Added: 3 years ago
From: awwNerds
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  • They don't blend together well. Adam and Anthony did.

  • If this was Adam instead of Christian ... then I'd be a lot happier.

  • I might get attacked for saying this but...this video really shows just how amazing the original cast was. Neither of these guys live up to Anthony and Adam. They both did well I guess, Neil better than the guy playing Roger. But the performance just felt kind of lackluster for me :(

  • i like both of these singers, but i dont think they have the same blend as rapp and pascal. those two were meant to sing this song together

  • I wish I could see a RENT production with Neil <3

  • NPH was excellent, but I wasn't quite feeling Christian Mena. :/

  • i can believe this is a true story...

  • roger's riffs are....scary.

  • NPH: Singing and playing like a boss

    The Roger guy: How can I beat Neil awesomeness? Maybe vibrato... (well, no...)

  • Neil Patrick Harris!

  • nph...i love you...<3

  • WANT HIM IN MY PANTS

  • Hey! Guy that plays Riger! Cut the excessive vibrato and riffing please? Thank you!

  • He has such a great voice! obviously he doesn't compare to Anthony, who originated the role, but hey. He did Mark justice.

  • I hate it when fans get upset over cast changes and automatically decide that no cast will match up to the originals That's not how musicals work, they can't keep the same cast forever. Consider the fact that this was posted 12 yrs after the play opened on broadway. Rapp and Pascal would be simply too old to play the parts. Give newer casts a chance. I think they are great, Mena's voice had a tad too much vibrato but he is still good, I personally found pascal's voice annoying, it was too nasal

  • hes amazing... neil that is.. the other guy is talented but he pisses me off

  • Ugh. NPH is just too much for me. <3

  • He's such a good Mark...

  • Holy crap... NPH is a pretty good Mark! Sure, he isn't Anthony, but he's really, really good!

    ...Christian had way too much vibrato to be a rock star. A little is fine, but his voice wavered too much where it shouldn't have. But, it wasn't horrible. Still a good performance.

  • Is it me or was the guy playing Rodger not manly enough. I'm not saying that men have to be manly, but Rodger was really sensitive in this guys portrayal, and he isn't that kind of sensitive. if you know what i mean.

  • @candler128 Adam Pascal IS Roger, bottom line.

  • I saw this production in LA. Neil was great, but Anthony still owns the role. Christian Mena was way too contemporary musical theatre. Roger needs an edge and this guy didn't have it. I flew to NYC the next weekend and saw Norbert Leo Butz as Roger. I became an instant fan of his. I've seen Rent many times with many different casts. Nothing holds a candle to the OBC. It was magical. Perhaps it's from the closeness they achieved while workshopping with Jonathan Larson...

  • anyone else love 3:12?

    i LOVE how he said "i quit!" LOL

  • There are plenty of articles (just go google NPH and Rent) that prove that NPH DID indeed play this role in 1997. I can tell you that the first time I ever heard a song performed from Rent, it was on a TV talk show with NPH. And that was a long time prior to the movie, which came out in 2005.

  • He performed on the "Benny" tour, which started in LA and went national later..

  • Has anyone else noticed the excessive riffing by both guys? I mean, I understand trying to make it your own, but that's not always the way to go.

    Otherwise, they're great.

  • @djarrett651 Yeah, I gotta say that I agree. It's a really good song and I think had they NOT done so many runs it would have been a lot better. Can't hate on NPH or the other guy, they have decent voices.

  • he suited up!!!

  • "Harris accepted the role of Mark Cohen for the Los Angeles production of the beloved musical, Rent (2005). His performance in "Rent" garnered him a Drama-League Award in 1997."

    I know that this has already been explained by someone on this video, but, I got this off of IMDB biographies, and I just wanted to point out, how can someone get an award for a role in 1997 when they don't have the actual role until 2005? Someone should tell IMDB to fix their stuff. :)

  • NHP suited up for this song...Unreal! I was shocked how good he was...The other guy can't beat Pascual though....

