Musicals On TV - Rent Live! (2019)

Fox, 2019

Starring Brennin Hunt, Jordan Fisher, Vanessa Hudgens, and Tinashe

Directed by Michael Greif and Alex Rudzinski

Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson

After their success with Grease, Fox searched for another recent rock musical that could match its popularity with teens and young adults. Though the movie version of Rent wasn't a hit in 2005, the stage show continued to be a favorite of young people who enjoyed the story and unique characters. How well did it adapt to TV, especially after they ran into major trouble right before the broadcast? Let's begin with a black screen showing the words of Jonathan Larson himself and find out...

The Story: Mark Cohen (Fisher) is a documentary filmmaker who spends a year shooting life in and around the dilapidated building in Manhattan's East Village where he and his songwriter roommate Roger Davis (Hunt) live. Their former roommate and current landlord Benny (Mario) is demanding the rent, even going so far as to turn off the electricity and padlock the building. Part-time philosophy professor and their friend Tom Collins (Brandon Victor Dixon) falls for kind-hearted transvestite Angel Dumott Schunard (Valentina), while Roger gets involved with exotic dancer Mimi Marquez (Tinashe). 

Mark's ex-girlfriend Maureen Johnson (Hudgens) is a performance artist whose avant-garde one-woman protest against Benny's desire to build a "cyber studio" in place of their tenement sparks a riot on Christmas Eve. She's in an on-again, off-again relationship with uptight lawyer Joanne Jefferson (Kiersey Clemons), who doesn't appreciate Maureen's flirting with everything and anything. Roger's even less happy with Mimi's drug addiction and breaks it off with her, too. The group finally breaks up after Angel dies of complications from AIDS, with Mark selling his work to a network show and Roger heading for Santa Fe. Roger returns to New York when he can't forget Mimi. 

The Song and Dance: For something that was only intended to be a dress rehearsal, there's some genuinely good performances here. Real-life drag queen Valentina has an absolute blast as Angel, especially during the "Today 4 U" number. Hudgens is even more fun as flirtatious Maureen than she was as Rizzo in Grease Live, and Tinashe is a touching and delicate Mimi. That enormous industrial set, with its crisscrossing pipes, bright lights, and graffiti-covered "walls," definitely gives this show a gritty urban vibe and won deserved Emmys. And heck, that last 10 minutes or so with both the new and original cast singing "Seasons of Love" is pure electricity and almost worth the price of admission. 

The Numbers: "Tune Up #1 and #2" and "Voice Mail #1" introduce us to Mark, Roger, and their situation with the housing and Mark's big film-making project. "You Okay, Honey?" and "Rent" brings in Angel and Tom as they try to help a homeless man and explain the trouble with the building and what Maureen is protesting. Roger says what he wants is just "One Song Glory" and to be remembered for something great before he dies. "Light My Candle" introduces Mimi to Roger. Angel tells the guys she's going to take them on the town as she struts her stuff in feather-trimmed Christmas duds to "Today 4 U." 

Benny protests them not paying the rent, saying "You'll See" what he does to get rid of them. Mark and Joanne dance a "Tango; Maureen" as they discuss the woman they have in common and why she drives them crazy. "Life Support" and "Will I?" introduces the AIDS group Mark films, while Mimi laments having to go "Out Tonight." "Another Day" and "I Should Tell You" are Mimi and Roger's love duets; "I'll Cover You" is Tom and Angel's. Tom tells Mark and Angel he dreams of quitting his job and opening a restaurant in "Santa Fe." Joanne claims "We're Okay," while the others sing about those "Christmas Bells." Maureen's idea of a protest is doing a really strange number about cows jumping "Over the Moon." Everyone gets a lot more into the big first-act closing number "La Vie Boheme," despite Benny's protests.

The second act opens with everyone performing this show's biggest hit, "Seasons of Love" and wishing each other "Happy New Year!" Maureen and Joanne's argument ends with them telling each other to "Take Me or Leave Me," while Mimi and Roger try to live "Without You." "Contact" and the reprise of "I'll Cover You" depicts Angel's death and the heartfelt funeral afterwards. The entire group says "Goodbye Love" as they split up, with Roger and Mark fleeing New York in "What You Own." The "Finale" brings Roger back to Mimi as she reveals what she's seen after her near-death experience. The entire cast, including the cast of the original 1996 Broadway show, return over the end credits to encore "Seasons of Love."

