Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway
by Michael John Warren
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DVD details
Actor: Adam Kantor, Michael McElroy, Rodney Hicks, Tracie Thoms, Will ChaseDirector: Michael John Warren
Brand: Sony
Editor: Adam Zuckerman
Editor: Edward Bishop
Producer: Andrew Fried
Producer: Chris Rouchard
Producer: Jon Kamen
Producer: Justin Wilkes
Producer: Philip W. Hack
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.77:1
Running Time: 165 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-02-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Actors: Will Chase, Adam Kantor, Michael McElroy, Rodney Hicks, Tracie Thoms.
- Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC.
- Language: English. Subtitles: English, French.
- Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only).
- Not Rated. Run Time: 165 minutes.
DVD Reviews of Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway
DVD Review: Flawless -- that's all there is to it
Summary: 5 Stars
I was introduced to the world of RENT in 2005 with the release of the film adaptation, and I'm glad to say I've come a long way since. I loved the film, but then I got to see the actual show in Cleveland in 2006 and fell even more in love with the whole thing. There's a certain raw edge, a certain emotional level to the stage show that I felt was missing in the film. So as you can imagine I was beyond excited when I heard they were filming the last night on Broadway. I missed the opportunity to see the final tour when it came through Cleveland, so I definitely made it a priority to buy this dvd.
Well, it came in the mail yesterday and since then I think I've watched it three times. Yeah. Maybe I just miss the stage show that much, or maybe it's just that good of a show. Or maybe both; I don't know.
So, a rundown of favorites, because that's what I love to talk about:
My favorite character here is definitely Mark. Adam Kantor is incredible, especially considering he was still a student at Northwestern University when this was filmed. Makes me jealous. But he's so adorable and he completely gets the character. I think his portrayal is a bit more sarcastic (however subtly) than Anthony Rapp's, and like I say he made Mark my favorite character.
Roger (Will Chase) was another wonderfully portrayed role. Besides One Song Glory (which he delivers fantastically), the part that sticks out in my mind is the end of the Life Support meeting, when Roger turns and joins Gordon in singing "Because reason says I should've died three years ago". SO powerful. He also has excellent chemistry with Renee Elise Goldsberry (Mimi), a must... which brings me to her.
Renee makes an excellent Mimi -- what I adore most is her energy. She bounces all over the place and she's adorable. After I saw the film and before I saw the stage show, I couldn't fathom how a woman could pull off electric blue spandex and call it sexy at the same time -- I'd seen pictures of Daphne Rubin-Vega and others, and the look just didn't appeal to me in the slightest. But once you've seen it, and seen it done well, you understand. Goldsberry pulls it off just like anyone else who has ever played Mimi on stage, and does it beautifully. The one thing I criticize about her is that her voice seems a bit too opera-suited and not as "raw" as I would prefer -- too much vibrato in places where I would expect to hear just a straight note. But she has a beautiful voice and cannot be faulted for that.
Justin Johnston's Angel is probably my favorite out of the three I've seen (including original cast member Wilson Jermaine Heredia, in the film). He imbues Angel with a joy of life that makes him completely irresistible. To tell the truth, Angel had been one of my least favorite characters in the past, but as with Mark, I've fallen in love with Angel. My favorite bit from him is a little line just before "I'll Cover You," when Collins asks if they're a "thing". Angel replies, "Darling, we're everything." I was sold. SO cute.
His counterpart, Michael McElroy's Collins, is performed very solidly. I wasn't overly impressed, but I liked him all the same. This is another pair that needs to have chemistry, and they definitely do. Their interactions in "I'll Cover You" and "You Okay Honey?" are excellent and really set the tone for their characters' love story.
Maureen, played by Eden Espinosa, is fantastic. She's enthusiastic, funny, and believable, and that's what I love about her. (For all the theatre geeks out there, I just want to say I think it's awesome that this is the second time she's picked up a role begun by Idina Menzel). =] I've seen clips of when she performed in Wicked, but I have to say I love her Maureen. She works really well with Traci's Joanne (again, chemistry -- love it) and her rendition of "Over the Moon" is hilarious.
Traci Thoms -- who is someone Rent enthusiasts should remember as Joanne in the film as well -- is I think much better in this on-stage setting. "We're Okay" gives her a chance to show off her solo stuff, and she just seems to fit the part better in the stage costume.
Rodney Hicks, an original cast member, plays Benny and was, I think, very successful. He made the character a bit more cheesy than Taye's original, very accustomed to his life as the husband of a "wealthy daughter of the revolution."
Personally, I really loved watching the people in the chorus. All of them were phenomenal in the multiple character personas that each played. I adored all of them and each, I think, is notable. Gwen Stewart is an original cast member and just as wonderful as she was on the cast album. Jay Wilkison was incredible as Gordon and "The Man", among others. Telly Leung was most adorable as the squeegee man and the waiter, and Marcus Paul James gave a flawless performance in all of his characters. My very favorite though was Tracy McDowell, who had played Maureen when I saw the tour in Cleveland. She was a joy to watch, never boring.
Overall, I have to say that I don't think any diehard RENThead should go without this in their collection. This show will be missed -- here's a chance to hang onto it.
No day but today.
Description of Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 02/03/2009 Run time: 150 minutesFor passionate fans of Rent--the popular Broadway rock musical that updated La Boheme with electric guitars, steel drums, strippers, and drag queens--Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway is a must-have.Written and composed by Jonathan Larson (who died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm just before the show premiered), Rent follows an absurdly clean-cut gaggle of hipster artists who, after having been squatting in a run-down building for a year, are now being told they have to pay that rent by the building's owner, a former friend. At least, that's the plot point that launches everything; really, the musical is about modern romance, grappling with AIDS, and celebrating the creative spirit. This film documents the last performance of the Broadway production, which ran for 12 years. Though the aggressive camera moves and sometimes frenetic editing seem intended to make the film feel less stagebound, this Rent first and foremost captures the stage experience. The production's raw set and self-conscious theatricality (which highfalutin' theater folk might call "Brechtian") creates genuine show-biz razzle-dazzle and helps distract from some of the cliches in the musical itself. There are no famous faces (the closest is Tracie Thoms, who played the same role, the lesbian lover of a performance artist, in the movie version), but the cast is solid and exuberant, throwing themselves wholeheartedly into the show's unapologetically sincere paeans to life and love. --Bret Fetzer
Stills from Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway (Click for larger image)
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