Rent Live! (Fox) - General Discussion

[ancslove]

Adam Pascal sticking with Brennin Hunt was really sweet.  

Superstar is still the best Live TV Musical, IMO, but it had no spoken dialogue.  I think Rent balanced the singing and speaking the best, so far.  But all the networks really need to figure out how to balance the actors with the orchestra and the audience.  

[mtlchick]

59 minutes ago, bosawks said:

Kudos to Vanessa for treating dress like opening night.

I'm not the biggest fan of hers, but when her dad died the night before Grease!Live, she went out and destroyed the damn thing even you can tell she was devastated.  She gained my respect 10 fold. 

 

I recorded it and watched the SAG awards and then switched to this.  I am slightly familiar with the musical and movie, but not having understudies for this and then using the taped rehearsals where there were tons of audio problems and actors not going all out is a disservice to the fans who deserve better.  I know things happen, but doing this tactic isn't going to work in the future. At least they managed to go live for the final 15 minutes.

 

Nice to see you slightly moving, Jesse L. Martin.  Please come back to the Flash because it's less fun without him.  

[Snow Apple]

2 minutes ago, bosawks said:

And, damn, Adam Pascal probably could’ve gone on as Roger....

Can you imagine the screaming *that* would have caused? LOL

[ms.o]

I think Jordan wanted to individually thank every audience member! He seemed to genuinely appreciate the moment and I think I love him.

but not as much as JLM. I adore him and I miss Joe West

[bonniejmac]

13 minutes ago, bosawks said:

Never really liked the resurrection of Mimi, but, oh well.

I read an interview with, I think, Adam Pascal once (or might have been Anthony Rapp), but he talked about how people complain about Mimi coming back to life at the end and he said he always looked at it as she was clearly at death's door and might have had that momentary 'surge' but that she was probably gone within a few days of that event.

[WhosThatGirl]

I mean even if I didn’t enjoy the actor who played angel, I feel a little bad that angel had no moment in the finale and therefore they had no real part in the actual life version. That stinks. 

[Lovecat]

2 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Can you imagine the screaming *that* would have caused? LOL

There sure as hell would have been some screaming in my living room!!   Love him.

[Catgyrl]

2 minutes ago, ms.o said:

I think Jordan wanted to individually thank every audience member! He seemed to genuinely appreciate the moment and I think I love him.

but not as much as JLM. I adore him and I miss Joe West

Jordan said this has been his dream since he was 14 years old: to be the first person of color to play Mark. I bet this is an even bigger deal for him than Hamilton.

[shoregirl]

4 minutes ago, bonniejmac said:

I read an interview with, I think, Adam Pascal once (or might have been Anthony Rapp), but he talked about how people complain about Mimi coming back to life at the end and he said he always looked at it as she was clearly at death's door and might have had that momentary 'surge' but that she was probably gone within a few days of that event.

They talk about it on the dvd commentary on the movie.

 

I needed up really liking it . I was ugly crying starting when they showed Jonathon  Larson. Then the original cast coning out. I was a mess 

[memememe76]

The show has always been hit and miss for me, where some songs and pieces I love and others I can't bother. The show tonight kept the things I liked intact, while never really elevating I didn't much care for in the past. The sequence with the 3 main couples in their beds were so beautifully staged and filmed. It is a shame we will never get a true live version of this. 

The main group were all good, but the actor playing Mark was really excellent. He made that role is own.

[MadyGirl1987]

So, they have been changing dialogue all night but do "Contact," a simulated sex scene? I officially don't get TV censorship...

[ancslove]

I wonder why Fox decided to perform this against the SAG awards, anyway.  I know the SAGs aren't aired on network tv, but all the entertainment media are focusing on them as the next step toward Oscar.  Fox may get more viewers, but they aren't getting press.

[emcmac87]

So I haven’t actually been able to watch this yet, but Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms have some awesome insta posts. It’s great seeing so many originals(original and movie) together. Including both Mimi’s and both Joanne’s. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

3 hours ago, ancslove said:

I keep thinking that Brennin Hunt is Aaron Tveit!  Good opening group number.  

