Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Rapp originated the role of Mark Cohen when what was to become a surprise blockbuster musical made its debut off-Broadway in February 1996. It's a role he stayed with when it swiftly moved to Broadway in April 1996 and later to film in 2005."
Friday, August 29, 2008
'Rent' star brings stage version to City Theatre
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Rapp originated the role of Mark Cohen when what was to become a surprise blockbuster musical made its debut off-Broadway in February 1996. It's a role he stayed with when it swiftly moved to Broadway in April 1996 and later to film in 2005."
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5 comments:
The show would have been a great one man PLAY, but I was not very impressed by the new musical numbers, at least lyrically.
I saw this show Saturday evening, and I must say I was more impressed with it than I thought I would be. It was a very honest (at least, seemingly so) show--his stories about his mother and career were interesting and spoke to just about everyone in attendance that evening.
I enjoyed it, some stories were hard-hitting to me personally but I didn't, however, think it was worth seeing again.
What really irritated me the most is perhaps obvious: The use of RENT songs and using the show as such a large part of the show made it seem more like a "RENT musical review with some added tear-jerk attempts" rather than a true biography. Rightfully so, much of Anthony's life has been associated with RENT; but, it seemed more like a last attempt to pull RENT from it's slowly declining status in the theatre scene than a true biography of his life. Perhaps that's a directing thing.
I still can't imagine having to run through that show, which is obviously very personal to him, every night though.
I saw Saturday's preview of "Without You." I went not knowing exactly what to expect, and I didn't leave disappointed. Rapp's story was interesting and well-told. His memories about his mother left very few dry eyes in the house.
Most of the musical numbers worked well, but some of the new songs did not quite work for me. The show was fairly simple from a technical standpoint, but the lights seemed to change more often than they needed to and I found it distracting.
This show is an emotional roller-coaster, which Rapp handled with great sensitivity and a sense of humor. All in all, a good experience. Worth seeing at least once.
I agree with Alex, This production as a play would be both a good challenge for him, and would help the stories be fleshed out more. His style was defined by RENT, and I can understand the business aspect of having him follow that style, but I would have liked to see the other things he could do. I have no doubt he is capable of doing such, and he shouldn't feel pressured to box himself into one style.
I admit that I have not seen the show yet, but I feel like this one-man play doesn't exactly have a broad audience. I think Rent fans will flock to see Rapp and to hears his stories behind the scenes, because that's what fans do. Most of the success from this show seems like to ride on another show's success. Perhaps it would seem more appetizing if Rapp took his experiences to make a "fictional" story out of it. Then again, mayhaps that beats his entire purpose? Or maybe I just fear one man shows?
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