Rent @Campbelltown
Sun, 12 Feb 2006, 04:30 pmtodd74 posts in thread
Rent @Campbelltown
Sun, 12 Feb 2006, 04:30 pmHeaded out to Campbelltown fri night as I read they were doing my fave show of all time, RENT!, nervous and excited to see what they had done with Larsen's brilliance... Not only did they far surpass two previous productions of RENT! I have seen recently, but made me laugh, cry and moo! They didn't just play roles, they appeared to be LIVING them... Voices were varied, but beautiful, raw and passionate, relationships unfolded before and I actually believed them - Maureen and Joanne were just perfect, not butch and sterotypical, angel and Collins ripped my heart apart and Roger and Mimi burned me! The ensemble came together tightly, voices meshed in hot harmonies which tingled the spine... all up a fantastic performance! No day but today!
Re: Rent @Campbelltown
Thu, 23 Feb 2006, 10:39 pmWalter Plinge
To begin with your opening comments...
"i have just read all the reveiws on here and all i will say is self praise is no reccomendation!! its obvious who wrote all those reviews!!”
You expect readers to take your educated and revered review seriously, how about giving others who wrote reviews the same respect? As a cast member I did worry that perhaps it was a cast member giving us a rap, but after openly questioning all I have come to the conclusion that no they are not written by cast members, and people have apparently enjoyed the show enough to jump on line and comment. So your profound wisdom of “self-praise being no recommendation” is probably very true, perhaps you could give other people recognition for THEIR honest opinion, rather than expecting everyone to share yours.
Taking the piss out of rent? Far from it – personally I heard rent first when I was 16 – 6 years ago and have listened to it every day since – I don’t believe it is actually possible to play a cross dressers/dancers/junkies/struggling artists/dying of aids and take the piss… to sing lines like “will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare” or “I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be” without feeling every word and BELIEVING what you are singing. You can’t PRETEND when you sing words like that.
As to “you didn’t even try to be professional”
what truly is professional? Is professional the right way of doing it? I have been sold tickets at Pact theatre, the New Theatre and at Theatre Nepean by actors in the shows I was seeing that night, and two of those were professional productionsÂ… The key is to differentiate between the actor and the characterÂ… And regarding the raffle ticketsÂ… I like to collect tickets of shows that I have been to, so I probably would have been upset too, however, would maybe focus more on the themes and issues of the show as Larsen intended rather than how I got into the theatreÂ… how is it possible, when people are asking you to question how you measure your life, that you can be sitting there, thinking about the crumpled up piece of paper in your pocket?
In regards to the hanging around before the show started I have seen it only once before, yes, unusual and yes, Jon’s choice. I wasn’t comfortable with it as an actor, and stayed off stage until my first entrance and can understand why it may have been a little off putting, I certainly found it a little confronting the first time I came across it. However, in various types of theatre, different directors and writers – such as Dario Fo - use methods to remind audiences that they are in a theatre, that there is a point to what they are watching, there are themes and issues to be addressed, questions to be asked, which to me was what the actors in the audience as themselves before the show and prior to seasons of love was about, because although I wouldn’t classify it as POLITICAL theatre, but still full of things to think about.
As to “Now i do alot of professional work even if your the most talented person it wont show without good direction!!”
That can’t be as all-encompassing as you make out, perhaps a matter of opinion. I have seen talented actors, with misguided “directors” turn out brilliant performances, and you did point out a few posts later that you are “NOT by any means THE most Professional or experienced person asi said in my first post " i just got my big break in the professional scene last year"”.
Tact? LOL. That’s an interesting word… to me it means discretion, it means skilful delicacy, it means insight – your comments directed at Jon were about as tactful, as discrete, as insightful as a smack in the head with an iron pole. I’m all for personal opinions but why try and dress up a catty slagging like that with
“I’ll try and be tactful…?”
As to “and the fact that you put down other productions that were done... its not cool”
no, viewer, it’s not cool, it is quite upsetting and disappointing to hear that this was done, (especially to an unknown audience member) as most of us did make an effort to go and support both productions of rent and putting them down was not a consensus, hopefully you misheard, as most of us thoroughly enjoyed them. And as to being met with attitudes that IS odd to hear from the inside because working with this particular group of people has to me been the most rewarding experience I have had in theatre as there were no egos, there were no “cliques”, there were no issues and attitudes, and as to your childish comment regarding “people dont care that you have.. pashed some guy in the cast..” really? Is that “pass[ing] on [your] thoughts of the show in a professional manner”?