He could never come close to Aaron! :) 

[SnoGirl]

I’m bummed that Fox didn’t go bold and actually do the show live. I get why they didn’t, they had been rehearsing something completely different but I thought it was pretty tame and lacking electricity until the very end. But I also thought the band was just going through the motions more than the actors. Then the end-wow. I cried. 

 

The clips of the actual live performance on Twitter looked amazing. It also looks like they were taping it, so maybe someday Fox will release it.

 

Guess from here on out they should tape a version that could possibly be aired and everyone knows it could be aired.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Rent is one of my favorite musicals, so this was overall a disappointment (even though I had low expectations anyway). 

[rustyspigot]

I know the Angel memorial song is supposed to be sad, but that ridiculous giant photo of Valentina just made me laugh. She was awful.

[Eolivet]

1 hour ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

So, they have been changing dialogue all night but do "Contact," a simulated sex scene? I officially don't get TV censorship...

Except between Angel opening her eyes like she was possessed at the beginning, and then being dragged away while singing, it seemed like she was being carried off by the AIDS demons. I always thought her death was the, ahem, climactic moment of the song, but this played more like a kidnapping.

I mean ... it was fine, but to me, it missed the anger and passion of the original -- which I realize is impossible to capture, especially without the cursing. I wanted to see them spit the words to "La Vie Boheme" like they were dirty words (I mean, did the director tell them, "you're ostensibly singing to the yuppie scum who think you're trash, and trying to get a rise out of them?")

And don't even get me started on the lyric changes. Why can we not say that "Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability to hold an erection on the high holy days" at almost 10PM Eastern time?

Also, who turned "What You Own" -- a song about disillusionment -- into a triumphant ... crowd-surfing number? Did the choreographer listen to the lyrics? Characters cannot sing "We're dying in America to come into our own!" with a smile and their arms raised above their head.

While I thought Vanessa Hudgens outshone everyone with her energy (with "Over the Moon" and "Take Me or Leave Me" both standouts for me), I realized that the most anachronistic character in this is Mark. The ironic, detached narrator is sort of a 90s relic, and his energy may have been the most difficult to duplicate. I liked what Jordan Fisher did with the role, but it was a totally different Mark in terms of tone. And I think that's nobody's fault, only that it's impossible to replicate that feeling today.

But for a show that is so dependent on the energy of its cast to elevate its material, like I believe Rent is, that low-energy dress rehearsal really did them no favors.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Eolivet

[Silver Raven]

At what point did Brennin break his foot, does anybody know?

 

I thought Tinashe doing "Will You Light My Candle" was a scene stealer.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I wanted to punch all the screaming chicks during "What You Own" and the distracting clapping. Totally took me out of it and the intensity of that song. Then again, Roger and Mark sounded like they'd just woken up, so whatever.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

36 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

At what point did Brennin break his foot, does anybody know?

Supposedly during the commercial break after What You Own. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Also, was it too much to ask for them to just wheel Roger around to join the rest of the gang for the last performance? I should be crying instead of laughing at the two Rogers hanging out way in the back. 

[WhosThatGirl]

3 hours ago, ancslove said:

I wonder why Fox decided to perform this against the SAG awards, anyway.  I know the SAGs aren't aired on network tv, but all the entertainment media are focusing on them as the next step toward Oscar.  Fox may get more viewers, but they aren't getting press.

Yeah I wondered this too. I was flipping back and forth. But I guess there’s a lot going on almost every weekend now. Even next weekend it’s the super bowl.  Actually fox should have done this two weekends from now, instead of tonight. I don’t believe there’s anything major going on February 10th.

Also I’m sure this will get some press. E networks Instagram has been posting pictures and somewhat articles about it and different entertainment sites have different people covering different programs, so it will more than likely get some traction. Because yeah, it’s not just this show but other tv programs still happened tonight even with the sag awards and they get tv recaps/reviews written about them.  But yeah most of the buzz will be about the Sags. 