  • duude, NPH is freaking awesomely legen...wait for it...DARY!

  • Everyone is going on about how cool NPH is. And although he is a funny guy who can sing, he will never be Anthony Rapp. And they sound like shit compared to the original. Let's be honest here we always will compare anyone who attempts this duet to the original.

  • i always imagines NPH as a 'Rodger' but he makes a frickin' amazing Mark :D

    Wish I could have seen it with him in :/

  • What is up with that other guy Christian? it's like he's trying to outshine NPH Bahahahaha I find it humorous that he thinks he can even attempt to live up to NPH let alone outshine him

  • @booboobitxch666 Christian Mena is a rock star in his own right. He has a 6 octive voice and his own band Maracujah! will melt yourr brain. He was the best Roger EVER (benny tour circa mid 90s)

  • @siouxbruno Search Tragedy and Triumph (3 0f 6) 1997 LA press reel on youtube...

  • @siouxbruno Anthony Rapp was the best Roger he still is the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be no one who has lived up to him yet. Excuse the cliché but I am just being honest

  • @booboobitxch666 Anthony Rapp was the Original Mark, Adam Pascal was Roger :)

  • @AussieHobbit bahahaha I can't believe I typed the wrong name O_O Thank you for correcting my idiotic mistake

  • @booboobitxch666 no worries, what kind of musical theater lover would i be if i didn't help out a fellow fan :p

  • @AussieHobbit Thank you again =)

  • @siouxbruno a 6 octave range? Really? That's basically saying that he has nearly the complete range of a piano. There are 7 full octaves on a piano, and being male, and producing testosterone means generally that the really high notes, that classically trained sopranos have issues hitting would more than likely be out of his range. I'd say he's got a 4 octave range... maybe.

  • @Joey31379 Aye, falsetto does not count towards your octave range in the real world.

  • @skullydt As a trained singer myself, I have to agree totally, your range is generally determined by what you can sing in full voice.

  • @booboobitxch666 He's just trying to keep up. Otherwise we would be wondering why the song was sung as a solo, when it's a duet.

  • @whitehotfire Touché it is a very difficult song to sing... I guess I really have no right to judge I could never sing this song as well as they do...

  • ive never seen this before but OMG! NPH is an amazing singer! hes like the perfect actor. and as someone who loves rent like i do, i wish he had been in the original.

  • OMG its Barney singing!! (for those who dont know what I mean, Barney is Neil Patrick Harris's character in How I met your mother)

  • I knew NPH did musical theater but I had no idea he was this good. He's got an amazing voice. Despite what I'm reading here about the other guy I liked him too. Just to name drop a little..I met NPH and his partner and talked with them a bit.

  • NPH is awesome as Mark. He's got a great voice.

  • Roger wants to be a backstreet boy...

  • that roger is shit

  • damn I wish I could've Rent Neil Patrick Harris was in it! That would have just been awesome :)

  • NPH was good, not Anthony Rapp, but still good, however, the guy playing Roger needed to chill out with the voice wavering thing.

  • @GiaSesshoumaru

    He doesn't really look the part. Hiv suffers just don't have any muscle. He's excellent but still, I think the rocker/Kurt Cobain look really makes the performance more suitable.

  • @GiaSesshoumaru i think NPH is awesome, but i totally agree about the guy playing roger...lol!!

  • i adore NPH, he's the best! But in my opinion i don't think his voice is really suited for Mark. In this version he's too calm and not really putting a lot of emotion in it.

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  • i wish the guy playing roger would stop making his voice waver all over the scale

  • I love Neil Patrick Hais, I really do. And I think he has an amazing singing voice. But I couldn't enjoy this as much as I shoul have because I kept seeing Barney frm How I Met Your Mother, not Mark, and Barney wouldn't sing this. It's just... the suit.

    I'm sorry, but I can't help preferring Anthony Rapp, I feel like he was born for the part. NPH still does a good job, though.

