Canada, eh?
Yesterday I picked up Jill and Jess Knoerl, and we set off for a day trip to Toronto. We exposed Jill to Tim Horton's for the first time (next time: Mighty), and (I should have known it was too good to be true) made it from NU to the part of the city where the theatres and Eaton Centre are without any issues. First on the agenda was clearly H&M where I picked up black pants that actually fit, a cute top, and a necklace to match my graduation/Arties dress all on sale. We wandered around the mall for a bit. Jess was on a mission to find cute, cheap, red underwear, and of course after a few hours in the mall and at some of the stores on the street, we went back to H&M to accomplish the goal. I thought I was done spending, but then I found a pair of jeans at Urban Outfitters for $20. How can you say no to that? Moral of the story, between gas, food, parking, and shopping, I spent entirely too much money yesterday. I guess it was my being done with college gift to myself.
Clearly, after shopping, food is necessary. We went to the Hard Rock because it was right nearby, and I don't think I'd been to a Hard Rock since Chicago 5 years ago. It was Jill's first trip to Canada since turning 19, so clearly a round of drinks was in order before dinner. The food was really good, too ;) I'm kind of glad we heading to the theatre with some time to spare before the house opened because the people-watching outside was pretty great. Where there is RENT, the overly enthusiastic high school Rentheads will come. The best was the girl with a tight button down shirt, thick 80s computer geek glasses, a pink plaid skirt that almost didn't quite cover her ass, fishnet thigh-highs with back seams, oxfords with about a 4 inch platform, and her hair in a high ponytail. She was trying to sell off a front row seat. We actually sat at the top of the balcony, which was actually pretty fabulous. We could have moved down after Act I, but actually decided we liked the view because we could see everything.
So...let's talk about the show itself, shall we? Let us remember for myself and Jess, this was our first time seeing the show on stage. Also, this is a non-equity tour.
Most of the cast didn't bother me -- Mark (although he did mess up at one point and sang "before slitting his wrists in the bathroom," which, um, changes the story a bit), Maureen (who could have been more eccentric in OTM), Collins, Benny, and most of the ensemble. I thought that Roger was actually pretty great, and he and Mark played off of each other really well. When Roger first opened his mouth, I was afraid his voice might be too pretty for the part, but he won me over. I really liked Joanne as well; the way she played it reminded me a bit of Tracie Thoms. Let me sum up what bothered me about this production can be summed up by saying that just because you're black doesn't mean you should sing the "Seasons of Love" solo, and just because you're Hispanic doesn't mean you can play Mimi or Angel. Angel was just...obnoxious...almost like he was trying too hard. "Out Tonight" was just flat out terrible. The girl didn't sing the high note at some points, and she neglected to make up it with dance ability. I was thinking to myself, "I'm a little white girl, and I could pull this number off better. At least I can hit the notes and get my leg about ninety degrees." A group of music majors behind us were laughing. What was odd was when Mimi came out in "Christmas Bells," I thought she looked different, and then, well, she didn't suck during "I Should Tell You." When intermission came, I turned to Jill and said, "I think they switched Mimis." Sure enough, we go to the lobby and the "At this performance, the role of Mimi Marquez will be played by..." sign was up and hadn't been there before. I'm sooo glad that decision was made, but can you imagine sucking up the first half of Act I so badly that you get replaced? We joked about how the best part of the show was the second half of Act II because we had Mimi #2 and Angel was dead. We decided not to stage door after because we weren't overly impressed, and we didn't want to be around the teeny-boppers that cheered for everything. I'm glad I finally saw how it all fits together visually, but I think we still need to win the lotto on Broadway.
We had a little trouble getting out of Toronto (something was going on at the Air Canada Centre), so the decision was made to get on the road before stopping for a snack and gas. I got my $20 of .87/litre, and a Timmy Ho's cheese torte and was ready to get back on the road. Problem was, we couldn’t figure out how to get back on the road that we had exited from. All we saw were signs for a road that went south back into Toronto and other going North to who the heck knows where. We got directions, and then drove around unable to find this DVP that would take us to the east/west route to get to the QEW. We then got the same directions from a taxi driver, who at least added some information by telling me that the DVP was the Don Villa Parkway, but we still couldn't find it. After trying to get directions from at least 3 places that turned out to be closed, we were pointed in the direction of another road that took us where we needed to be. Why are there no signs in Canada? I know what the cross street I'm coming up on is, but I have no idea what road I'm on and where it leads me. Call me crazy, but I'm used to New York State with signs telling me how to get to the thruway, and once I get on the 90 that Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and NYC are o, p, q, and z miles away so that I know I'm heading in the right direction. Also, what is up with the blinking green light? Anyway, it ended up taking us about an hour longer to get back than it should have, but we made it! I don't think our little tour of a rather ethnic potion of the greater Toronto area detracted to much from the overall quality of our little day trip!
