Rent: Filmed Live On Broadway - Review

I agree we needed more wide shots to see the entire stage BUT my HUGE problem was they cut part of the ending!!! Those who went know that Adam & Renee had solos during the performance with the original cast. They both sang a portion of "Seasons of Love B" right before the "I'll Cover You" portion started. Also because of camera angles we miss Anthony Rapp's claps to Jonathan Larson which is in my eyes an outrage they did not show it since it is something Anthony does to pay tribute to him after every show he was a part of. So e-mail ect. because if its coming to DVD they NEED TO make these changes.

This Filmed live version of rent meant so much to me!!!!! I unfortunatly was not able to go see rent before it closed. i'm 16 and it still impacted me as much as any one else. the photography was great sooo many things were shown that some one would have missed if they were sitting far from the stage. I figured i would have plenty of time and chances to see Rent before it was over because I figured something as great as it is would last far much longer. For me This film took me to the Nederlander theatre and allowed me to experience it!!! hopefully within a couple of years It will be revived, and they release this on to DVD so until then the stage version is not forgoten.

P.S.(If shrek the musical is on broadway their was no reason for Rent to close.)

If you want to see it released on dvd, send emails here: steve_elzer@spe.sony.com

Its funny, when I saw the show for the first time at the Nederlander in New York (with the legendary rush seats in the 2nd row) most of the cast was bored out of their minds and sadly that lack of interest bled into the audience as well. Manley Pope, if you are out there, you were THE worst Roger ever ;)

I went back again a couple years later to the Nederlander, and the same experience pretty much happened again. I enjoyed listening to the OBC cd time and again and didn't understand why this wasn't coming out and grabbing me on stage like it did when I listened to it.

Ironically I saw none of the OBC in the show itself, but have in many other shows in NY thereafter. So when the movie came out and featured almost all of the OBC, I was happy that the decision had been made. Well, sadly the movie sort of sits there as well. I found that although I loved the fact that most of the OBC was in the film, they all were clearly too old for the roles they had created back in 1996. Not sure if it was Chris Columbus not getting the material or what, but something just didn't ring very true. Actually Rosario Dawson was one of the better highlights of the film, and that did surprise me.

So, now this new Cinecast RENT on Broadway in theaters. Would it be better than the movie? There stood a very good chance, as it was Larson's complete work and not the film versions. Most of the cast I had seen in other shows (Will Chase in FULL MONTY, AIDA, HIGH FIDELITY, etc), Eden Espinoza in BROOKLYN, WICKED, etc Michael McElroy (BIG RIVER, etc) so the talent was definately there as was the material.

It took a little while to adjust because the focus did go in and out a LOT, not sure if its the HD cameras and the lack of lighting they might require, or not, but it was distracting at first, but you live with it. The choice of not endlessly showing us what the audience looked like, I applaud completely. We didn't all pay $20 to see RENT LIVE ON BWY and then watch people WATCHING RENT. ;) So, that decision was the right one. Period.

I thought the movement of the camera was excellent for the most part. You see reactions and shots you would never see sitting in the audience at the Nederlander. The intercuts and organic cuts worked wonderfully. My ONLY beef (and someone else mentions this above) is we do need some more wide or long shots and medium shots to establish placement. There is soooo much going on sometimes onstage at the same time, that you need to show where everyone is and how they are placed onstage beside one another to really give you the scope of the show in its dramatic moments when they all are singing at the same time. Not a lot of wide-medium shots, but enough to get your barrings now and then.

I will say that having seen a good share of filmed or videotaped live shows, this was VERY well done and I often forgot I was watching a stage show. Hell even the movie couldn't achieve that and it WASN'T a stage show ;) The editor knew when to get reaction shots, and also framing to capture characters most involved with the shot or moments. When the focus was solid the images were amazingly sharp and vivid.

For the first time I REALLY liked RENT beginning to end. Not hindered by bored actors or flat film representations. You saw everything and missed nothing. Now everyone keeps saying "When they do the DVD", well I have yet to read that ANY DVD was even mentioned. It would be a shame if it wasn't made available as it is a great capture of a Broadway show, with none of its material altered or cut. We lose so many shows to bad films or tapings that the public never gets to see, so that when there are a few good ones now and then, its important to make them available to see, enjoy and learn from.

I HIGHLY reccommend checking it out, if Sunday, Sep 28 is truely the last chance, TAKE IT!