    I also prefer Adam Pascal a thousand times better than Christian Mena. It just seems to me like he's over-doing it.

  • @lizzy941028 Isnt the suit legend wait for it ......dary

  • Oh Neil Patrick Harris!!!Whenever you speak,my heart sings! :D <3

  • Haha I remember seeing this on TV when it aired. It was the first time I'd seen NPH since Doogie Howser went off the air.

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  • There is something a little unbelievable about NPH playing Mark.... I mean, come on, gay or straight, who would leave THAT?! Heterosexual MEN want this guy, I don't think anyone with female anatomy would (or could) walk away!

  • I LOVE THIS NPH did a GREAT job But something is so SPECIAL with Anthony For me its like His voice is already Aggresive yet so soft Its inexplainable but Neil whas great aswell :)

  • Why do gay guys almost always play Mark!

  • @roundandround14 Well the Germans did have John Partridge as a Roger

  • @roundandround14 They don't! What about Anthony Rapp?

  • @MoMoRocks111 Gay or Bi. Jeez! lol

  • Neil is amazing. everything about him. :)

  • If anyone here HASN'T seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, I encourage you to. Because it's amazing, and I may break something important if you don't.

    I agree with some of the criticisms, but this is still an amazing performance of a great song, from a spectacular musical.

    Meanwhile, I'm running out of positive adjectives...

  • I think Mena is a better singer, but NPH just has that X factor that makes him shine. I'm not sure Mena (as good as he is) was really the best choice for Roger. He's a bit too polished and soulful to pass for an "ex-junkie Eddie Vedder/Punk Rocker".

  • /watch?v=LdmaSClef6Q

  • NPH was a great Mark Cohen but I have seen numerous actors play a better Roger. My biggest issue is he is trying WAY to hard to sing the song instead of just feeling it. Not to mention, he is too clean of a singer. When Adam Pascal hits the high notes, is semi clean, he has hint of arock singer. This dude has WAY too much of a vibrato and sings WAY TO MANY RUNS. MEH

  • I actually screamed when NPH started singing... I think i am now a fan of NPH

  • Everyones hating on Christian but I liked him alot actually

  • Neil Patrick Harris really suits the character of Mark Cohen ... I'm impressed!

  • ...I just came.

  • Mena just gets drowned out by the power NPH put into this song. I think the Roger/Mark actors have to be exact; if they don't blend it's just lame. A different combination with either of them would sound better.

  • I don't know if I like Christian Mena's voice for Roger. I mean, he's a great singer, and sounds great with Neil Patrick Harris, but I really don't like him as Roger for some reason. It just doesn't sound quite right.

    I love NPH as Mark though! I find it kind of cool how Anthony Rapp and Neil Patrick Harris are both gay men who play Mark, it kind of gives more depth to the role. I saw Mark as a very ambiguous character a lot of the time.

  • NPH worked really hard at this, and I enjoyed it. Thanks!

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  • okay the other guy is a good singer but.....his voice isn't right for the part of roger. roger normally has the rockstar rugid kinda scratchy voice or like a pure non scratchy rockstar voice. but this guy has kind of sounds like he'd be better in sweeney todd or phantom of the opera.

  • I'm actually fine with the other guy's singing. :o

  • Oh my god. This Christian Mena guy...he's good, but you couldn't have picked a worse person for the role if you'd tried.

  • This was pretty good. NPH, I'm a bit disappointed in the intonation. The tone matches the song well. Christian - I think he could have been better off not doing this. He has the wrong tone for the song and what it is trying to convey. Fantastic singers both, but things could have been fixed.

  • Christian's problem with this role (And even NPH a little) is he is not even CLOSE to being edgy enough. He has a beautiful voice, sure, but Roger is hard core rocker, bot classic broadway.

  • NPH awesome the other dude, really bad

  • NPH was fantastic the other guy?... not so much

  • 20 people don't know what they own...

