Rent - Hope Mill Theatre

Thank you

👍👍👍

Really looking forward to Gala Night tonight. Such a great cast and I'm sure Hope Mill will have made it come across perfectly for home viewing.

No sign of the Party Pack yet, so I'll have to see if there's anything bubbly in the fridge to toast in the performance.

Mixed views about this one, based on reviewing the video.

Performed very well, with minimal set and props. This wouldn't be good as a first Rent, but would work well if you know the story. Having a young and diverse cast is a real plus. This isn't officially a concert production, but with the contact-free style staging that has been used in a lot of productions recently, it is reminiscent of these.

To me, I expect this would have been exceptionally well received in the theatre. Now a recording of a musical is always a different beast. This one did bring tears to my eyes, so the power is certainly there.

Where my views are mixed is based on the video stream itself.

A lot of work has gone into editing this. The camera angles and cuts are considered perfectly.

There was an issue with the higher resolution uploads and this would only play at 480p. Not an issue with my connection, as the 720p stream paused at exactly the same point for many people.

The 480p version is also heavily compressed. It just gives everything a blotchy feel. This is probably not helped by the confines of the venue, its shape and the lighting, but the camera team worked around this very well.

The sound choices are really odd. There was a lot of sweetening and post production going on. I don't know if this was evident in the building or not. This does give a very modern sound for the music, but the effect takes some getting used to for the spoken segments. I suspect some of the vocals were recorded separately based on the lip movements, but that may have been a stream issue. Or this possibly have been the result of editing together the live performance with separately filmed close-ups.

The vocals were crystal clear and you can make out every word, which is a good thing.

Ultimately, I think I'd like to see this again with higher resolution and less compression elements to be able to make a fair judgement. Based on the video, it's not up there with the 20th Anniversary Tour, but it's also a unique and creative version of the show, which had barely had chance to bed in.

Thanks to Hope Mill Theatre for finding a way to bring this to a wider audience. I expect they will sort the video issues. After that's done, I encourage you to view this with an open mind.

Yeah mixed views from me as well. I had the same buffering issue so had to play it at 480 and the quality wasn't great. I was lucky I found that solution on Twitter as tech support weren't quick.

I found the acting performances lacking for the most part, except for Angel and Collins. Some of the choices were just a bit strange and the lack of physical interaction meant the relationships were flat. Given they were at pains to tell us the actors had lived in a bubble throughout, I'm not sure why they then had to social distance on stage, but it did remove a lot of the intimacy that makes Rent what it is.

Some of the vocals were excellent but others were a bit off, but that's a live recording hazard I suppose. I did find myself at one point thinking I would just switch off and put the DVD of the final Broadway cast on instead, but I kept watching in the end.

A lot of credit to Hope Mill for putting this on. It isn't a great production of Rent, at least for streaming, but it was still nice just to see some theatre.

I had 30 secs too. More inaccuracies in the advance info that was provided.

One of the emails said

Another tech question - can I start watching a little late? I’ve seen you can pause and resume as long as you finish by 11. Could I start at 8?
Getting home for 7:30 might be a rush (possible if essential type thing!)

Great. I may be home in time - it’s technical issues I’m allowing for really (and getting comfy rather than having to run in the door and press play!) when i originally queried with hope mill they said I had to start on time which I took to mean it was streaming ‘as live’. Maybe they didn’t know what technology they were using then.

Not yet. One person did say they'd received it (previous page).

I'm presuming the London hold up is because they're sending Blake Patrick Anderson around to hand deliver it (okay, I can dream).

I'm watching tonight as well. I was rather hoping the pack might have turned up in today's post. Fingers crossed it turns up in a day or so. 

I didn’t get a tote bag but I got a key ring.