RENT's set design...
RENT's set design...
LetMeLeave
Featured Actor Joined: 1/16/05
#0RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 5:22am
I sometimes wonder what RENT would look like had the set been changed. Like, what if they had actual scene changes....Roger and Mark's apartment, the lot, and the Life Cafe.....would the show seem different?
Opinions, comments?
#1re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 8:25amI believe it would have been cheezy that way. I like the set the way it is; Subtle, yet, believable.
"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive.
"Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot."
"No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one."
Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.
#2re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:11ami agree
"All the while making faces like a baby platypus who forget to take some Beano before eating a chimichanga." FindingNamo in reference to Jessica Simpson's singing.
#3re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:33amcall me old fashioned, but that was one of the things i DIDNT like about Rent, than and the over amped singing to the extent that i could not understand a word the people were shouting on stage. But i do think i could live with the "one scene" set if they worked on the sound design. No one wants to see a show where all the lyrics sound jarbled.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
#4re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:21am
One of my favorite types of sets are the ones like RENT has - it's one thing that changes very subtly throughout the show. Simple, yet effective and not-distracting. I think, also, it's REALLY important for the set to reflect the main ideas of the show, rather than to truly convey WHERE you are. For example, the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels sets are full of rich colors, but everything actually has kind of a fake look to it, because the show is about con artists. That said, the RENT set is very simple, and it looks kind of grungy and run down, and it reflects the conditions its characters are really living under. And, on stage, you can do things like that and force your audience to believe it, but use their imaginations, too. In film, you can't really do that - so, we'll finally get to see those places, and what it would've been like. 
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#5re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:25amI think the starkness of the set represents the harsh quality of the character's lives. Filling in with more set pieces would make the characters look more comfortable than they are.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#6re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:43amLove the current set. It fits what is happening on stage.
#7re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:45amkind of off topic, but not.......has the RENT movie website gone up yet?
"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2
#8re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:46amNot yet, spider. It should soon, though.
#9re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 11:47am
It has to go up soon, I am getting impatient! And yes, Love the set the way it is. Oh, and Spider, how was the wedding/honeymoon?? I hope everything went well!
~~**I've had a knack from way back of breaking the rules once I learned the games**~~
~~**Badger badger badger badger badger...MUSHROOM!!!**~~
Updated On: 4/15/05 at 11:47 AM
#10re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 1:06pmI loved the set when I saw it. I thought it was more than perfect.
Silence seemed the only way.
Now I understand it's cost.
ikmbway
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/22/05
#11re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:00pmI love the set now and how they use it so well in all the scenes. Well we get to see all the places in the movie so it will be different.
Joshua488
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
#12re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:05pm
Right. If you ever wished that RENT had actual sets and locations, then the movie is just what you need! 
#13re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:09pm
I LOVE the rent set. Everytime I see it, I fall in love with the show all over again. Whenever I'm at that theatre, I get an undescribable happy feeling.
*goes back to listening to clm's "light my candle"*
awkward.
"I think it was the Korean tour or something. They were all frickin' asian!" -Zoran912
#14re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 3:42pmThe set was because of the low budget, but it fits the musical once you see it, if you what I mean... yeah!
you say i'm weird! look at everyone you're sitting with! and hey, those guys over there just threw napkins up in the air like they were on something! it's contajous! you can't help it!
Broadway Style
Stand-by Joined: 2/16/04
#15re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 7:18pmI really like the stage set..but I am also glad that the movie will let us see RENT in a more natural environment. The movie set is pretty awesome:)
"Fidelity is more than mere display, it's what a man expects from life. Fidelity, like mine to Desiree and Charlotte my devoted wife..."
Updated On: 4/15/05 at 07:18 PM
#16re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 7:28pmI agree...that's one reason I'm looking forward to the movie b/c it will be totally different. Can't wait!
Emmy1234
Swing Joined: 4/9/05
#17re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 8:57pm
I like the set. I don't want to repeat things that have been said by so many others so I'll leave it at that.
Also, I too am excited to see what they can do with different sets for the movie.
playbill_signer_05
Leading Actor Joined: 1/23/05
#18re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 9:07pmI love the set. I think it fits the show so well, and that wouldn't be the same if it had elaborate sets and scene changes.
#19re: RENT's set design...
Posted: 4/15/05 at 10:51pmI love the set of RENT for the stage production, you know how they made that big hunk of metal be such a big prop for the show. And i'm confident the movie set will be very well done as well!
