Rent the Musical
RENT
Theater Review
What little this reviewer knew about the rock musical RENT since its debut in 1996 was that it dealt with young starving artists living in a rundown section of New York City with several characters dealing with HIV/AIDS and/or drug abuse. Though it won a slew of Tony and Drama Desk Awards, it always seemed like a downer to steer clear of.
Big mistake. While, yes, some characters’ lives start at the bottom, ultimately the musical offers a vision of camaraderie for this eclectic demimonde striving for success, acceptance or love. Or all. Rather, it is uplifting.
Loosely inspired by Puccini’s opera La boheme, RENT, the book, music, and lyrics were composed by Jonathan Larson, with its current production directed by Ted Watts, Jr.
Mark (Carson Jones) an unaccomplished filmmaker, serves as RENT’s narrator. Misery loves company, it seems as he lives with Roger (Oliver Smith) a depressed musician, who’s a recovering junkie and is HIV-positive. Both live in squalor in a loft now owned by Benny (Nathan Irwin) their ex-roommate-turned- yuppie, who married into money. Sparks don’t fly when their neighbor, Mimi (Mary Coulter), a sexy exotic dancer and drug addict initially flirts with Roger, with little success. Later, another former roommate, Tom Collins (Darrel Whitney), shows up with Angel (Ryan Dawley), a drag queen who rescued Tom after a brutal mugging. Later still, Benny arrives talking of Maureen (Bella James), another former roommate and ex-lover of Mark’s, who’s planning a protest to evict the homeless from an empty lot where he’s planning to build a cyber-arts studio. Benny proposes to Mark and Roger that if can convince Maureen to scrap her protest, he’ll allow them to live there rent free.
The stage design with its grey, wooden ramshackle-looking 2×4 second story design allowed for various secondary or tertiary scenes (such as the live-action voicemails) as well as to feature the show’s 21-person cast onstage for several of the show’s all-hands-on-deck performances.
From the 40+ songs contained within RENT the only one this reviewer recognized was the song that featured the lyrics five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes, which is hidden under the title, Seasons of Love, but that’s not to say there aren’t many entertaining tunes such as the seductive Light My Candle, a Mimi and Roger duet; the humorous Tango Maureen, Joanne (Julia Kemp); and the touching Santa Fe, sung by Tom, Angel and Mark.
Carson Jones’ Mark aptly duct tapes the loose ends of the loose lives of his allies and antagonists together as chronicler of this tale with his movie camera in hand. Oliver Smith’s Roger walks a complex tightrope between disease and depression versus his life-affirming enamor for Mary Coulter’s alluring portrayal of Mimi, with her own problems. Meanwhile, Nathan Irwin’s Benny offers up some needed comic relief as a nouveau riche sans a soul.
The live music was definitely a treat, yet it seemed there were periods where the musicians drown out the lyrics being sung. The audience, however, at the premiere performance didn’t seem to mind. The hooting, whooping and spontaneous applause by the psyched attendees demonstrated an enthusiasm for either RENT itself or for their friends or loved ones performing onstage.
Maybe a little of both?
Indeed RENT paid the audience in full–with its energetic cast, crew, musicians and director.
Caution: RENT contains adult language and situations and is intended only for mature
audiences.
—GG
RENT runs through July 30. Academy Theatre is located at Chestnut Street, Meadville. For more information, visit www.TheAcademyTheatre.org