I do have to say though this if I’m being honest got little fanfare to me. At least compared to past live musicals, on any network.  Even the not live rocky horror picture show got more previewing and publicity. At least to me. I saw barley anything for this until this week. I’m wondering if the “live” musical isn’t at all an interesting gimmick anymore. Also again it doesn’t help that fox sat on this for a few years because they’ve had the rights for at least two. Makes me wonder if we will ever see Bye Bye birdie on NBC that we should have gotten a year or two ago. I know it was held off because Jennifer Lopez was supposed to Star and she had her Vegas show and other Commitments but I haven’t heard any news on it as of late.

8 minutes ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Supposedly during the commercial break after What You Own. 

Well it wasn’t really a commercial break, it was during the dress rehearsal last night, right after that performance. 

I do wish we had gotten an actual live performance, if anything, there was more electricity in the last moments of this because of that and it shows. 

Or you know these live productions really should start hiring understudies. I mean this is the first time a live production has had a situation like this isn’t it? but if live productions are going to keep being a thing, networks should take notes on this.

[Trini]

Does anyone know where the show was filmed? NY? LA?

[mojoween]

7 hours ago, Catgyrl said:

Spot Robert Roldan from SYTYCD in La Vie Boheme

I saw Hannalei during the first Life Support meeting but then didn’t see her again.  

I still can’t believe there was no understudy.  They probably could have called someone who played Roger on Broadway or Off-Broadway or community theatre or high school and they could have picked up the layout of this production.

Although I would have felt badly for Brennin because he sounded amazing in the clip where he was in the wheelchair.

I think why I paused with Valentina as Angel is that Angel seemed like someone who was trying to make it day by day by earning her money on the street.  But Valentina was so polished and didn’t seem gritty at all.

Although yeah Angel is a dog murderer.  And Benny was happy about it.  Run Allison!

Never in a million years would we hear the word “fuck” on FOX so it would have been better if they just bleeped it out rather than change the lyrics.

And I'll join the Greek chorus that the audience was at its annoying heights during “What You Own.”

Edited January 28, 2019 by mojoween

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The biggest disappointment to me was the lackluster/flat singing from a lot of the cast. I'd rather they cast someone who's an okay actor but an amazing singer for a show like this.

I also HATED some of the camera work.

I wasn't expecting much from Valentina because as gorgeous as her face is, she has not shown herself to be a good singer, actor, dancer, performer, or comedian on RPDR. She definitely lived down to my expectations. Her singing was downright awful.

Although I feel bad for Brennin Hunt because I'm sure he was disappointed about breaking his ankle so close to the actual performance, I wasn't impressed with his singing which was flat and lacked energy.

Also on the "not impressed" list was Tinashe. Her singing was flat and her acting was not great. I expect sexy flirting during "Light My Candle" and I definitely did not get that from her. The choreography for "Out Tonight" was far more difficult in the productions I've seen before (hanging upside down, doing high kicks down the stairs, all while singing). In comparison, this was all posing and I still didn't feel like she did a very good job with the watered down choreography she was given. I was also not a fan of her vibrato which sounded like a goat. She couldn't hit the lower notes in "Without You." It's a pet peeve of mine when singers don't work on their lower range. If you can practice how high you can yell out a higher note, you can work on your lower range.

I was imagining Randy Jackson saying, "Sorry, dawg, it was too pitchy for me," after half these songs.

Vanessa Hudgens was absolutely HORRIBLE when she played Mimi in the Hollywood Bowl production of Rent so I was not looking forward to her as Maureen, but I was pleasantly surprised that she managed to exceed my extremely low expectations. Her singing is better than it was as Mimi, but as with when she played Mimi, her sexiness comes off as forced. I could practically see the thought bubble over her head that said "act sexy" every time she did a hip roll.

Now that it's 2019, it can be easy to forget how terrifying the AIDS epidemic was in the 80s and 90s.

