Hit Musical Rent Returns to Boston
The story of a group of starving artists, living in New York City, Rent tells the story of friends who are struggling to survive while not selling out in the end of the 1990s. Mark, the narrator, is an aspiring film maker, while his roommate, Roger, is an HIV-infected musician. Mimi, their neighbor, is a heroin-addicted S&M dancer who also has AIDS, as does Collins, a computer-age philosophy professor and his boyfriend, a drag queen named Angel. Mark’s ex-girlfriend Maureen, and her new girlfriend Joanne, also are part of the group.
Written by the late Jonathon Larson, who died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm the night before the show premiered Off-Broadway, Rent has enjoyed ten years of success on Broadway, winning four Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as being made into a feature film this past fall.
Performed by an extremely eager company, this performance of Rent is filled with youthful exuberance. This cast seems blissfully ignorant of the fact that they are not the first, nor will they be the last, people to perform these roles and tell these stories.
Mark and Roger deliver solid performances with a wistful mixture of naivetÃ?© and knowledge. As Mark, Jed Resnick gives a powerfully understated performance, serving as the narrator of the show, utilizing control over his obvious talent even at the most flamboyant moments. Bryce Ryness’ Roger appears stuff and uncomfortable at certain moments, but his vocal talents are used well during “One Song Glory” and “Without You.” It is Tracy McDowell’s Maureen that steals the show as the narcissist actress Maureen. Her rendition of “Over the Moon” is absolutely hilarious, and her voice is extremely enjoyable during her break-up duet “Take Me or Leave Me” with Chante Carmel Frierson’s Joanne.
It is when the entire cast is together onstage that the real message of Rent is portrayed. The large group number “La Vie Boheme,” a toast to all things Bohemian in their lives, performed on a table in a restaurant, is one of the highlights of the show. Living in the moment, singing and dancing and toasting everything from Sondheim to sodomy, these characters’ lives seem enviable in their simplicity and joy.
The cast functions well as a company, but in their personal relationships they are strained. Resnick and Arianda Fernandez appear mismatched as the lovers Roger and Mimi. While Fernandez possesses an extremely strong voice as well as exemplary physical acting skills, her vocals appear forced and unnatural.
She would appear more comfortable performing in American Idol than the Shubert Theater. And it is a shame, because there is much more to Mimi than Fernandez allows her to have. She offers too much, while Resnick offers too little, and the love between the two is never believable. It is Tom Collins (Warren G. Nolan, Jr) and Angel (Ano Okera) that offer insight into real intimacy. The two’s love duet, “I’ll Cover You” is one of the most sincere moments in the show.
Despite the decade that has passed since this show originated, the themes are timeless. The main plot of Rent is a love story, but the subplots offer much more into a time that has since passed. The life support meetings, featuring people sharing their fears about dying, are touching and intimate, offering much more through quiet and calm then flashing lights and booming vocals. These people are poor and scared, living in fear of disease and death, but they are still trying to live.
Rent is no longer the edgy show that it once was. In 1996, there were few shows that toast “faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross-dressers” in its large company numbers. Its innovation helped to create a new type of musical that has developed over the years. But it is not a thing of the past, either. Right now it hovers, somewhat awkwardly, somewhere between the past and the future. But if the energy of its performers continue the way this cast has, la vie boheme will continue to be toasted for many years to come.
