Rent (Chicago)

It was my daughter's first professional musical theater experience and we cried and laughed and had the best time! The show was just amazing!

I love Rent and have been following from the start. All the actors were excellent with the exception of Roger, his voice needs a little more maturing. If you haven't seen Rent, see it!

Very entertaining show. Strong performances throughout the cast. Angel was a particularly strong character. If you like Rent, this is definitely worth checking out.

I have seen Rent numerous times and this production fell short. It is non-equity, yet ticket prices and venue would have indicated it was a more professional and established show. Almost everyone in the cast had just graduated with their BFA's, but not enough experience to make this work. Vocals were fine, but tone was very off. Roger was angry, rather than damaged and hurting. Mimi was aggressive, instead of fragile. I don't think the green cast can be held responsible, however. The director has substantial credit and experience to his name and it is incumbent on him to reign them in when acting was over the top. The entire thing was very heavy handed and felt like a telenovela version of a beloved show.

From the start to the finish ,spectacular. Amazing how the cast is so versatile and Talented. Love to go see again. If you have the. Chance , DON'T LET THIS ONE LEAVE WITHOUT SEEING!

The cast and production were fantastic! I didn't think I could love RENT more.

Best show I've seen in a long time! Great music. Great story.

I was expecting this performance of Rent to be similar to the 4 previous times I've seen it. I was especially excited to bring my 2 daughters to see it for the first time. Very disappointing! Roger's voice was off-key a good part of the time and he could not project it out over the music. There was zero chemistry between Roger and Mimi. There were some scenes that have moved me to tears at previous performances (Angel's death for one) and in this production, his death was barely noticeable. The Kleenex in my bag was untouched all night. I feel like I need to take a trip to New York when I can get tickets to see Rent there to get this bad taste out of my mouth. Truly, I have seen some great local high school musicals that are better than this with kids who can belt out songs way better than these actors from Rent.

Outstanding! Go see this show, you won't regret it!

The stars of the show were Collins, Angel, Maureen, and Mark. We were so very disappointed in Mimi. She simply wasn't in character. There was nothing sexy about her performance. Roger sounded great during ballads but his constant need to scream during the speaking parts of songs and when he started to sing was unnerving. He was like a bad rock musician. Both artists had good voices but their characters were so off you have to wonder if the director showed up to rehearsal.

Seemed more like a high school production-prices were way too high for a show of this quality. The casting was just not good-I won't name names but a few of the main characters just could not sing very well. I've seen this show many times and have loved it-this just wasn't good.

Rent has a special place in my heart. It means a lot to me for several reasons. Watching this production at the Oriental Theater was such a wonderful experience. I was beaming at the end of the show Spectacular job! Thank you.

This is my favorite play and have seen it 7 times. This group did not let me down. They did it there way and it was great. My only disappointment was in Roger. He is not supposed to be so angry and ruff. He is supposed to be cute and sensitive to an extent. This one was a little ruff. I liked the way the cast put their own spin on things to give it a little different effect. The whole group enjoyed it completely.

What a fantastic show! Superb casting and they stayed true to the original concept!

Saw this show with my friend Judy from Australia and we both enjoyed it very much. The cast had a lot of energy and delivered the show with a proper respect for the content and meaning. My only criticism of the experience is that the theatre was very cold and we were freezing the whole time.

It was amazing!! I saw Rent over 10 years ago and I thought it couldn't be better. However, seeing it now was much more than I had ever expected it could be after so many years!

First, I can't believe that it was 20 years ago when I was first wowed by this play. The current performance did not disappoint. I was still moved by the story, the characters and the music. This is a must see!!!

Simply amazing!!!! Recommend seeing if you get a chance

Rent was amazing as story lines go...I do belive that some of the actors were not as professional as I would have thought for a Broadway production. The voices for some were not very strong. I also thought that there were some technical issues with the lighting.

Such a great time, cast was great!!! Fun fun fun! The seats and theater were fab

The musical was nonstop from the beginning until the end. Thoroughly enjoyed myself.

It's a smart and touching show. Makes me want to see the movie.

Good music. May not be appropriate for young kids.

AMAZING!!!! I cried so many times. Amazing cast and amazing seats

It was a non Equity cast. Shame on Broadway in Chicago.

The performance was awesome and touching! Glad we made it. Definitely worthwhile!

I don't love the show itself because the plot is all over the place, but this cast made me love it a lot more.

This was the best show I have ever seen. Absolutely fantastic!!

It was great 20 years ago and it was great in 2017

We left during intermission. I am glad tickets weren't that expensive. Plot was hard to follow and I didn't recognize any of the songs. Actors were not that good.

The only actor who lived up to his role was the one who played Angel. The man playing Rodger was AWFUL. He cant sing or act. My friends and I have seen the show a dozen times so we were excited to see the 20th anniversary showing but we all left feeling ripped off. These were not Broadway caliber performers with the exception of the actor playing Angel. We wish we had know that this was a non union show.

very disappointing show. voices not strong. missed many notes. voices did not project. this is a small point but I have seen this show 7 times previously. in this production, the tables which are really the only stage props besides the stair case were metal. every time an actor either slammed hands down on the table or jumped up on the table, there was a very audible metallic sound that was sometimes louder than the singer!! was VERY annoying. and I was in the balcony!!

The show was all that I expected it to be, plus so much more. I brought a friend, who had never seen the show, and knew nothing about the story line, and she was moved to tears. How amazing to have a love performance move you so much! Seats were okay, not great. They were limited view seats, but the woman's head, two rows in front of me was more of an issue that the seats themselves. Show was great!

wonderful show, well done and a great reminder of why it is still a hit. This show is still relevant today! The music is fantastic. Not for the kids.

Great performance!! Awesome show with a great cast and amazing voices!

Great show. The cast had great voices and performed well.

Amazing music and voiced by all of the actors and actresses!

I saw Rent about 17 years ago, but this show blew me away!!

This production was amazing! This was the third time I've seen Rent, the first being on Broadway. This cast was excellent and you won't be disappointed!

Fantastic! Cast was excellent, exceeded my expectations.

Great show!! The theatre was clean and air conditioning was going. The usher at the top of the stairs (we were in Balcony so had to go all the way up) was rather rude about looking at the tickets for EVERYONE but all the other ushers were really courteous and the bartender. The actors were on par were superb!

I really enjoyed the performance. If you have not seen this show in the past, you will enjoy. IF you are a Rent obsessed follower...you may be slightly disappointed. A few of the performances lacked the strength and connection needed to create the emotion the show typically draws from the subject matter. The set was nice, but again, from a perspective of having seen this show well over 10 times over the past 20 years, it does lack some of the needed staging for the force of the subject to be completely felt. There was also a VERY annoying lady that sat in the row behind us that was shouting and yelling and being over the top in her energy during applause moments. I can see doing this once or twice during an outstanding performance /specific song, however every single time a number ended was excessive.

This was a early date in our new relationship 20 yrs ago. We loved seeing it again! The show didn't disappoint.

Even though it was 20 years old it is still relevant today. Stellar cast, the audience was so enrapt. 2 curtain calls weren't enough.