One last note, where the heck was Adam Pascal for the original cast curtain call? Seemed a shame he wasn't there and I looked for him! :)

I LOVED this movie and cried almost all the way through it. I believe that THIS was the way to film it - although I like the previous movie version of it - it left me wanted the REAL RENT - this is it - I HOPE it is released on DVD soon - the actors had the same passion that the original cast had when the show first opened...IT WAS WONDERFUL!

the cinematography is what made it enjoyable to me.
perhaps I've seen too many bootlegs and enjoyed the change. I really hope this is released to DVD, as I can't afford to see it once again in theaters, and boy, do I want to.

oh--and I've never actually seen it live, and I wasn't confused. everyone who is saying that it is confusing HAVE seen it live. perhaps drag some friends who haven't to it and ask them what they think? I brought a friend who had only seen the movie (and hated it, at that), and she loved it as much as I did.

I've never seen the show before live (yes, I'm one of those annoying people who became a fan after the 2005 movie), and I was not confused at all.

perhaps it's because I have the OBC, and have seen enough youtube clips of bootlegs to understand how the storyline moves on stage, and have been bored a bit by DVDs I have of other rock operas/musicals performed live, but I actually enjoyed the cinematography.

I dragged a friend who has also never seen the show live, and actually disliked RENT based off the movie, and she loved it as much as I did. so, thank you for people who think everyone's going to be confused while watching it, but really, it was great.

I, for one, hope that there is the option to view this as I saw it on DVD, because I was enthralled.

and haters, please speak for yourselves and yourselves only, in the future. to be honest, your grandkids will probably like RENT as much as my generation liked my fair lady.

I completely agree Derby. Very poor filming, half of it is out of focus as well. I pray this isn't the dvd and they re-edit for it. The poor videography and editing may just destroy this valuable play. When I saw the show last night I had brought about 14 people with me. All of them RENT newbies wanting to see it because I'm such a fan and got them excited. Today a few of them confessed they really didn't "get it" because they couldn't tell what was going on half the time and where people on the stage were. They liked the singing and thought the performances were great. But they said it jumped from place to place so often and was so close they couldn't tell where the characters were on stage coming or going. It's hard to get emotionally involved when you are always in their faces. One person just said its so busy from all the motion he wanted to walk out. For people who have never seen RENT before they don't really know the set up of the stage. They don't know there is a guard rail on a second level at the back of the stage where Mimi can "Come out tonight" the film cuts straight to a close-up so no-one knew where she came from and where she was. No-one knew there was a second level on stage right for the Life Support meeting. It just cut to close-ups. eventually it was shown but not until closer to the end of the song. I can understand those who love the movie, love the play. But they have most likely seen the play and know how the stage is and how the staging is set-up. Plus its easy to look past somethings flaws when you love its core. In the film we rarely get a sense of what the stage actually looks like, where they are on it, and how they interact with each other upon it.

Is this the legacy we leave behind for RENT? Please, please, please re-edit this play/film for the dvd. We need establishing shots to set-up where people are on the stage. Medium shots to see how they interact with each other. The power of more medium shots and far less snappy edits should not be underestimated. Even though the show is full of action the spoon feeding of cutting to each person as they sing in close-up makes for a very disjointed experience.

I love the play RENT. That is why I'm being critical of this filming of it because I want the best captured version of it to remain in the archives forever. I know they have the footage to re-cut and re-edit to. There were crane shots and a dolly moving back and forth in a few shots but they were rarely used. Please to all of you I plead we must have them re-edit this show if it goes to dvd. Its a confusing mess for the uninitiated. The least they can do is stop cutting to the out of focus shots. But we must say something to the filmmakers or it won't change.

Some people may say its shot MTV style but I know about the MTV style of motion cameras and movement, MTV never cuts to an out of focus camera and never cuts to a camera still finding its shot zooming in, just about, just about, tweak, tweak, there, and then we immediately cut to another camera in close-up. They need to make this better. At least for the performers sake as they did an amazing job.

They should call this the "Live RENT rough cut" I can understand the filmmakers had time pressures to get this out in a short time. But we the fans must stand up and implore them to re-edit it for the DVD. If we don't now then we leave a poor example of the amazement that RENT is for our grandkids. I would just say that's an insult.

All I can say is I hope this is NOT going to be the DVD release version for the Broadway filming of RENT. My first thought was, no HD or digital audio? I checked the info site again, and was supposed to be, so maybe a problem at the theater. Also, way way (did I say way?) way too many close up shots. There is soooo much going on, on stage that you miss, not to mention body & hand jesters made by the characters that you miss when they only show their headshot (which by the way, partially decapitated them most of the time). Also close ups on movement ie dancing, makes you dizzy. I think the camera man was on smack! It got better, but I think I could've filmed it myself. A true RENThead will still enjoy, I just hate that others will miss ALOT of what the stage production is all about.

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