From the Desk of Jim R, Take 3, Broadway/National Tour: Jonathan Larson's "Rent" (A Review)

 

By James V. Ruocco

The lyrics for "Rent" are unmistakably familiar.

"How do you document real life

When real life's getting more like fiction each day?

Headlines, bread-lines blow my mind

And now this deadline, eviction or pay rent"

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand Six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes

How do you measure - measure a year?

In daylights - in sunsets

In midnights - in cups of coffee

In inches - in miles

In laughter - in strife"

And well, they should be....

"Rent" was...."Rent" is...."Rent" remains the celebrated work of  Jonathan Larson, the 35-year-old composer/lyricist and author who died of an aortic aneurysm on January, 25, 1996, just days before his exhilarating rock opera made its official big debut off-Broadway to heightened fanfare and subsequently, was later transferred to Broadway in April of the same year, where, it became the "Hamilton" of its day.

Of course, this came as no surprise to anyone in the cast, in the audience or on the creative team.

Back then, the two-act musical, which won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Musical Score, among others, transformed the face of musical theater with its unexpectedly catchy, musical score of salsa, reggae, opera, electric rock, pop and Sondheim-tinged eclecticism. Its complicated, angst-filled story of gay and straight characters fighting for life and survival in N.Y's bohemian milieu of St. Mark's Place, was fueled with grit, hope, pulse, desire and unabashed vitality. And when the "Rent" cast stood on the edge of the proscenium stage facing the audience at the start of Act II and sang the soul-searching "Season of Love," a tearful reminder of living and measuring life on borrowed time, your heart just about broke and broke....and broke.

I remember it well
Sitting there, fifth row orchestra center at the Nederlander Theatre, just two days after its big Broadway bow, I remember thinking, "How lucky am I to be sitting here watching this musical." and..."How lucky are those people on stage ...Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Idina Menzel, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Fredi Walker, Taye Diggs, Jesse L. Marin...to get to do something like this eight times a week."

Twenty-one years later, "Rent" still works and reworks that same theatrical magic on its audience as it did for first-niters on 79 East Fourth St in the East Village and at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. The cast is new. The production is brand new. The sets are brand new. The costumes are new.
But make no mistake, this is "Rent" is all its colorful, heartfelt, cinematic-like glory.

One major difference.

This time around, however, the audience.....well, at least 85 percent of them, anyway... come to "Rent" knowing every song and lyric, every line of dialogue, every characterization, every tick, beat or nuance, every dance move, every shock or surprise. They also know all the inhabitants of Larson's colorful bohemia (drag queens, drug addicts, homosexuals, lesbians, songwriters, dancers, filmmakers, homeless people and those with HIV) and how they evolve during both Act I and II. But it doesn't really matter.
They applaud all their entrances and exits. They sing out loud. They laugh, they cry, they jump out of their seats. They shout the names of the characters. They often lose control and go absolutely crazy when a song starts or finishes.

Some are actors, Broadway groupies, college students, homosexuals and very wealthy theater buffs who live, breathe and die for theater. And let's not forget those exhilarating "Rentheads," who started in all way back when. They still follow the show from city to city and many of them have seen "Rent" more than 500-600 times.
They set the tone for the entire performance. They get the on-stage actors pumped up and ready to
go...And then, its happens..."Rent" explodes. And what an explosion it is.

The 20th Anniversary Touring edition of "Rent" more than delivers its emotional wallop of snap, crackle and pop. It works everyone on stage and off into a fervent, often playful sense of delirium, which, when you think about it, is probably what Larson envisioned all along. It stands the testament of time and warrants a definite revisiting. It also sounds livelier and louder than ever did before.


Moreover, this "Rent" is not a copycat, paint-by-numbers incarnation of the original 1996 Broadway musical conceived by Michael Greif. "Rent" director Evan Ensign isn't interested in dusting off the blueprints of that work to the point where his "Rent" is nothing more than a nostalgic, affectionate  tribute. Instead, he puts his own unique stamp on the production. He changes some of the original stage movement. He thrusts the action forward at a much brisker pace. He brings some of the upstage action downstage to make it much more effective for both actor and audience. He also respects and understands each characterization and only fleetingly, makes a minor change or two with the central characters.

