By Randy Economy
Okay you could practically hear the nails on the chalk boards around Hollywood this weekend.
It wasn't from a classroom at Hollywood High....no....it was from the screeching and yelping from the cast of "Rent" at the Hollywood Bowl .
This weekends much hyped staging of the musical "RENT" was a total bomb, and I think I am actually being a tad "kind" with this review. People who attended the very pricey show this past weekend are stumped with anger....and many of them actually want "Rent Refunds." "RENTALGATE" is what one of my readers wrote me.
"Randy, for GAWD sakes, someone needs to do something about this "rip off" at a taxpayer owned facility." Yikes.
But before I call District Attorney Steve Cooley and demand an investigation, you have to watch and judge for yourself. Is this a crime or just plain "crap on stage," or a perfect piece of theater art?
Neal Patrick Harris trying his BEST to promote "RENT" on the Craig Ferguson Show last week.
This one post on You Tube has already gotten more than 25,000 hits in the past 24 hours. Watch the much hyped cast....what was Director Neal Patrick Harris thinking casting this bunch together into one ensemble and at the legendary Hollywood Bowl for crying out loud....
Here is a small, and I do mean terrorizing tiny portion of the performance with lead stars Vanessa Hudgens and Aaron Tveit...above.
NOTICE TO MINORS: You may need parental approval to read some of these nasty notes....
Ok she frigging sucked in Out Tonight but I have to admit she really picked it up in Another day...
Definitely not the best Mimi, or even close, but i do feel like she did a good job with another day. NPH took a risk with her for sure but i dont know if she is really as bad as people were expecting her to be. This is coming from a non highschool musical fan btw haha.
"Okay, VHudge's voice too young sounding for this musical. She sounds like a baby. I think Neil should have picked someone with a more mature voice. ut Aaron was very good.."
"SHE'S SO HORRIBLE BLEEDING THROUGH MY EARS."
Rent is one of my favourite shows and it actually pained me to hear that. If she wants to succeed in musical theatre then she has to actually learn what pitch is, not depend on Disney to fix it for her in editing. And those random kicks were pretty sorry-looking. Singing and dance lessons perhaps? And Rosario Dawson wasn't a great Mimi either...you could tell when they edited her pitch in the
movie
please vanessa hudgens NEVER come to broadway! omigosh. This performance was a disgrace to an amazing piece that Jonathan Larson wrote. So nasal.
The dancing and singing thing is NO excuse. What she did on that stage is NOTHING compared to watch other theatre actresses do 8x a week. Aaron Tveit on the other hand? Amazing.
Thank God this is only a one weekend performance.
Vanessa needs to go back to her teeny fans at Disney and Aaron needs to come back to broadway.
18 comments:
You HIT it ON the HEAD. After me and my three friends walked out of the Hollywood Bowl, we looked at each other and said....well, we "really didn't need" that $700 we just threw down a rat hole.
What a piece of crap this was. Too much off key garbage. The entire cast was off. Thanks for the post. You didn't have to BE there to understand the PAIN felt all over Hollywood this weekend....
Randy...
I was there. Hated it. Got up and actually asked the people at the ticket office if I could get a refund. They said, sorry, and for me to check the "small print" on the back of my ticket?
WTF?
Wayne Brady was awful. This was beyond bad. This was PAIN!
Saw it. Hated It. I want a refund. Rent at the Hollywood Bowl was TOO BIG of a STAGE for this CAST. They all seemed out of place. Too bad. I spent more than $1,000 for a nice night out. What a scam.
It wasn't that bad. It was bad...but NOT THAT bad. Okay. I lied. It was shit.
I think Vanessa looked HOT.
Then she opened her mouth and I instantly thought I was watching a bad version of The Little Mermaid on acid.
Neal Patrick Harris should stick with being a doctor, because he is clueless on how to be a director.
What was i thinkin...what a waste of money, time, and energy walking up that damn Highland hill from the Hollywood Metro station.
This was just awful. Thank goodness I caught a buzz in the Mens Bathroom. As a matter of fact, the Mens room was much more entertaining than the "show" on stage.
I loved it. I am 14 and this was my first theater experience. My parents argued the entire time, and wanted to leave...
I felt like I was on a bad "crack" trip from the 90's watching that version of Rent.
You call those "costumes?" Where did they buy that crap? South Central LA?
I watched all the morning talk shows in LA last week "hyping" the hell out of this show. I took the bait and bought 2 tickets from a pricey on line broker. Man, NEVER take a TIP from KTLA MORNING NEWS....PERIOD!
I was hoping I would have seen the members of the Bell City Council in attendance. They were probably backstage.
Who hired Neal Patrick Harris? Can someone give me a clue?
Skylar Astin, Mark; Wayne Brady, Collins; Vanessa Hudgens, Mimi; Telly Leung, Angel; Collins Pennie, Benny; Nicole Scherzinger, Maureen; Tracie Thoms, Joanne; Aaron Tveit, Roger; Gwen Stewart, Seasons of Love Soloist
The cast looked good on paper, and really never "blended" on the GIANT STAGE. They all seemed out of place and off key, and needed to practice, practice, practice much more. Very sad to have our tax dollars wasted for a show like this. The LAPD security alone had to cost up to a MILLION BUCKS.....
I got stuck in traffic and missed the first 20 minutes. I left before it was over and was totally pissed off. What a waste of time. Found your blog on GOOGLE. Cool shit dude.
Hey, are you the same RANDY ECONOMY who worked at Viewers Choice in the 1990's on the JERRY HERMAN HOLLYWOOD BOWL TRIBUTE CONCERT?
Now that was a GREAT SHOW! Just curious....
Note to Kent S.
YES YES YES. I was the same "Randy Economy" who worked at Viewer's Choice PPV in the 1990's when Mr. Herman had his amazing concert at the Hollywood Bowl! Wow. Great memory.
RrE
I am a "mature person" (63) and saw Rent in New York years ago. It was terrific then, and still resonates. This version at the Bowl was OK, but barely. I knew the songs already, but for my guests who did not, they could hardly hear the words, which were mostly screamed over the too-loud music. I wonder whether the sound check people actually had someone sit up in the Bowl and determine whether the songs were decipherable. And the stage is simply too big. Maybe a concert version would have been better.
I have a feeling most negative reviewers saw "Vanessa Hudgens and instantly hated it.
It wasn't bad at all. Hudgens was clearly out of her depth and ruined "Out Tonight" but Nicole Scherzinger was absolutely the best Maureen I've ever seen; her performance was the only time I was interested in Over the Moon.
Wayne Brady was great as well, and Tracie Thoms is an old pro who turned in an excellent job.
I can't believe some of these posters hated it that much. It wasn't terrific, but it wasn't that bad either.
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