I'm glad that they invited the OBC ensemble members to the show too!

I am all for an enthusiastic and supportive audience but STFU during the songs so I can hear the actual songs! CLAP WHEN THE SONG IS OVER!

6 hours ago, Catgyrl said:

Spot Robert Roldan from SYTYCD in La Vie Boheme

Hannalei was in the ensemble too!

6 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

And they just showed an ad for the stage show going on stage again this March and I wAnt to go! I’ve never seen t on stage but I’ve studied in my all my musical theater classes and fell in love and now I feel like I have to see it!

I would recommend seeing it live if you can! I saw the Benny tour with Neil Patrick Harris and Wilson Cruz at the La Jolla Playhouse before they launched the official tour in Los Angeles and it was AMAZING live. Just a warning: one of the 2019 tours is non-equity so FYI.

4 hours ago, bosawks said:

And, damn, Adam Pascal probably could’ve gone on as Roger....

 

4 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

Maybe he should have?

Last year when Adam Pascal was in the national tour for Something Rotten, he sang One Song Glory after the curtain call during Broadway Cares and he still sounded amazing. My friend was at one of the shows in LA so she got to see it live and she was geeking out! I don't know if he'd want to sing the entire show six days a week, he definitely could have handled one performance!

 

 

2 hours ago, Trini said:

Does anyone know where the show was filmed? NY? LA?

According to the credits, it was filmed at Fox Studios in LA.

[The Wild Sow]

1 hour ago, mojoween said:

Although yeah Angel is a dog murderer.  And Benny was happy about it.  Run Allison!

Nah, Evita totally committed suicide!

 

And who ever heard of a "high-strung, yappy" Akita??  

[Ruby Gillis]

7 hours ago, Eolivet said:

But for a show that is so dependent on the energy of its cast to elevate its material, like I believe Rent is, that low-energy dress rehearsal really did them no favors.

 

Are we sure it would have been that different from the dress rehearsal?  I know some people on Twitter said the sound was much better in the live portion, but I couldn't tell.  Did the sound engineers change something?  A lot of the cast just aren't experienced professionals, so I'm not sure we would have gotten much more.  That said, I did enjoy it for what it was, especially Jordan, Brandon, and Vanessa.  These live musicals have come a long way since Sound of Music and Peter Pan (shudder).

Also, the budget was like $5.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Ruby Gillis

[legaleagle53]

19 minutes ago, Ruby Gillis said:

Also, the budget was like $5.

That would explain why there were no understudies.

[jcin617]

I am still dumbfounded there are no understudies.  What would have happened if he broke his foot just before dress rehearsal started?    

Overall, I enjoyed this.   I really did not like Valentina in the performance of Angel.   I also wasn't a fan of the performance of Mimi; too many pitch issues.

especially Jordan, Brandon, and Vanessa

I really liked Jordan's portrayal of Mark.  Especially some of the dance moves he threw in.

I think the main problems with the dress rehearsal that might have been corrected for live was toning down the audience's screaming at key points and fixing the sound problems that caused the singers to be drowned out.   Really, the only song it would have been completely acceptable for that level of audience participation is "Over the Moon" because the audience gets involved then in the stage production.

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by jcin617

[Lovecat]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Last year when Adam Pascal was in the national tour for Something Rotten, he sang One Song Glory after the curtain call during Broadway Cares and he still sounded amazing. My friend was at one of the shows in LA so she got to see it live and she was geeking out! I don't know if he'd want to sing the entire show six days a week, he definitely could have handled one performance!

 

 

That codpiece is worth the price of admission. HAVE mercy.  That man is still sex on legs.

[mtlchick]

6 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

I don’t believe there’s anything major going on February 10th.

The Grammys are on that night.  

[Florinaldo]

I never realised until last night how most of the characters in this can come across as self-centered irresponsible immature slackers; the performers were so one-dimensional and superfifcial that they did not add any real personality to the basic premise "we dress in funky mismatched colorful clothes, so we are artistes and bohemians". At least the supporting players and Mark rose above that low bar.