  • Holy shit, awesome actor, amazing singer. Neil Patrick Harris. :D

  • Any one noticed that this was like, 14 years ago and Neil Patrick Harris still looks the exact same amount of bangin'?

    #TimelessBang

  • @ThingsToFallFor Neil Patrick Harris played Mark Cohen 6 years ago, not 14.

  • @TheApiphobicArtist But the description says this is from 1997. Is it wrong?

  • @FluteCake15 Yeah.  NPH played Mark in 2005.

  • @TheApiphobicArtist Got it. I think that's pretty awesome, just that he was able to do Mark to begin with, because, Neil is awesome and did an amazing job.

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  • Respond to this video... if anything, he gets bangin'-er with age.

  • If your going to RENT, do it correctly. Thats all there is to say about this performance.

  • NPH is pretty good, but that Roger is...meh

  • OMG NPH sounds just like he did on Doogie Howser!! So oooo cute its like hes a kid again

  • That Roger is horrible for the part. :-\ But NPH rocks as always, though I really could see him as Roger more than Mark.

  • Their singing was great, but to me, when i heard NPH was in RENT, I imagined him more as roger... And this Mena guy doesnt seem like he should be Roger at all...

  • Why do they always have GAY people play Mark?!? lol P.S. I am not prejudiced against gays :) :P

  • @clmillerbunny anthony rapps not gay

  • @PatrickLuver4Lyfe yes he is! He's got a boyfriend :)

  • @PatrickLuver4Lyfe read his book?

  • @PatrickLuver4Lyfe He doesn't identify as gay. In his biography book, he identifies as bisexual, and a serial monogamous. He has had boyfriends in the past, I don't know if he currently has one though.

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  • Why do they always have GAY people play Mark?!? lol

  • @clmillerbunny ikr.. anthony rapp, NPH, that guy from broadway, even one in austalia in 2007 anthony calea

  • i like this. not as good as the orginal but i like this

  • i got goose bumps. amazing.

  • WOW! I've never heard him sing before.. he's good =D

  • Neil, awsome yet again, but the Mena guy looked like he was trying to take a really big dump on those really long notes...

  • Wnat to hear him sing as Mark and Adam Pascal as Roger... Would be amaaazing!

  • Yeah! Hit it, Doogie!

  • Neil Patrick Harris is one hot gay man!!

  • I liked Christian....i think alot of his choices may have been based on Direction

  • I feel like NPH made a solid Mark back in 1997. As for the guy who played Roger, he has a good voice. The problem is I don't feel he is a Roger like an Adam Pascal or Will Chase. Christian seems better suited to play Danny Zucco in Grease.

  • Neil is okay. The Roger doesn't deserve the name.

  • NPH is amazing

  • Musical-Five!

  • Roger needs to suit up! :-P

  • He does that same head tilt that Anthony Rapp does. I wonder where that came from....

  • I LOVE NEIL PATRICK HARRIS!!!!!!!!

  • So impressed with Neil. I really didn't like Christian though. He doesn't fit that part at all.

  • Roger's voice is incredible ... but he's way too like. angry ?

  • Neil amazing Christian not so much , gotta love rent

  • He Can Sing Too........Life just got sweeter ;-) (no pun intended)

  • The venom in NPH's voice and face when he's referencing Roger makes me flinch- he does nasty so well; if he were ever pissed at me I'd be scared.

  • @Johnnycatmeow Watch him in Dr. Horrible's Sing along blog. He plays the evil guy dr. horrible. and you can hear the hatred in his voice when he sings a couple of the songs.

  • @bsbhimrasmus Oh, I've seen it. I'm just still impressed with how creepy and intimidating he manages to be.

  • 3:05- Nice handphone, Neil.

  • the roger is good, just... not a roger.

  • Is it just me, or are broadway actors always so much better before they get "famous"? Don't get me wrong, NPH has more talent in his left earlobe than most people have in their whole body, but I just worry he's going to go the same way as John Barrowman.