Elsewhere, he lovingly preserves some of the original staging created by Greif, most noticeable n the opening "Rent" production number, the "Light My Candle" exchanges, the celebratory "La Vie Boheme," which closes Act I and "What You Own," a character-driven song in the middle of Act II.
Marlies Yearby's pungent choreography provides pulse, momentum, spunk, spirit and stamina, all of which are perfectly in sync with the on-stage proceedings.

Ensign also brings a certain unabashed playfulness and cheeky spin to "Rent's" many verbal and musical voicemails, phone calls and celebratory pronouncements, all of which are effectively staged and performed by members on the ensemble cast who tackle many, many different roles (waiters, parents, cops, bohemians, life support members, to name a few) and costume changes with creative and individual brio. That way, no one flips through their playbills out of sheer boredom. Or looks confused or lost by the action on stage.

The heart and soul of the show, of course, is Larson's inventive, intricate and driven musical score.
His creative mix of anthems, duets, ballads, gospels, rock songs, plot-driven laments and showstoppers is unbeatable. "Rent," "One Song Glory," "Out Tonight," "I'll Cover You," "Take Me or Leave Me," "Another Day," "Without You," "What Your Own," "Seasons of Love." The list goes on and on and on. And nothing gets lost in the translation. Larson's recurring themes: living on the edge, taking chances, fighting for survival, shielding loved ones from danger in the face of adversity are emotionally revisited by musical supervisor Tim Weil whose expert handling of the material would make Larson ever-so-proud.

The casting is superb. There is not a weak link in the entire production: from lead to supporting cast member and ensemble. No one could play the part of relentless Jewish filmmaker Mark Cohen like Anthony Rapp who created the role in the original 1996 Broadway production. That was a once-in-a-lifetime performance. The good news about this "Rent" is that the enigmatic Danny Harris Kornfeld doesn't even try to replicate Rapp or Rapp's Mark. Instead, he offers his own take on the character and never once misses a single beat. His singing is dynamic. His characterization in completely in sync with Larson's intentions. And he has plenty of charisma and personality to boot, which is exactly what the part calls for.

Is David Merino's sassy, three-dimensional character turn as Angel, the young drag queen who is dying of AIDS as sensational as Wilson Jermaine Heredia who originated the role on Broadway? Most definitely. It's a show stopping performance that the actor invests with just the right amount of passion, pathos and love. Everyone is the audience loves him and his flamboyant character. And when he cuts loose with "Today 4 You" and "I'll Cover You," the applause is deafening....and rightly so.

Kaleb Wells is ideally cast as the sexy, troubled singer/ songwriter Roger whose previous girlfriend committed  suicide. His anguished, emotional ballad "One Song Glory" is absolutely sensational. Skyler Volpe is equally engaging and sensuous as drug-stoked Mimi. Her wildly erotic solo, “Out Tonight,” a song that celebrates her zest for life and danger, is electrifying. And so is her performance.

Jasmine Easler and Katie Lamark also stand out as Joanne and Maureen. They have plenty of energy, power and charisma. Their big duet "Take Me or Leave Me" is charged with enough sexual energy and chemistry to cause a power outage. "Over the Moon," Maureen's crazy, avant-garde protest number is so unbelievably timed, both comically and vocally, it deserves a standing ovation in itself. 

Then again, so does this brilliant, energetically staged edition of "Rent." It deserves not one, but perhaps two or three standing ovations, if that is at all possible. Moreover, the exciting thing about the 20th Anniversary Tour is watching a completely new group of actors and actresses breathe new life into this familiar story of East Village bohemia. Yes, they are completely different from the original 1996 Broadway cast. But they share the same amount of love and passion for Jonathan Larson's work as everyone did before them. They get it. They understand it. And they perform it in ways that would have blown Mr. Larson away.

There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss

No other road
No other way
No day but today