I think that making the audience very vocal and even part of the action is to make sure it comes across to the viewers at home that this is indeed live and look how high-energy it makes the whole thing. It can be difficult to achieve the correct balance though and to not let the audience take over; few of those live productions do it successfully. It's especially egregious when audience members act like shrieking fangirls and fanboys at a pop concert, which drowns out the singers, often at the most inappropriate moments. That behaviour and the sound levels were the same in the concluding live portion as during the recorded dress rehearsal so I think that the audience would have been as annoying in a totally live broadcast.

6 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Also, was it too much to ask for them to just wheel Roger around to join the rest of the gang for the last performance?

Wheelchairs are indeed sometimes used in live theater when a lead gets injured; the blocking needs to be adjusted, although in the case of this particular play it probably would have been near impossible to do it throughout in the short time they had. But it was quite lazy to just plop him on a table and leave him there until the final fade-out.

[Rickster]

My local cable outlet broadcast the first 10 minutes of this with a frozen pixelated screen and no sound. I guess I’m glad I gave up on it.

[Skittl1321]

1 hour ago, Lovecat said:

That codpiece is worth the price of admission. HAVE mercy.  That man is still sex on legs.

The costumers for Something Rotten really had fun with those.  I don't even recall his being the most ridiculous one.  That was a great show. I only saw it on Broadway, so never got to see Adam do it.

[kilda]

4 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

Nah, Evita totally committed suicide!

 

And who ever heard of a "high-strung, yappy" Akita??  

I obsessively love Rent, but this dog thing has always bothered me.  Mainly the fact that we are supposed to love and embrace Angel knowing she murdered a dog.  And also the fact that apparently Larson thought an akita was some sort of small yappy fluffy dog.  When they're more like german shepherds with an Asian flair.

I just sort of ignore the whole dog thing as best I can and I like to think that's one of the flaws he would have revised if he had lived.

Also, I can't believe they don't have understudies in these live shows.  what a stupid risk to take, and I can't believe this is the first time that has come back to bite them.

Edited January 28, 2019 by kilda

[Skittl1321]

11 hours ago, Duckie30ca said:

My 12 yr old shouted “OMG THEN JUST TELL HER!”

 

It amused me. 

I think telling someone you had AIDS then was a pretty massive deal... even today it would be and it's no longer a death sentence. 

I get the idea of the song.

 

I really love RENT. It meant so much to me in college.   I'll Cover You was our first dance at our wedding. I remember previewing it with my parents to see if they realized it was two men singing... I was worried it would freak out my grandfather.  

[TattleTeeny]

11 hours ago, lovett1979 said:

It clears up after about 8 minutes. Fast forward.

Like I said, DVR froze completely. Tried multiple times and we got bounced back to the beginning of the bad recording. The remote was useless. 

[kilda]

8 minutes ago, Skittl1321 said:

I think telling someone you had AIDS then was a pretty massive deal... even today it would be and it's no longer a death sentence. 

I get the idea of the song.

 

I really love RENT. It meant so much to me in college.   I'll Cover You was our first dance at our wedding. I remember previewing it with my parents to see if they realized it was two men singing... I was worried it would freak out my grandfather.  

yeah, I think it's hard for people who weren't around then to realize what that part of the AIDS epidemic was like.  I remember stories of people being turned away by hospitals and funeral homes because people were so terrified of catching the disease.  There are very few diseases with a 100% mortality rate, but in the early 1990s, AIDS was one.  Think how scared we get of diseases like cancer that *might* kill you.  At that time, this was a disease that if you had it, it DID kill you.  It wasn't until at least the mid90s, long after Mimi, Roger and Collins would have been dead, that people started thinking that *maybe* HIV could be managed like a chronic disease and people could live more than a couple of years with it. 

