CANADIAN RENT RICH IN IRONY
The Montreal Gazette, Monday, December 8, 1997
by Pat Donnelly
TORONTO - What is there left to say about an issue-oriented Broadway rock musical that has already been lauded to the skies south of the border and handed three Tony Awards plus the Pulitzer Prize?

Not much. Only that Jonathan Larson's Rent rings especially poignant in Toronto, home for the very, very rich and the very, very poor.

Last night's gala opening at the antique, aristocratic Royal Alexandra Theatre was a study in social contrasts. High-rent fold rushed in to see a musical about starving New York artistes battling poverty and AIDS at the end of the millennium, while no-rent fold hung out on King St. hoping to score some spare change. Another layer of irony was added by the realization that many of the 15 young actors holding a mirror up to life on stage had just landed their first decent paying job.

PACKED WITH RAW TALENT

Rent is a youth-powered ensemble piece packed with raw talent, most of it Canadian. Although it must be said that the most inspiring performance is that of Krysten Cummings, who was born in the U.S.A. and now lives in London, England. She's one red-hot Mimi. Of the Canadian cast members, Montrealer Danny Blanco, as the philosophical Tom Collins, is the one with genuine star quality. These two people make you care, as essential for a show that champions the down and out.

Loosely adapted from Puccini's La Boheme, which was based on Henry Murger's autobiographical Scenes de La Vie de Boheme, Rent is set in a warehouse loft in New York's Lower East Village. The set is a funky anti-theatrical collage of twisted metal and Christmas tree lights. A paper lantern stands in for the moon.

A maverick filmmaker named Mark (played by Newfoundlander Chad Richardson) serves as the intermittent narrator of what is set up to be a chronicle of the lives of his friends - a kind of quasi-documentary soap opera, if you will. The action begins on Christmas Eve. Eviction is imminent, relationships are extremely complicated.

Mark has just been dumped by Maureen (Montrealer Jenifer Aubry), a bisexual performance artist. Her new flame is a social worker named Joanne (Karen LeBlanc). Mark's room-mate Roger (Luther Creek), an aspiring songwriter, is mourning the death of his girlfriend who committed suicide after telling him "they" had AIDS. True love knocks at his door in the form of Mimi (Cummings), an erotic dancer with a crack habit who asks him to light her candle.

Meanwhile, Collins (Blanco), a teacher and fellow tenant threatened with eviction by former comrade, Benny (played by Jeremy Kushner, from Winnipeg), falls in love with a drag queen named Angel (New Yorker Jai Rodrigues), who loves to play Ms. Santa Claus.

Got that? If you're mildly confused now, just wait until after you've seen the show. It has enough loose ends to launch its own Rent Trivia game. First question: Does Benny test HIV positive? And what is his current relationship with Mimi, anyway?

Not that it really matters. Rent is a mostly sung through rock musical propelled by a sexy, hyped-up score that ranges from kick-butt rock to tango, all with plenty of throbbing percussion. Gleaning a story from lyrics put to music you'd rather groove to than dissect on first hearing is arguably an unnatural act. The lyrics themselves are articulate and punchy with lapses into the juvenile, pretty much what one would expect from someone like Larson, who considered Stephen Sondheim a mentor but had been known to write jingles for Sesame Street. Sample: "I don't own emotion, I rent." How about: "Forget regret or life is yours to miss." Or the immortal, "I'll kiss your Doc Martens. Let me kiss your Doc Martens."

LIKE A DREAM

At the Royal Alex, the show explodes into high gear with Mimi's cat-on-the-prowl solo, Out Tonight. But it should take off earlier, with Creek's delivery of Roger's Glory, about a young songwriter aching to die like a sunset with one hit to his name. Greek misses his golden emoting opportunity here.

This cannot be said of the remarkably feminine Rodrigues, who vamps up a storm with Today for You, Tomorrow for Me. He and Collins form the most believable romantic couple of the gang. Collins croons his way through I'll Cover You like a dream.

Aubry overcomes bad costuming, but sticks to easy comedy in her rendition of the first act show-stopper, Maureen's Over the Moon. She's delightfully daffy and has a powerful voice but she misses the point of Maureen, an artist so serious about herself that she's ridiculous. LeBlanc is a thorough professional who never slips over the top or under the floorboards. And she can sing. This is not a given in Rent. One to the best voices, that of Divine Earth Essence is buried in the ensemble, except for the one glorious moment when she's allowed to let it rip.

EXCELS IN GROUP SCENES

The noticeably Canadian aspects of this production as compared to the Broadway version, are its pace (less frenetic) and its attitude (down a notch). The company songs, like Christmas Bells, sung by the chorus of the homeless, and La Vie Boheme, work especially well. Director Michael Greif excels in group scenes offering kaleidoscope images of urban life in the '90s.

Like all good art Rent is meant to touch the heart and alter the mind. Which it does. However, if you're sitting close to the amplifiers, if also has a memorable effect on the ears. Anyone expecting a Puccini opera kind of musical satisfaction is in for a rude, rock shock. Larson, who died of an aortic aneurysm just after the final dress rehearsal of the original off-Broadway production, may have borrowed Puccini's book but he treads quite another musical path.

Rent's producers tip their hats to the generation that created it by offering 32 front row tickets at $20 each precisely two hours before each performance. Early arrival, patience and a sleeping bag are recommended.