In response to the accusation “You guys were not serious... and for people like me who love and adore the musical.. i hated seeing it like that!!” That exceptionally devastating to hear as most of us did take it seriously, do love and adore the musical and would NOT want to ruin it for anyone as we appear to have done for you.
Most of us, myself included can see parts of themselves in the characters, parts of their family in the characters, parts of their loved ones in the characters. A lot of us have been through the highs and lows, the heartaches and the joys, the @!#$ ups and the victories which the characters go through during the course of the year. To say that we didn’t take it seriously would be to say that we didn’t take ourselves and our lives and the themes and issues of the production seriously, which really isn’t true. I have tried to remain as unbiased and fair in reading your reviews as possible, but when you plead innocence, when you say “it was just my thought and opinion on the show”, I can’t help but take it somewhat as a personal attack. How is it possible to be confronted with your own morals, values, beliefs, sexuality and mortality every night and not take it seriously… I’m confounded that you felt it wasn’t taken seriously… that we were void of emotion… that you didn’t see the tears shed onstage (and backstage) for friends lost, for friends dying, for friends and loved ones living in pain or in fear, that you didn’t here our voices breaking with our hearts. I would imagine it would be an incredibly hard show to do without connecting with the issues raised within, and as I said am devastated you thought this was the case.
In the end viewer, I hope you did take something away other than unwelcoming, negative attitudes, a crumpled raffle ticket and a boosted ego.
viewer wrote:
>
> HI. I really don't want to be the awful one who comes on here
> and says all negative stuff but i will give an honest opinion
> of the show...
> i have just read all the reveiws on here and all i will say
> is self praise is no reccomendation!! its obvious who wrote
> all those reviews!!
> Honestly guys.. i came and saw the show as i went and saw
> all... and im sorry but you were no where near the most pro,
> polished or by far no where near the best!! although you had
> some nice moments and you your ensemble sung well.. over all
> it was a mess!!
> i almost felt like you were taking the piss out of RENT!!!
> you didnt even try to be professional i mean i had Benny sell
> me my ticket which might i add was a 50c reffel ticket????
> really?? you could have tried a little harder than that, i
> mean i understand you have a budget but i mean even print
> them out at home.. seriously. then the cast was all out over
> the stage before the show started... have you ever seen a
> show with cast members befor the show hanging around OUT OF
> CHARACTER.. not even at high school were we being that
> un-professional!!
> Now Casting??? wow... ok... i'll start with the possitives..
> Mimi was good, nice voice little bit void emotionally but
> quite good over all!! Collins was good, beautiful voice but a
> bit too much with the "emotions" bit over acting but well
> done. Angel again beautiful voice bbut acting a little dull,
> beautiful voice but. and joanne was ok too. and ensemble even
> though a little lost at times vocally nice.
> the weakest thing about this show was the direction or lack
> of!! half the time people didnt know what they were doing...
> i just dont think that was fair on them.. they had potential
> but NO direction. Now i do alot of professional work and even
> if your the most talented person it wont show without good
> diretion!!
> ROGER??? ok... i'l try and be tactful here... you were not
> very good. your pitch, your acting you understanding of the
> character and most of all your attitude was just all wrong.
> This really pulled the show down. Roger.. a young stuggling
> "rock star", sexy, sad, intimate, caring, rough looking.. you
> didnt fit any of these.. you sung it operetic and very out of
> key i dont know how mimi did it at times and i was certain
> you were going to come out in that santa dress too. now i
> dont want to appear homophobic and if your gay thats fine but
> Roger isnt and you played him like a little puncy gay man who
> had no emotion at all. very bad casting by the director!!!
> MAUREEN??? ok, vocally could not cary this role at all...
> over the moon although full of energy was in at least 17
> different keys. again just bad casting. the understudy
> although a little young seemed better for the role.
> MARK. this guy has a lot of potential really nice voice...
> way too young and inexperienced to play this role.. you didnt
> really understand it did you?? its like everyone especially
> roger just tried to over shine you and the role of Mark then
> appeared as a featured ensembble not THE LEAD!!
> Look i know your a musicall society and i didnt walk in the
> doors and expect full on professional but i would have liked
> you to try a little harder just simple things like the
> tickets and being back stage at the beg and intermission in
> character.. you just didnt seem to take it seriously! and the
> fact that you put down other productions that were done...