[jcin617]

55 minutes ago, Florinaldo said:

I never realised until last night how most of the characters in this can come across as self-centered irresponsible immature slackers; the performers were so one-dimensional and superfifcial that they did not add any real personality to the basic premise "we dress in funky mismatched colorful clothes, so we are artistes and bohemians". 

That's always been my one beef with Mark and his job offer at Buzzline;  getting a job like that does not have to mean you're selling out.  You use the money from that job to finance whatever artistic projects you want to do,   Or more pragmatically, when you have two close friends with likely terminal diseases who may need your help.  

Edited January 28, 2019 by jcin617

[lovett1979]

The whole thing is available on FOX.com now, for those who missed it. There's even a nonsensical announcement that "the cast is waiting to step on stage in just a few moments." I don't understand why they put the "this is actually the rehearsal" announcement after the first segment and not before it started.

[Darian]

8 minutes ago, kilda said:

yeah, I think it's hard for people who weren't around then to realize what that part of the AIDS epidemic was like.  I remember stories of people being turned away by hospitals and funeral homes because people were so terrified of catching the disease.  There are very few diseases with a 100% mortality rate, but in the early 1990s, AIDS was one.  Think how scared we get of diseases like cancer that *might* kill you.  At that time, this was a disease that if you had it, it DID kill you.  It wasn't until at least the mid90s, long after Mimi, Roger and Collins would have been dead, that people started thinking that *maybe* HIV could be managed like a chronic disease and people could live more than a couple of years with it. 

Yeah, I was trying to explain it to younger friends in advance of this airing. I'm cishet, but went to nursing school in the late 80s (people said I was crazy to go into nursing because of AIDS), and did all my clinicals at the hospital said to turn out the best nurses. A lot of our patients had AIDS. I gave my first injection to a 50 pound grown man. It was as you describe. I still remember their faces, remember the exact color shirt of man I signed into the ER who was so damn grateful that I treated him like a person that I knew he'd treated in a way I couldn't imagine.  I recently read the remarkable novel "The Great Believers" by Rebecca Makkai and had to keep stopping because I was crying. And back then I was just on the periphery. The bohemian "we're artists, we're not going to pay rent" part feels dated, but the rest here and in the movie (I haven't seen it live) rings very true to me. And last night, "Will I" had me in a puddle of tears. 

[Duckie30ca]

31 minutes ago, Skittl1321 said:

I think telling someone you had AIDS then was a pretty massive deal... even today it would be and it's no longer a death sentence. 

I get the idea of the song.

You know what...you’re absolutely correct.  I apologize if I appeared flippant. 

[JessePinkman]

Wow, i so wish they'd aired what the audience saw last night.

 

I am NOT crying.

[ClareWalks]

Man, half the cast seemed to just be doing impressions of previous actors, and half the cast really made the roles their own. BVD was fabulous, of course, as was Vanessa, but for me Jordan Fisher was the MVP. He really took the character of Mark and made him different from anyone else and super memorable. It sounded like Tinashe was literally going for an impersonation of Rosario Dawson in the movie. Vanessa was a bit more nasal than I remember her in other things, giving her an Idina sound. I didn't like how subdued most folks were in the dress rehearsal. Roger was much stronger in the actual live portion at the end, despite probably being heavily medicated. Valentina...you know, she's obviously not a great singer/actor, but she radiated warmth and joy in that role, which was the most critical component of that part. Even when she was clearly fucking up the vocals, she didn't break character and show it on her face.

[Florinaldo]

2 hours ago, jcin617 said:

That's always been my one beef with Mark and his job offer at Buzzline;  getting a job like that does not have to mean you're selling out.

This musical buys into the romantic conceit that a true artist has to be starving and live in squalor to preserve the purity of their vision. Whereas creators have always taken on good paying commissions to finance their more personal activities; it allows them to put food on the table and a roof over their head, without shortchanging other people. I wasn't that bothered by it in the two productions of Rent I saw in the theater because the performances compensated for it; it did not work for me yesterday and most characters came across as whiny brats.

