Rent
Sat, 8 Nov 2008, 05:06 pmMark Wickett8 posts in thread
Rent
Sat, 8 Nov 2008, 05:06 pm“Rent” tells the story of a year in the life of an eclectic mix of New York characters struggling with uncertainty, jealousy, hopelessness, losing love and losing life. Scott Nell directs the Adelaide premiere of this rock opera with conviction, making good use of the width and depth of the Star Theatre stage.
The ensemble pieces are this show’s strength, though there are individual standouts too: Rod Schultz’s “Collins” is a rock for the show, his jazz smooth but city-grime voice soaring where others missed their notes and he is utterly convincing when he takes us on his emotional ride with “Angel”, played with so much fun, life and complete credibility by James Christopher Reed, who relishes the best costumes of the show. Whitney Boyd gives us immense presence and power as “Maureen” and delivers a stunning duet with Deanna Farnell’s uptight “Joanne” – but there’s strength further down the cast list too: James Clark gets to enjoy playing dark and nasty and a snarly Petra Taylor nearly steals scenes with her ever mumbling homeless woman – and what a great shocking first line in “On The Street”!
Chemistry between the various couples is not always in abundance, but you truly believe the grief late in the second act. Matthew Carey’s band performs terrifically, high above the back of the stage and the well-executed stage design puts up with occasional strange positioning and movement of actors, but it doesn’t jar too much and is more than compensated for by the excellent choreography in “Tango: Maureen” and the superbly steamy “Contact”.
“Rent” is a story of tolerance and friendship despite the worst that life can throw at you – and the opening night certainly had its moments of trying to trip up the cast and crew with technical challenges, but these did not dampen the passion of the company and delivered us a show worthy of its last line “there’s no day like today”.
I see 'arts lover' that my
Fri, 21 Nov 2008, 01:12 pmWalter Plinge
I see 'arts lover' that my comments have sparked a personal attack against me and my credentials when it comes to theatre. I usually would not respond to these attacks, but as this show was part of my life for sometime I feel the need to. I am now semi retired living in Melbourne and still lend a hand to the occasional theatre show in Melbourne. I was in Adelaide visiting a friend of mine who is HIV positive and knew about the Adelaide production of RENT, so I went along to your local theatre, as I have done in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
I was involved with RENT at the Theatre Royal for Cameron Mackintosh in Sydney auditioning over 4,000 people nationally for the roles and worked for Kevin McCollum who produced the show on Broadway at the Ordway Music Theatre in Minnesota.
I am allowed to critique and give my opinion - that's what theatre is all about. Okay it's hard to compare Angel to Sydney's Opell Ross or Courtney Act but that was my opinion. Wasn't this was supposed to be Adelaide's best?
A director can only do what he can with the cast he has to work with in amateur theatre, and as I stated in my comments I didn't dislike it, I merely pointed out the standouts.
And as for 'oxygen thiefs' in the audience - they go to the occasional amateur show to scout for talent. I didn't know anybody in the cast - and this is purely MY opinion. It took other professionals to point this out and that you chose to attack rather than accept a critique. You also need to understand that young talent improve the more they perform - not everybody has the 'it' factor, as I've sat through thousands of auditions and have worked professionally in this field. I also pointed out that it was spectacular in bits, and I have to commend the director having to work with young talent who need to listen and learn from criticism - that's part of growing as a performer. He has offered an avenue for these young people to grow.
People have made some valid points about the show that's what forums are all about.