> its not cool. i deliberately didnt compare you too penrith,
> rockdale or chatswood cause you all have diffent casts,
> interpretations and budgets it wouldnt be fair to compare!!
> but i will say at least they tried to be as professional as
> they possibly could!!
> i was less than impressed with the lack of preperation and
> professionalism of this production. I feel sorry for some
> cast members... mimi, would love to see you do that role with
> a differnt roger where you can really work off some real
> emotions!!
> well done ensemble. and just remeber self praise is no
> recomendation.
"i have just read all the reveiws on here and all i will say is self praise is no reccomendation!! its obvious who wrote all those reviews!!”
You expect readers to take your educated and revered review seriously, how about giving others who wrote reviews the same respect? As a cast member I did worry that perhaps it was a cast member giving us a rap, but after openly questioning all I have come to the conclusion that no they are not written by cast members, and people have apparently enjoyed the show enough to jump on line and comment. So your profound wisdom of “self-praise being no recommendation” is probably very true, perhaps you could give other people recognition for THEIR honest opinion, rather than expecting everyone to share yours.
Taking the piss out of rent? Far from it – personally I heard rent first when I was 16 – 6 years ago and have listened to it every day since – I don’t believe it is actually possible to play a cross dressers/dancers/junkies/struggling artists/dying of aids and take the piss… to sing lines like “will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare” or “I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be” without feeling every word and BELIEVING what you are singing. You can’t PRETEND when you sing words like that.
As to “you didn’t even try to be professional”
what truly is professional? Is professional the right way of doing it? I have been sold tickets at Pact theatre, the New Theatre and at Theatre Nepean by actors in the shows I was seeing that night, and two of those were professional productionsÂ… The key is to differentiate between the actor and the characterÂ… And regarding the raffle ticketsÂ… I like to collect tickets of shows that I have been to, so I probably would have been upset too, however, would maybe focus more on the themes and issues of the show as Larsen intended rather than how I got into the theatreÂ… how is it possible, when people are asking you to question how you measure your life, that you can be sitting there, thinking about the crumpled up piece of paper in your pocket?
In regards to the hanging around before the show started I have seen it only once before, yes, unusual and yes, Jon’s choice. I wasn’t comfortable with it as an actor, and stayed off stage until my first entrance and can understand why it may have been a little off putting, I certainly found it a little confronting the first time I came across it. However, in various types of theatre, different directors and writers – such as Dario Fo - use methods to remind audiences that they are in a theatre, that there is a point to what they are watching, there are themes and issues to be addressed, questions to be asked, which to me was what the actors in the audience as themselves before the show and prior to seasons of love was about, because although I wouldn’t classify it as POLITICAL theatre, but still full of things to think about.
As to “Now i do alot of professional work even if your the most talented person it wont show without good direction!!”
That can’t be as all-encompassing as you make out, perhaps a matter of opinion. I have seen talented actors, with misguided “directors” turn out brilliant performances, and you did point out a few posts later that you are “NOT by any means THE most Professional or experienced person asi said in my first post " i just got my big break in the professional scene last year"”.
Tact? LOL. That’s an interesting word… to me it means discretion, it means skilful delicacy, it means insight – your comments directed at Jon were about as tactful, as discrete, as insightful as a smack in the head with an iron pole. I’m all for personal opinions but why try and dress up a catty slagging like that with
“I’ll try and be tactful…?”
As to “and the fact that you put down other productions that were done... its not cool”
no, viewer, it’s not cool, it is quite upsetting and disappointing to hear that this was done, (especially to an unknown audience member) as most of us did make an effort to go and support both productions of rent and putting them down was not a consensus, hopefully you misheard, as most of us thoroughly enjoyed them. And as to being met with attitudes that IS odd to hear from the inside because working with this particular group of people has to me been the most rewarding experience I have had in theatre as there were no egos, there were no “cliques”, there were no issues and attitudes, and as to your childish comment regarding “people dont care that you have.. pashed some guy in the cast..” really? Is that “pass[ing] on [your] thoughts of the show in a professional manner”?
In response to the accusation “You guys were not serious... and for people like me who love and adore the musical.. i hated seeing it like that!!” That exceptionally devastating to hear as most of us did take it seriously, do love and adore the musical and would NOT want to ruin it for anyone as we appear to have done for you.
