Chekov started it. His tree-splitting, bourgeoisie-felling axe in "The Cherry Orchard" attuned chosen ones from ensuing generations to a new way of seeing. Accordingly in the early '90s, "Rent" creator Jonathan Larson recognized that a gentrifying East Village was colliding with post-Reagan, premillennial America, a course that demanded crystallization in the form of art.

Copping Puccini's "La Boheme" and layering it with contemporary intellectual, artistic, and sexual vibrancy, Larson distilled collaborative narrative down to urban epiphany. The plot: two roommates struggle with a former roommate who's now in the money and threatening to evict not only them, but also the homeless crew in the lot across the street. Like stepping into a Nan Goldin snapshot, the late Larson's "Rent" effortlessly depicts community, creativity, disease, pain, and redemption amid elegant squalor. The "Angel Tour" road show currently gracing San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre is a must-see.

Daphne Rubin-Vega created the role of Mimi Marquez when "Rent" was but an embryo, and subsequently was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actress and won the Theatre World Award. I'll tell you one thing: she won that award for a reason, and she's clearly happy to be reprising the coke-jonesing exotic dancer role, following the movie and record deals that plucked her from the Broadway production. Her vital, raw energy and textured voice fortifies a strong ensemble.

In Mark Cohen, we have a gentle narrator and an aspiring filmmaker that Trey Ellett delivers with wit and charm. Roger Davis (Dean Balkwill), a musician dealing with HIV, is a lightning bolt of passion and internal demons. Balkwill has developed exceptional chemistry with Rubin-Vega as his (also HIV-positive) soul mate and Ellett as his roommate.

Shaun Earl's portrayal of the caring, merciful drag queen Angel Schunard nears the sublime, especially when coupled with Mark Jackson's silky Tom Collins, a philosopher in the Heidigger-meets-Coltrane tradition. They're always vulnerable and are Lego-perfect on stage.

Similarly, Erin Keeney's rendering of performing artist Maureen Johnson is appropriately and delightfully over the top. Maureen and her lover Joanne Jefferson, a public-service lawyer played by Kamilah Martin, team for a duet of "Take Me or Leave Me" that brings down the house and sets the tone for the entire second act.

Blake Burba's nifty lighting and Paul Clay's true-Village-feel set offer director Michael Greif the perfect platform for top-notch art. This "Rent" is the real deal.--Scott Blue