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8/16/98...I saw the evening show:) as always, when i try to cut it short it doesn't work - so if you feel like it bear with me k? --- btw: want to read a truly perfect review? read pete and ali's review!! woohoo! it's up! yay!!!! <~~ THE BEST!

I got up early for work and spent the day on pins and needles. I was basically counting the seconds 'til 2:30 which is when my boss said i could leave to go to RENT (AHHHHH - more below). At around 1:30 we got really slow and finally at 2:15 they were nice enough to let me leave early (woohooo for them). So of course i rushed home as fast as possible to get ready, took a shower, threw everything i could think of into my old bookbag. Just made the 3:30 train in to the city. An Amtrak train was kind enough to delay us for an extra 10 minutes...which is always helpful;) oh well. By the time we got to Penn Station it was almost 5 -- i literally RAN those blocks (34th to 41st) to the theater. Lots of people were there already - so i got in line and put my name in for the lottery. I didn't have SRO - i guess i was just hoping i'd be lucky for once. Didn't happen (duh). While I was waiting there i saw a Markwannabe - not just those kids who bleach their hair and wear the glasses. This kid looked so much like Mark you *almost* had to double check to make sure it wasn't. Mark-like clothes, hair, walk - everything....except his 50ish dad was holding his bookbag, RENT book etc. I was also surprised at the number people with Mark glasses on - I have never seen so many all at once. When they called out the names i obviously didn't win:( Then all of a sudden I saw two people who looked really familiar - Pete and Ali!! Ali won the lottery so I said a quick hi! but let them go get their tickets. I was a bit preoccupied the whole evening so I hope they don't think I am completely wierd - I am usually more normal...well, as soon as Pete puts up his latest review we'll see;)
Anyway, I was almost ready to go home since no one was selling SROs but...i had my heart set on seeing this show (and Jim of course) for at least 5 weeks. I couldn't bear to just walk away. So i decided to try the cancellations line. yup - $75 tickets. And no telling if you'll get a good or bad seat either.
Well, THIS WAS THE BEST SPENT $75 EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got 3rd row mezzanine DEAD CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Center Mezzanine: CC112 - This has got to be the best seat in the theater (even though i would love to sit in those lottery seats)! This seat is PERFECT. You can see everything. And I do mean everything. The sound is perfect there. For the first time i got to see the Life Support scenes and everything on the balcony really well. I saw the actors' facial expressions perfectly - this adds SO MUCH MORE to everything.

well then - the SHOW: 6 understudies!!!! SO I STILL haven't seen Wilson Cruz. However, nothing can compare to the cast i saw. NOTHING. Maybe i should mention the cast at this point:

Mark - Jim Poulos (but of course;) !!!!!!!!!!
Roger - Richard H. Blake !!!!!!!!!!
Collins - Byron Utley !!!!!!!!!!
Benny - Jacques C. Smith !!!!!!!!!!
Joanne - Gwen Stewart !!!!!!!!!!
Angel - Juan Carlos Gonzalez !!!!!!!!!!
Mimi - Shayna Steele !!!!!!!!!!
Maureen - Kristen Lee Kelly !!!!!!!!!!
Mark's mom and others - Tamara Podemski !!!!!!!!!!
SOL solo, Christmas caroler and others - Yassmin Alers !!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Jefferson, Paul, a pastor and others - Robert Glean !!!!!!!!!!
Mrs. Jefferson, SOL solo, woman with bags and others - Schele Williams !!!!!!!!!!
Gordon and others - Mark Setlock !!!!!!!!!!
Steve, squeegeeman, waiter and others - Matthew Murphy !!!!!!!!!!
Alexi Darling, Roger's mom and others - Tina Ou !!!!!!!!!!


I didn't know what to expect from Richard H. Blake. I WAS BLOWN AWAY!!!! What an amazing Roger!!!!! His voice is so strong and beautiful, yet he knows how to make it so soft and incredibly moving. He did all the right kneebends:) In Light My Candle he was staring so hard in "...no you do - have a nice..." VERY good!!:) Shayna was Mimi!!! In the first act i think she was a bit unsure of herself. She was very out of breath after Out Tonight and during the first part of Another Day. [GLITTER IN OUT TONIGHT!!!!!!] But by the fight part of Another Day both her and Richard oh my - that last part where he and Shayna sing the fight part together WAS SO AMAZING!!! SO STRONG!! SO MUCH ENERGY!!! I was speechless by then already. By the second act she was totally on. And i do mean totally. Goodbye Love - the way she rushed out after him. Vocally she is SO GREAT! All her little improv's (i guess you could call them) fit right in with the music. Kristen - in some amazing way her Over The Moon is ALWAYS different. The way she keeps changing little things is absolutely fantastic!! I have NEVER laughed as hard as i did from this one though. It was truly hilarious. Take Me Or Leave Me? PHENOMENAL!!!! Kristen and Gwen are WONDERFUL!! Also the strongest i have seen!!! Somehow those two just seem to be getting better and better!! (I understand they call him?)Carlos as Angel was very good. When he and Collins were choosing a coat, the bag lady offers him a few and he says "no... no... NO!" to this wierd purple one which was funny:) Byron as Collins was kinda quiet during the first act -- but the minute he saw how well the audience responded he gave it his all and BOY WAS HE AMAZING!! The soloist Schele did a BEAUTIFUL solo and got TONS of applause from everyone - she was EXCELLENT!! Robert Glean took some of Yassmin's parts in addition to his own (specified above) such as Mr. Jefferson. I didn't like his Mr. Jefferson though all his other parts were good. Jacques was a good Benny. I don't know if he did anything new but he was good. Matt Murphy added a funnier squeegeeman which was interesting. I love how Mark Setlock says "I'm a New Yorker" - his tone is just a certain way in this line and he does it perfectly. I noticed Gwen stands next to the female soloist in SOL - it must be kinda strange standing next to someone who does what you used to do i think - even though she gets to show her talent much more as Joanne. Your Eyes - OH MY GOSH. I am not a person who cries. Not from movies. Or tv. Or shows. He literally made me cry. And i am seriously not a person who cries. It was just so beautiful. Sometimes he rushes little sentences - really little ones. Cuts the words too quick. This happened a few times during the show but in Your Eyes the mix of soft voice and strong voice was PERFECT. Then when Mimi comes back to life Maureen's "oh my god" was so hilarious it just made me cry more! What else? In general it took the understudies a bit to warm up to everything. However, once they did and saw how the audience loved them they completely took off!! This performance was so full of energy on everyone's part! Seeing their faces from above made a HUGE difference. Everything had THAT MUCH MORE impact.

