stage - I refer to Act II - Happy New Year B - what good is imitating the Broadway orginial cast recording. At the same time may would not be aware that the vocal selection that is available for purchase is not the same as the actual vocal score and there are differences melodically also - Look at what is actually written in Take Me Or Leave Me. There are no metronomic markings on the score except for One Song Glory and also there is actually scored for electronic kit. Both Rockdale and Us used an electronic drum kit - that was deliberate for the sounds and also from knowledge of the Acoustics of that stage - it's a concert hall stage and live kit is deadly in there. There were technical problems but there are very very few amateur productions that can claim that they are flawless in that respect. Actually I remembered seeing the Sydney Pro of Rent where one of the mics weren't working and a stage crew came on to hand a mic to a lead. Techno sound is appropriate to where it needed to be for this production - With the number of amateur productions in one year it is good that they are different - not just different local but different interpretations and the support that the amateur communities gives to each other is fantastic. I went and saw the other two productions not to spy but to genuinely support and thanks to Rockdale who came to Closing nite - their support was overwhelming. And there are two more productions of RENT - which I will also go to see. Finally I also found the term Filipino Drag Queen insulting and I'm not Filo but there is a line that refers to Angel as a "Queen in Drag" - so be it. Make it your own

The last show at Penrith was an absoloute buzz!! Sure there was still minor technical hiccups but thats showbiz and everyone perfromed with SUPER DUPER energy and professionality (if thats a word) i have learned soooo much from seeing the Penrith show, not to mention just enjoyed watching it 3 times, but i still have to be honest in that not once was Rogers version of "Your Eyes" done as well as i would have liked, I think the death metal grouls are best not used in the most sentimental number of the song. but he did get better from the first night, I wasnt too sure of some of the choices (the moving stairs) but still was a great show and i think Mureen, Joanne and Mimi totally STOLE THE SHOW! these 3 girls have HUGE stage presence that i only hope i can one day have myself!
Overall GREAT JOB !......

PS to all you RENTA HOLICS OUT THERE there is a production of RENT at Surry Hills in November,

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Uhh Benny, how bout no.