RENT adventures
So, RENT: The Broadway tour with Anthony and Adam played in Toronto for two weeks in January. And being the pathetic RENThead that I am, of course I had to go see it. And stagedoor. Multiple times. Thank God I live only a couple of blocks from the Canon Theatre.
Sunday, January 17 - Bought a ticket in December for the evening performance that night. There were a lot of empty seats and I got upgraded to the lower mezzanine; nobody goes to shows on Sunday night. First time seeing RENT live. I've seen bits and pieces from bootlegs and press reels, so I did have some preconception of what the show would be like. Live theater's never what it seems like, though. The onstage band was pretty rockin'. The lighting was very raw which really added to the beauty of certain scenes. Other times, though, it was a bit too harsh.
The reason I came to see Rent, though (which is the reason why anyone bothered to see this tour), was the reason this show experience has been so memorable. Adam and Anthony were spectacular. I was a little nervous before the show, because I was afraid they were going to suck, but they were quite the opposite. After doing it again after 13+ years since they first created the roles, I expected stale performances, but that's definitely not what I got. It was so refreshing even to realize that, hell, both of them sounded better than the recordings. Was really impressed by Adam's vocal range as well. The recording doesn't do him justice. I've always imagined him more of a rocker, but he has a really strong belt as well. Got chills several times during the show. One Song Glory was especially breathtaking.
Lexi Lawson was Mimi and although I question some of her acting choices I thought she did an amazing job. I've seen and heard clips of other Mimi's, but none of them really stood out to me. Most of the past Mimi's have had the voice, but not necessarily the vitality and energy (i.e. acting chops) that I associate with Mimi. That, and I was never a fan of Daphne's Mimi, even though she was the original. The other stand-out of the cast apart from Adam and Anthony was Justin Johnston. Shoot, he was hilarious. Wilson's Angel holds a special place in my heart but I'd be lying if I said Justin's Angel didn't have a place there either. Amazing actor, amazing voice. Not a huge fan Michael McElroy as Collins; he has a gorgeous lower range, but a strained upper range, thus making I'll Cover You (Reprise) a little less climactic. Jacques Smith was alright as Benny. Nicolette Hart as Maureen was hilarious. Loved her renditions of Over the Moon and her little flairs in Take Me or Leave Me. Merle Dandridge as Joanne was pretty good as well. A lot better than Haneefah Wood who actually started out as Joanne in this tour. Ughh.
Stagedoored for the first time afterwards and there was a relatively small line outside. Of course, I didn't know that it was considered a small line at that time, because I hadn't gone to stagedoor on a non-Sunday night performance yet. Met two Japanese ladies who flew from Japan to Toronto just to see Rent. WOW. Gwen, Nicolette, and John (ensemble) came out as did Adam and Anthony (*squee*). Proceeded to go all fangirly upon seeing Adam and Anthony in the flesh. I can't remember what I said to them, but I assure you it must've been something really stupid. Anthony seems like such a grateful person; I've heard that he comes out to stagedoor after every performance (or pretty often, anyway). He was a bit reserved, though. Adam's stagedooring habits are said to be quite rare, so I was pretty ecstatic when I saw him come out. Damn, he is gorgeous in person. Such a sweetheart and always gracious.
Top left is Anthony, beside it Nicolette, Adam smack dab in the middle and Gwen underneath it. The one in silver is John Watson.
Wednesday, January 20 - I didn't bring my camera to the stage door on Sunday night and I couldn't really ask for autographs while taking pictures, so I resolved to come back and stage door just to get pictures. So that's what I did on Wednesday night. Same people came out. I was no less fangirly, unfortunately. And when I'm fangirly I'm also a craptastic photographer. Ah, well.
I love Adam's little smirk here. Just wished I would've aimed the camera a little better so I could've gotten his whole face. LOL, to the person with the camera phone right in front of me.
I swear I took at least 50 pictures of this man that first time he went through the line. He had such weird expressions in all of them.
The ever-fabulous, Mr. Anthony Rapp.
Yay.
Not very flattering pictures of either. But I didn't really bother.
Yay, finally.
Thursday, January 21 - I had a theater committee meeting that night, but I decided to skip it in favor of trying to get lottery/student rush tickets to Rent. They didn't have student rush that night because of seating availability and such, and so they lotto-ed off all of the seats. I managed to get the very last lotto seat that night which was pretty awesome. My chances, however, greatly improved after everybody left prematurely because they thought there were no more seats left and when people gave up their ticket because they didn't want to go alone. All the better for me. After an hour and a half of standing outside the theater in the cold, I got to watch it again that night. Wheee. Last row of the orchestra this time. I thought I wasn't going to stagedoor that night, but I ended up checking it out anyway. Same people that came out, except for Adam.
Saturday, January 23 - So Friday night I found out on broadwayworld.com that the Rent tour was going to be holding their last BC/EFA auction/fundraiser in Toronto after the Saturday night performance. So yes, I caved and bought tickets to the Saturday night performance. The cast seemed a little tired that night and I was a little sad Adam didn't do his high note in One Song Glory, but the energy in the audience was absolutely electric. Saturday night crowds. Anthony led the auction for Angel's heels and a backstage meet and greet with the cast after the show. Also, they were selling signed Playbills and posters in the lobby, as well. Felt kind of bad for spending $100 on a poster, but it was for charity. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. The charity reason doesn't exactly justify why I bought a $70 Rent hoodie, though.
Checked out the stagedoor again and there was a super long line. Merle and Lexi came out tonight, for a change, so I got back into the line that night. Both Merle and Lexi are stunning in person. Two very beautiful people.
Lexi and Merle (+ Nicolette, again)
I was in line to stagedoor that night also because I had a mission to complete. The first Friday the cast was in Toronto Anthony did a book signing event at the Chapters bookstore in Eaton Centre. I was planning on going but Friday's not exactly a day I can afford to miss. The mission was to get Anthony to sign a copy of his book that I would get. Apparently, they don't actually sell it in stores here (regularly) so I got all depressed over the fact that I might not be able to complete my mission. Obviously, there was no time for me to order it - I can't believe I didn't think of this beforehand, too. I knew I was going to see Rent and stagedoor. I should've asked my mom to mail my cast recording so I could've asked them to sign that too. Instead of the program. Anyway, being the brilliant person that I am, I didn't realize that they were selling his book at the merch table during the performance. Genius, Phoebs. So in the end I did get him to sign my book. Mission accomplished.
Sunday, January 24 - So after seeing the show the first time the previous Sunday I decided I had to go again. I knew I was going to try lottery/student rush that weekend, but that's never a guarantee that I'll be able to see it again so I bought really good orchestra seats to the closing night performance on Sunday. It was really bittersweet, but the cast went all out for the closing. Adam had out-of-this-world tone when he held his high note in Glory (which he did that night, yay!) and the cast just went out of their way to be just that much funnier, that much more dramatic. Love them. Sitting so close to the stage was almost like seeing another show. I loved that I could actually take in all the small expressions. Their breath, the sweat, the little glances. Loved it. So sad to see the production go, but I am extremely grateful to have been given the chance to see Adam and Anthony live in these roles. =D