'Rent' may not be one of my all-time favourite musicals, speaking as a fan of musicals, but it has great songs and a lot of emotional power with sensitive and powerful themes. There is much worthy of admiration. The 2005 film is definitely worth a look, a solid adaptation (though not as good as on stage) and although imperfect it also is a worthy film on its own. Between that and this, there is no doubt really which is the better 'Rent' of the two.
Considering that one, as indicated already, is actually good. Whereas, apart from some great things and moments, this "live" production doesn't really cut it and generally does not gel. It had all the ingredients to gel and be a harrowing, moving experience but it never properly gets there, by all means it's not terrible or irredeemable but it is very easy to see why people were disappointed. Have seen a fair share of these live musical productions made for television and haven't really been a fan of any of them, especially 'Peter Pan' namely because of the usually great Christopher Walken.
Will start with what was good. Brennin Hunt, giving the performance of the night (his vocals makes the jaw drop and the raw grit does wrench the gut), and Jordan Fisher are powerhouses in their roles. If the production did something well it was how it accommodated Hunt's injury. Brandon Victor Dixon is touching as Tom. The most unexpected good surprise was Vanessa Hudgeons, didn't have as big an opinion of her before but she is a revelation here, her voice has grown so much and she acts with a lot of feeling. The same can be said for Kiersey Clemons.
There are a few highlight numbers. "Over the Moon" is one of the few times where the production properly came to life. "I'll Cover You" reprise was the one that brought the lump to my throat the most and "Take Me or Leave Me" is the production's show-stopper in my mind. The costumes and sets are evocatively rendered and the orchestra sound great and perform 'Rent's' fine score and songs with plenty of spirit. The ending is very powerful.
A lot unfortunately doesn't work and don't really have much to add to what has already been said. The camera work is far too frenetic, as an epileptic some of it left me nauseous, and is often focused somewhere else (all the times irrelevant) other than where it should be. The sound quality is badly unbalanced, with the orchestra too loud frequently and some of the vocals sounded underpowered (i.e. Tinashe). Have also not come across a more irritating audience for anything in a long time, actually manages to be even worse than the audiences on the television talent show competitions. Too loud and at inappropriate times.
Have said that there were good renditions here, but the production would have been better if the pace calmed down and the choreography wasn't so erratic (with a mix of just right, too busy and under-energised). A few powerful and moving moments aside, there are some unnecessary and downright strange changes that kill the momentum of the drama and stops it from having enough emotional impact, 'Rent' shouldn't leave one cold but by tampering or toning down what was so resonant and daring about it the production felt bland and too safe. The nadir though, other than the irritating audience, is the walking disaster that is Valentina's Angel. Won't go into detail as to why because everything about the performance was wrong other than managing to look the part, will say though that the all over the place singing was especially painful.
Concluding, a very mixed bag. 5/10