[Regalbegal]

I know the "what ifs" are many today, but I really wish, from the video that has slipped out from the live show,  they had decided to do a partially staged live concert.  I think that a good chunk (at least 50%?) of the numbers could have been run live with the planned staging mostly intact - the ones that didn't include Roger or where he mostly just stands/sits around anyway.  For the numbers that just couldn't have been staged with him sitting without a major overhaul, do those concert-style.   Overall, it was enjoyable, I feel weird critiquing something that those who made it weren't intending others to see.  So, trying to keep things mostly on the positive side....

13 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I thought Tinashe doing "Will You Light My Candle" was a scene stealer.

This is one of my favorite numbers in the show in general (I think partially because I get a kick out of how Larson played off of the original scene in "La Boheme"), and I was surprised in that I really liked what these two did with it (I guess my expectations for them were pretty low!).  To me, the airing of the rehearsal vs. live show seemed to impact  Brennin and Tinashe's performances the most. There were performers who were strong throughout or weak throughout, but these two were sort of hit and miss. They came on strong at the beginning, but felt more and more muted/restrained as the show went on.  Which completely makes sense - if I was doing a dress rehearsal I would not have gone full out the whole time!  There was definitely a "u curve" with the two of them, with the energy/intensity picking back up when it switched into live mode at the end.  

3 hours ago, ClareWalks said:

Man, half the cast seemed to just be doing impressions of previous actors, and half the cast really made the roles their own. BVD was fabulous, of course, as was Vanessa, but for me Jordan Fisher was the MVP. He really took the character of Mark and made him different from anyone else and super memorable. It sounded like Tinashe was literally going for an impersonation of Rosario Dawson in the movie. Vanessa was a bit more nasal than I remember her in other things, giving her an Idina sound. I didn't like how subdued most folks were in the dress rehearsal. Roger was much stronger in the actual live portion at the end, despite probably being heavily medicated. Valentina...you know, she's obviously not a great singer/actor, but she radiated warmth and joy in that role, which was the most critical component of that part. Even when she was clearly fucking up the vocals, she didn't break character and show it on her face.

BVD and Jordan Fisher really jumped out to me as the ones whose performances could stand up to the originals (from someone who saw the original cast back in the day).  BVD is a force of nature, and Jordan had a new take on the role of Mark that was fresh/interesting.  They (and Vanessa Hudgens) also seemed least impacted by the live/not live variations (from what I have seen of clips of the actual live show).   Of course, the ending with the original cast made up for a multitude of sins, and I loved the opportunities (however small) for the original cast members to sing/interplay with the new counterparts.  I think I would have been happy with just listening to Jesse L. Martin and BVD sing with each other for 3 hours.    

All in all, a lot of missed opportunities, but still worth a watch.  I hope that at some point Fox releases the entire "live concert".   

Edited January 28, 2019 by Regalbegal
typo

[Silver Raven]

Idina praises Vanessa Hudgens:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I did not understand some of the changes they made to the lyrics. Originally I thought they would just cut Contact completely and water down a lot of the content in La Vie Boheme, but somehow they kept Contact and LVB but they changed Benny saying "think twice before you poo poo it"? I'm honestly shocked that they kept so much of the original lyrics. I thought that Fox would definitely cut "mucho masturbation" and "to sodomy, it's between God and me, to S&M!"

[Lovecat]

5 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I did not understand some of the changes they made to the lyrics. Originally I thought they would just cut Contact completely and water down a lot of the content in La Vie Boheme, but somehow they kept Contact and LVB but they changed Benny saying "think twice before you poo poo it"? I'm honestly shocked that they kept so much of the original lyrics. I thought that Fox would definitely cut "mucho masturbation" and "to sodomy, it's between God and me, to S&M!"

My theory is that they had X number of...I don't know what to call it, "mature references"??...to play with, and they negotiated with the network to come up with what we saw.  "You can have your masturbation, but that dildo reference has got to go...and don't even think about pissing on the stoops!"