well, if you read this far you *may* have noticed that i left out one very important cast member...hmm... ;)

JIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he always has so much fun up there i honestly love EVERYTHING HE DOES! Rent was great!! Tango Maureen was so wonderful as always - even though i do prefer seeing that from ground level i think. My first time seeing the jump-and-lie-down-on-the-table from an aerial view (...adds new perspective...) made it that more hilarious - he makes it look so easy too! I never noticed little things like how Mark watches Mimi and Roger from the balcony. Or in Happy New Year when Mimi goes back to the drug dealer Mark sees that. LOVED "starving for attention" -- also "...going against the grain...", "...going mad..." From where I was sitting it seemed like Jim was very emotional the whole second part of act two. I have said this before - seeing a sad Poulos just makes you want to cry too. Jim and Richard towards the end were SO wonderful!! It was just so beautiful!! *Someone* mentioned to me lately that Jim has gotten less nasally...i can't really judge that...but: HIS VOICE WAS SO AMAZING YESTERDAY! SO CLEAR AND BEAUTIFUL AND STRONG!!!
My (very humble) opinion: I think Jim's Mark has evolved greatly - Mark is now completely his own and he seems SO confident in it. This confidence holds the rest of the company together - tighter if you will. And it just keeps getting better and better:)
One more thing...I never noticed that the large screen of the film is all Jim too!! And i was sitting straight across from it - like in a movie theater!!! It's so cute!!!
So by now i was completely speechless and utterly amazed. If there was any chance i would be able to calm down afterwards it was completely erased when Jim skipped offstage after everyone else doing this cute little dance!!!

My seat was next to a couple who looked to be in their 60's. Besides learning about their sons, their daughters in law, and other very intriguing subjects...the husband said he couldn't understand the words - that there was too much going on at once. The wife seemed to be dealing a bit better with it. However, they were pretty open to trying to understand what was going on - which was good. The husband *did* have a hard time believing that Carlos was a boy and then dressed up to be a girl. He kept asking me - is that really a boy? Yes, i explained, it is:)

So it was over. I was totally numb - physically i mean. I couldn't really feel my hands. I still don't know why. When i finally got out of the theater I almost missed seeing Jim. Luckily Marny pointed him out and I got to meet him again! He was so sweet as always!! I on the other hand was so speechless from the show i had just seen i could barely talk. He seemed to understand - or at least put up with it very well ;) Marny was sweet enough to take a pic of us during this time and I was too overwhelmed by everything to even say thank you! So thanx Marny:)!! Unfortunately i won't be able to come back too soon seeing as i spent my whole weekend's pay on that ticket...but it was WORTH IT!! To The Cast Who I Am SO In Awe Of...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE EVENING!!!!

dearly beloved we gather here to say our goodbyes:(

** I almost forgot! To those of you who liked Ellen's Stardust Diner on the corner of Broadway and West 43rd St. as much as I did: please sit down when reading this -- it closed on 8/16/98 (this I see as a VERY mean coincidence) due to some lease ending or something like that (ugh) and will NOT be relocating:( - the sign offers an option of going to Ellen's other diner (on 51st i believe) but it's just not the same:(


***me again! i forgot to mention something in the review above which is just so sweet i HAVE to! i got to meet Jim after the show and he was SO nice, as always:) While i was (hopelessly) trying to express what a wonderful show it had been and other similar ideas, a girl came up to him asking for an autograph or a picture, i don't remember exactly? Jim basically turned and introduced *me* saying i had made his website:) doing an excellent PR job i might add;) needless to say i almost fainted! i just had to mention this - it is a perfect example of the sweet person Jim is:) [Susie and KelseyAnn - i hope you two are ready for a three-way merger in this PR deal...]

~sammi:)

7/8/98 - my 2nd time seeing RENT

FWD