  • @WeeSusieJ I'm pretty sure NPH was tv famous before he was broadway "famous". Remember Doogie Howser?

  • @racgein Good point.

  • that vibrato that roger has is so annoying.

  • I would have NPH's child, and I am a straight man....

  • @spike284 Then I don't know how that can be possible. Unless you're saying that you would endure great pain to your genitals for hours in order to show how much you appreciate him.

  • So, Neil is my favourite person in the universe.

  • Christian Mena was the voice of Ronnie Matthews singing voice in Hey Arnold. "I saw your face and wow!"

  • "I don't own emotion, I rent" Gosh, controlled vibrato, I swoon.

  • @kitkatqueen Agreed, that line was pure orgasm

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  • First of all, It's Neil Patrick Harris and Anthony Rapp, which you would notice if you've passed second grade and have learned how to read and/or learned how to sound out words. Anthony RAPP is not a stage name, it is the name of of and actual actor and a fantastic singer. Personally, I believe that certain ignorant people going with the "Great Black Wayne" is one of the major reasons why the youth of today cannot appreciate good singers that don't use AUTOTUNE and mimic actual talent. K thanks.

  • @joejoemasterfull AMEN! =D

  • @joejoemasterfull Thank God someone else appreciate non autotuned singers.

  • @joejoemasterfull  Um, that is NOT Anthony Rapp dumbass.

  • @Seriphina Obviously, you. missed the dis-respectful jackass calling NPH Anthony Rapp and then saying that Rapp was a ridiculous actor and untalented singer. The same jackass also praised lil' wayne and claimed that autotune was the way to go. DUMB-ASS

  • @joejoemasterfull yeah. auto tune sucks. all you get out of it are emotionless robotic voices and songs like 'Friday' . usually the lyrics suck more than the stuck up, untalented artists that use it.

  • @joejoemasterfull i can appreciate where you're coming from with the autotune, and i'm PART of todays high school society, but idk who that is exactly. the one thing we can all agree on is that is neil patrick harris as mark. and he is amazing.

  • This may be the best sounding Mark and Roger I've heard before, but NPH sounds kind of like he's making fun of it in the beginning lines. :P

  • @Kdrashma Mark is generally a sarcastic sounding character-in this instance he's complaining about the 'sellout' job he has at a network.

  • I have watched Rent the movie and I was hoping that Neil is playing Roger.:(

  • I love Neil Patrick Harris, I think he is a great singer and actor of course, but he is not the real Mark. He is just playing the part. Anthony Rapp on the other hand, he is Mark. This might be the worst interpretation of Roger I have ever seen.

  • ijeej Neil is so good ..love it!

  • I love Neil Patrick Harris, but not as Mark. Anthony Rapp is definitely better suited to the part. And jesus, what the hell is wrong with this Roger? Seriously, he's like... over-singing. You know, if that was a thing.

  • I love Anthony Rapp and NPH, I don't know which is a better Mark!! <3

  • Am I the only one who think Neil is the cutest thing EVER?

  • He's a good Mark

  • Neil is incredible, however Christian needs chill on the verbrado and R&B wanna be shit.

  • Neil = chills.

  • the roger runs every word

  • @TDiamond1993 yeah its kinda annoying.

  • @TDiamond1993 agreed its like hes trying to be all look at me and hear what i can do instead of making people understand the song

  • NPH= Pure Talent

  • woaa *_* neil is sooo good .. oO .. great :)

  • It surprises me that there is a line in this song about not having a conscious? However it's probably not the conservative idea of a conscious. I find this song very true. You are what you own, what you own makes a person and it shouldn't be that way. possesions will do nothing for you when you are dead.

  • roger just made me laugh my a off and i showed this to my roommate and she goes 'WHAT'S ROGER'S PROBLEM?!?!'

  • @fetalxmind hahahahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!!!  XD

  • NPH is just Godly. I really enjoy his Mark. This Roger isn't really rock star enough, he isn't gritty enough. Yeah, I liked it.

  • Neil rocks!