'Rent' is too staccato: first impression

01-19-2005

with no previous exposure to the show, i saw it last month (touring version) and thought it's presentation and ADHD-generation rapid fire transitions as annoying and distracting from the decent story it was trying to tell. moments of brilliance framed by noise.

slow it down a bit, maybe not sing through every friggin scene and you may get my ringing endorsement.

after listening to the soundtrack — a gift on my recently acquired iPod originale — i can digest it more easily and say its pretty good.

while on the subject, my friend Jim — who loathes the show (his partner loves it) — said "can't you just open your window and watch the same thing?"
technically i could, but not like this. they don't sing through every scene at 13th and walnut.