Trivia: The last 15 minutes with "Seasons of Love" was the only scene that ended up being filmed live. Brennin Hunt broke his foot during the dress rehearsal, which is why he is in a wheelchair during the finale and they ended up broadcasting the dress rehearsal. 

What I Don't Like: The critics have a point. Why didn't Fox have stand-ins or understudies for the main cast, just in case someone did get hurt? Couldn't they have gotten someone else, or done it as a concert? This was advertised as a live show, and it didn't end up being that. And while I do think Rent is tailor-made for the small screen, it might be better off on streaming or a cable channel like MTV with less stringent standards. Fox altered lyrics and cut a lot of profanity and sexual and drug references. 

The Big Finale: This ended up being much better than I thought it would be from all the criticism it received in 2019. Worth checking out if you're a fan of the show, of Larsen's other work, or of other rock operas. 

Home Media: Currently available for purchase only at Amazon.

Amazon Prime (Purchase Only)

Musicals On TV - The Passion: New Orleans

Fox, 2016

Starring Jencarlos, Trisha Yearwood, Sean Daughtery, and Tyler Perry

Directed by David Grifhorst

Music and Lyrics by various

This one stems from an unusual source. This retelling of the Passion Play as a jukebox musical featuring current songs began as a BBC special set in Manchester in 2006. From there, it became an annual event in the Netherlands, played as a musical drama in different Dutch cities. It came over to the US in March 2016 as Fox's second live "event" musical after the wildly successful Grease Live. Does it live up to that show, or should it be sent to prison? Let's begin at a concert in New Orleans with black movie director and impresario Perry and find out...

The Story: Jesus (Jencarlos) is an extremely popular carpenter in New Orleans. He tells his best friends at their last supper together that he believes one of them will betray him. Sadly, he's very right. Judas Escariot (Daughtery) turns him in for the reward money. Though his mother Mary (Yearwood) believes in him, he's put on a sham of a trial by governor Pontieus Pilate (Seal). His rebirth, however, becomes a catalyst for his followers to carry on his legacy.

The Song and Dance: Some decent performances here, mainly from Seal as the judgmental governor, with some of the most passionate singing of the night, and Daughtery as the conflicted Judas. The sequences filmed in New Orleans itself shows off the city fairly well, especially the Last Supper. The Resurrection, staged on top of the Westin New Orleans, was also fairly effective thanks to its use of a powerful chorus. 

Favorite Number: We open with Jesus and his followers on the New Orleans waterfront, banding together for "Love Can Move Mountains." Jesus insists to Peter that this will always be his "Home," and even when he's not there, he's still with him. Jesus gathers his followers "With Arms Wide Open" and questions his own faith with "Calling All Angels." Judas does some questioning of his own in "Bring Me to Life." It's his "Demons" that ultimately come between him and Jesus when the cops come in during the Last Supper. 

Young fisherman Peter (Prince Royce) wonders what "The Reason" for all this is while repeatedly claiming he has no idea who Jesus is. Trisha Yearwood gets four solos of her own on the mainstage as Mary recalls her son's birth and worries about his future, "My Love Is Your Love," "I Won't Give Up," "Broken" and "You'll Never Walk Alone." Pilate reveals why he sentenced Jesus in "We Don't Need Another Hero" at the trial and "Mad World" afterwards.

What I Don't Like: First of all, despite the title, this isn't a fully live musical. The segments in other parts of New Orleans were pre-recorded, and are edited awkwardly with the live segments. Most of the other performances are deadly dull. Jencarlos looks and sounds less like a poor carpenter and more like a guy on his way to Starbucks to hang with his buddies. Yearwood never interacts with the rest of the cast, which makes her songs sound disjointed. Some of the song choices are a little odd. "Walk Alone" is an old Rogers and Hammerstein number that sounds a bit out of place among the rock songs, and some of the rock songs are clearly ballads with little relation to anything religious. Tyler Perry's narration is mostly wooden and dull, though he does perk up when describing the gruesome Crusefixtion. 

The Big Finale: In the end, this is really more of a concert with a story than a musical, and is really too disjointed to be good. Interesting enough time-waster at Easter if you want to see another version of the Passion Play or are a fan of any of the stars involved. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming; the latter is currently free with commercials on Tubi.

DVD

Tubi