Clearly, after shopping, food is necessary. We went to the Hard Rock because it was right nearby, and I don't think I'd been to a Hard Rock since Chicago 5 years ago. It was Jill's first trip to Canada since turning 19, so clearly a round of drinks was in order before dinner. The food was really good, too ;) I'm kind of glad we heading to the theatre with some time to spare before the house opened because the people-watching outside was pretty great. Where there is RENT, the overly enthusiastic high school Rentheads will come. The best was the girl with a tight button down shirt, thick 80s computer geek glasses, a pink plaid skirt that almost didn't quite cover her ass, fishnet thigh-highs with back seams, oxfords with about a 4 inch platform, and her hair in a high ponytail. She was trying to sell off a front row seat. We actually sat at the top of the balcony, which was actually pretty fabulous. We could have moved down after Act I, but actually decided we liked the view because we could see everything.
So...let's talk about the show itself, shall we? Let us remember for myself and Jess, this was our first time seeing the show on stage. Also, this is a non-equity tour.
Most of the cast didn't bother me -- Mark (although he did mess up at one point and sang "before slitting his wrists in the bathroom," which, um, changes the story a bit), Maureen (who could have been more eccentric in OTM), Collins, Benny, and most of the ensemble. I thought that Roger was actually pretty great, and he and Mark played off of each other really well. When Roger first opened his mouth, I was afraid his voice might be too pretty for the part, but he won me over. I really liked Joanne as well; the way she played it reminded me a bit of Tracie Thoms. Let me sum up what bothered me about this production can be summed up by saying that just because you're black doesn't mean you should sing the "Seasons of Love" solo, and just because you're Hispanic doesn't mean you can play Mimi or Angel. Angel was just...obnoxious...almost like he was trying too hard. "Out Tonight" was just flat out terrible. The girl didn't sing the high note at some points, and she neglected to make up it with dance ability. I was thinking to myself, "I'm a little white girl, and I could pull this number off better. At least I can hit the notes and get my leg about ninety degrees." A group of music majors behind us were laughing. What was odd was when Mimi came out in "Christmas Bells," I thought she looked different, and then, well, she didn't suck during "I Should Tell You." When intermission came, I turned to Jill and said, "I think they switched Mimis." Sure enough, we go to the lobby and the "At this performance, the role of Mimi Marquez will be played by..." sign was up and hadn't been there before. I'm sooo glad that decision was made, but can you imagine sucking up the first half of Act I so badly that you get replaced? We joked about how the best part of the show was the second half of Act II because we had Mimi #2 and Angel was dead. We decided not to stage door after because we weren't overly impressed, and we didn't want to be around the teeny-boppers that cheered for everything. I'm glad I finally saw how it all fits together visually, but I think we still need to win the lotto on Broadway.
We had a little trouble getting out of Toronto (something was going on at the Air Canada Centre), so the decision was made to get on the road before stopping for a snack and gas. I got my $20 of .87/litre, and a Timmy Ho's cheese torte and was ready to get back on the road. Problem was, we couldn’t figure out how to get back on the road that we had exited from. All we saw were signs for a road that went south back into Toronto and other going North to who the heck knows where. We got directions, and then drove around unable to find this DVP that would take us to the east/west route to get to the QEW. We then got the same directions from a taxi driver, who at least added some information by telling me that the DVP was the Don Villa Parkway, but we still couldn't find it. After trying to get directions from at least 3 places that turned out to be closed, we were pointed in the direction of another road that took us where we needed to be. Why are there no signs in Canada? I know what the cross street I'm coming up on is, but I have no idea what road I'm on and where it leads me. Call me crazy, but I'm used to New York State with signs telling me how to get to the thruway, and once I get on the 90 that Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and NYC are o, p, q, and z miles away so that I know I'm heading in the right direction. Also, what is up with the blinking green light? Anyway, it ended up taking us about an hour longer to get back than it should have, but we made it! I don't think our little tour of a rather ethnic potion of the greater Toronto area detracted to much from the overall quality of our little day trip!