Most of us, myself included can see parts of themselves in the characters, parts of their family in the characters, parts of their loved ones in the characters. A lot of us have been through the highs and lows, the heartaches and the joys, the @!#$ ups and the victories which the characters go through during the course of the year. To say that we didn’t take it seriously would be to say that we didn’t take ourselves and our lives and the themes and issues of the production seriously, which really isn’t true. I have tried to remain as unbiased and fair in reading your reviews as possible, but when you plead innocence, when you say “it was just my thought and opinion on the show”, I can’t help but take it somewhat as a personal attack. How is it possible to be confronted with your own morals, values, beliefs, sexuality and mortality every night and not take it seriously… I’m confounded that you felt it wasn’t taken seriously… that we were void of emotion… that you didn’t see the tears shed onstage (and backstage) for friends lost, for friends dying, for friends and loved ones living in pain or in fear, that you didn’t here our voices breaking with our hearts. I would imagine it would be an incredibly hard show to do without connecting with the issues raised within, and as I said am devastated you thought this was the case.
In the end viewer, I hope you did take something away other than unwelcoming, negative attitudes, a crumpled raffle ticket and a boosted ego.
viewer wrote:
>
> HI. I really don't want to be the awful one who comes on here
> and says all negative stuff but i will give an honest opinion
> of the show...
> i have just read all the reveiws on here and all i will say
> is self praise is no reccomendation!! its obvious who wrote
> all those reviews!!
> Honestly guys.. i came and saw the show as i went and saw
> all... and im sorry but you were no where near the most pro,
> polished or by far no where near the best!! although you had
> some nice moments and you your ensemble sung well.. over all
> it was a mess!!
> i almost felt like you were taking the piss out of RENT!!!
> you didnt even try to be professional i mean i had Benny sell
> me my ticket which might i add was a 50c reffel ticket????
> really?? you could have tried a little harder than that, i
> mean i understand you have a budget but i mean even print
> them out at home.. seriously. then the cast was all out over
> the stage before the show started... have you ever seen a
> show with cast members befor the show hanging around OUT OF
> CHARACTER.. not even at high school were we being that
> un-professional!!
> Now Casting??? wow... ok... i'll start with the possitives..
> Mimi was good, nice voice little bit void emotionally but
> quite good over all!! Collins was good, beautiful voice but a
> bit too much with the "emotions" bit over acting but well
> done. Angel again beautiful voice bbut acting a little dull,
> beautiful voice but. and joanne was ok too. and ensemble even
> though a little lost at times vocally nice.
> the weakest thing about this show was the direction or lack
> of!! half the time people didnt know what they were doing...
> i just dont think that was fair on them.. they had potential
> but NO direction. Now i do alot of professional work and even
> if your the most talented person it wont show without good
> diretion!!
> ROGER??? ok... i'l try and be tactful here... you were not
> very good. your pitch, your acting you understanding of the
> character and most of all your attitude was just all wrong.
> This really pulled the show down. Roger.. a young stuggling
> "rock star", sexy, sad, intimate, caring, rough looking.. you
> didnt fit any of these.. you sung it operetic and very out of
> key i dont know how mimi did it at times and i was certain
> you were going to come out in that santa dress too. now i
> dont want to appear homophobic and if your gay thats fine but
> Roger isnt and you played him like a little puncy gay man who
> had no emotion at all. very bad casting by the director!!!
> MAUREEN??? ok, vocally could not cary this role at all...
> over the moon although full of energy was in at least 17
> different keys. again just bad casting. the understudy
> although a little young seemed better for the role.
> MARK. this guy has a lot of potential really nice voice...
> way too young and inexperienced to play this role.. you didnt
> really understand it did you?? its like everyone especially
> roger just tried to over shine you and the role of Mark then
> appeared as a featured ensembble not THE LEAD!!
> Look i know your a musicall society and i didnt walk in the
> doors and expect full on professional but i would have liked
> you to try a little harder just simple things like the
> tickets and being back stage at the beg and intermission in
> character.. you just didnt seem to take it seriously! and the
> fact that you put down other productions that were done...
> its not cool. i deliberately didnt compare you too penrith,
> rockdale or chatswood cause you all have diffent casts,
> interpretations and budgets it wouldnt be fair to compare!!
> but i will say at least they tried to be as professional as
> they possibly could!!
> i was less than impressed with the lack of preperation and
> professionalism of this production. I feel sorry for some
> cast members... mimi, would love to see you do that role with
> a differnt roger where you can really work off some real
> emotions!!
> well done ensemble. and just remeber self praise is no
> recomendation.
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···
- ···