I watched last night. For the record, I'm not a fan of "Rent", despite growing up in the theater and despite being exactly the right age at the right time when the show got big. But my wife, who's a few years younger than me but still in that target "Rent" superfan demo, loves the thing, and I love my wife. So I watched.
Overall, I liked the production design - going with a unit set (a la NBC's JCS Live!) was a good choice, as was the extended "warehouse" feel - it worked with the show's throughline. And the band was outstanding. Was decidedly less a fan of the screaming audience; unlike JCS, this wasn't presented as a "concert", so there was no reason for the audience to be screaming mid-song like they were at the Lady Gaga show in Vegas. It was distracting and screwed with the mic pickups. Certain technical failings (a less-than-ideal mix, in places; out-of-position cameras) can be chalked up to the fact that this was (for all but the final segment) the dress rehearsal; with that taken into consideration, it wasn't that bad. Less forgivable: some casting choices. I thought Jordan Fisher, Vanessa Hudgens & Kiersey Clemons all did well in their roles, and Brandon Victor Dixon killed it yet again (for those not keeping score, he was Judas in JCS Live!). Brennin Hunt was fine as Roger (I mean, no one does Broadway Asshole Protagonist like Adam Pascal, so that was always going to be an uphill battle), and Tinashe as Mimi actually made me not entirely hate "Out Tonight" for once. I would have preferred to see a better singer than Valentina in the role of Angel - "Today For You, Tomorrow For Me" was *painful*. And Keala Settle as just unnecessary. I appreciated how the finale pivoted into a tribute to Jonathan Larson and revealed the OBC, without being too heavy-handed. Also, can we somehow find a musical project for Jessie L. Martin & Brandon Victor Dixon? Please? Overall, was it the WORST of the modern TV musical presentations? I can't say yes without overlooking Fox's attempt at "Rocky Horror". Even putting that aside (since it was mostly on tape), I still think NBC's Peter Pan was worse overall, even if it was more daring in terms of production. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
