RENT Movie screening - Tickets

[BrooklynRider]

Howdy Folks! I volunteer with a wonderful organization called Friends In Deed, which provides emotional and spiritual help to people living with life-threatening illnesses, their caregivers, and people dealing with grief and bereavement. For those who saw the play "RENT" the support groups portrayed were based on Friends In Deed, where RENT's creator Jonathon Larson spent considerable time as he developed his masterpiece. Please see the information below regarding a Rent movie premiere fundraiser that will include a Question and Answer period with cast members.

www.friendsindeed.org

Anthony Rapp and Brian J. Heck
Symphony Space and Friends In Deed
cordially invite you to a special screening
of Revolution Studio's and Columbia Pictures' production
of Jonathan Larson's

Directed by Chris Columbus

Followed by a Q&A with cast members

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

7:00 PM

PETER NORTON SYMPHONY SPACE
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York City
1,2,3 trains to 96th Street


Tickets
$150: Front Center Orchestra
Includes post-screening reception with cast members
($115 tax-deductible)

$75: Orchestra
($65 tax-deductible)

$50: Balcony
($40 tax-deductible)

$20: Lottery Rush
First 2 rows of Orchestra
2 hours before curtain; 2 per person; Cash only
($10 tax-deductible)

ORDER TICKETS ONLINE
or
call 212-864-5400

PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT FRIENDS IN DEED


Friends In Deed, Inc. 594 Broadway, Suite 706, New York, NY 10012 Ph# 212.925.2009 Fax# 212.925.2688

[TLOZ Link5]

I bought the soundtrack last night; in some ways it's better than the Broadway recording and I was particularly pleased with Rosario Dawson.

[BrooklynRider]

I hope you'll join us for this special screening!

[TLOZ Link5]

We shall see. It looks expensive, though it's nice that it's mostly tax-deductible.

Addendum! I got invited to the world premiere on the 17th!

[NewYorkYankee]

Im excited to see this movie, but Ill have to wait until after Thanksgiving. ::Rolls eyes::

[NewYorkYankee]

My friend and I actually landed FREE tickets to see the pre-screening of RENT. Its showing this Monday at 8:30 P.M. in Union Square. (The best theatre in NY IMO.) We're all hyped up to go see this! Any chance the cast will be there?

BTW TLOZ, How was it?

[Citytect]

I'm not that big of fan of 'Rent' but I'm excited about the movie simply because they filmed at the deli I shop at almost everyday. I'm a nerd.

[lofter1]

Please post your reactions to the film. I'm very curious to hear opinions from NYers, especially those who lived in NYC during the 90s.

[TLOZ Link5]

Edward, the editing format is crap. Every time I try editing something, it ends up deleting half of my original post.

Trying again:

All of the spoken-singing lines, like the voicemails, were changed to regular dialogue, the sets were imaginative, and a definitive timeframe is given for the storyline: 1989 to 1990, the two years when New York was arguably at its worst. Rosario Dawson and Tracie Thoms are phenomenal (I complemented them as such at the afterparty; they were both very nice and gracious. I wish I could say the same about Idina Menzel — or her weird publicist-type person, at least, who assumed that Paco and I wanted to get her autograph and shooed us away. Bitch. The weird lady, not Menzel). I never would have seen that movie if, as I had heard floating around, Justin Timberlake was going to star in it.

They worked the Cat Scratch Club into the movie (for the first third of the song "Out Tonight"), which was cool. Likewise, a couple of flashbacks of Roger's dead girlfriend were put in during "One Song Glory": her catching his eye while he's playing a gig, them hooking up, them shooting up, them finding out they were HIV-positive. Nothing of her slitting her wrists, so it's implied that she died of the disease. Sad. "Take Me Or Leave Me" was set at an engagement party for Maureen and Joanne which wasn't in the musical, but it was a good move by whoever wrote the screenplay. "Without You" was accompanied by a montage of Roger caring for Mimi going through withdrawl from heroin addiction, Mimi relapsing and buying drugs again, and Collins caring for Angel as his HIV becomes full-blown AIDS and he begins to die. Overall, excellent.

The afterparty was decent. The Roseland was made up to look like an industrial loft. There was Chinese takeout and pastrami, to make no mention of wine and beer. Couldn't find any pasta with meatless balls, though, heh. Paco and I stayed there for about two hours. Hobnobbed with some people; I managed to talk to Cris Columbus and thank him for the tickets, as my uncle knows him and that's how I got them. I know, shameful. We also spoke to the hostess of the WB 11 morning show, who was there to cover the event. Like I said, we met Rosario and Tracie (Paco told Rosario that he was sorry that she moved to L.A., and she apologized for doing so. Paco wants her to bear his children, but she has a boyfriend.), as well as Taye Diggs (I'm taller than he is. Hehe.). After trying unsuccessfully to find Jesse L. Martin, we left — but not before we ran into Sara Silverman, who plays Alexi Darling, and Paco chatted it up with her. He impressed her by mentioning Greg the Bunny.

Questions, comments, etc.? I know I sound like an arrogant ass, but oh well.

[BrooklynRider]

I'm seeing a preview tomorrow night...

[TLOZ Link5]

Originally Posted by BrooklynRider

I'm seeing a preview tomorrow night...

Nice.

[NewYorkYankee]

I saw this movie last night (Monday), also at a preview. The people I went with had all seen the Broadway show, I felt clueless at first since I have yet to see it. I loved the movie nevertheless, its the best film Ive seen all year.

[BrooklynRider]

I am biased toward the material to start, so it is hard for me to be completely objective toward the film. I thought it was great, but I've been a big fan of the show since its inception. I want it to succeed and be seen by as many people as possible.

I thought some scenes were better than others and some were just brilliant.

As I read the reviews, I've been struck by a number of things:

1) People seem to think that AIDS is over and irrelevant.
2) The negative reviews seem to completely miss the larger themes of the movie.
3) The criticism of the age disparity between the actors and their characters is fair. Yet, the actors in this case deliver performances that should diminish that argument as their age does not distract from the story.
4) The reviews seem to be coming down along "red state" / "blue state" lines and are using the subject matter to further fuel "culture wars."
5) Some of the criticisms of the story seem reasonable. However, an understanding of the genesis of the project and the real-life influences that brought the story to the stage make major revisions unacceptable.
6) There are a lot of people out there who think messages of hope, compassion, joy are saccharine and and souless. Those people come off sounding cold, bitter and, most disturbing, ignorant.

It's a show you love or hate. But, it didn't win the Pulitizer Prize for nothing.

The screening I saw had Adam Pascal (Roger) , Anthony Rapp (Mark) , Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel) and Traci Thoms (Joanne) participating in a post-screening Q&A. As a fundraiser, the screening raised Friends In Deed $45,000. Not Bad.

[TLOZ Link5]

Well said, BR.

[nycbound]

I saw it this weekend- and loved it- it made me wish I had seen it on Broadway! But I am appreciative that it was transferred to the big screen for those, like me, that don't live in NY & didn't have the opportunity to see it on Brodway. I especially liked Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel). I don't know if Wilson was the original Angel on stage- but he played Angel beautifully. I know that Rosario Dawson was not in the original on broadway- but I was plesantly surprised by her singing performance, she has a lovely voice.

For those who haven't seen it- I strongly reccommend it.