Paying the 'Rent' is Well Worth It
-USC Daily Trojan 1/27/99-
"Rent," the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning
American musical is more than just a play. It
resembles a rock concert of bittersweet humanity -
audiences are left in tears and the performers are
showered with applause.
The play, written by Jonathan Larson and directed
by Michael Greif, is now in Los Angeles for a limited
engagement at the Shubert Theatre. It is playing
through Feb. 28.
Although it has been playing for years since its
Broadway premiere in 1994, people continue to see
it again and again. Often, audience members,
familiar with the production, begin applauding at
the sound of the first familiar note of a favorite
scene or musical number. The emotion and strength
with which the characters sing their desires, fears
and frustrations, while dealing with conflict is
awe-inspiring.
Daphne Rubin-Vega, who originated the role of Mimi
on Broadway, gives a dynamic performance.
Returning to Los Angeles for the limited
engagement is an incredible gift to audiences who
weren't fortunate enough to see "Rent" on
Broadway. Her soulful, yet sweet, voice
compliments a fiery nature masked within a petite
frame.
Shaun Earl takes the show, while capturing the
hearts of both the cast of characters and the
audience, as the charismatic cross-dresser Angel
Schunard. Angel serves as the consciousness of the
piece. He is the light of hope and optimism in a
community faced with despair.
Erin Keaney, is the eccentric Maureen, who knows
how to pluck the heart strings of her ex-boyfriend
Mark (Trey Ellett) and her new lover Joanne
(Kamilah Martin). Brian M. Love plays the
commercially hip-hop cyber jerk Benny with style
and confidence. Dean Balkwill and Mark Cohen set
the stage as Roger, the aspiring singer/song writer,
and Mark, the struggling filmmaker, respectively.
The strength and passion with which the characters
sing is amazing.
Kamilah Martin is outstanding as Joanne, the
Harvard- graduate lesbian, whose peace of mind is
shaken by a manipulative girlfriend. Mark Leroy
Jackson leaves audiences engaged with a heartfelt
and tender performance as Tom Collins, the NYU
teachers assistant who loses his lover to AIDS.
The inception of "Rent" is just as fascinating.
"Rent's" pioneering writers were inspired by
Puccini's popular operatic version of Henry Mergers
Scene's "De la vie de boheme." Billy Aronson, a
Yale trained playwright, approached Larson with the
idea of updating "La Boheme." With Aronson's
permission, Larson developed "Rent" for his own.
Larson used the setting of his real life, the
warehouse district, south of Greenwich Village, to
update a timeless French tale about struggling
artists living in an impoverished artistic mecca. In
"La Boheme," the Parisian bohemians are afflicted
with tuberculosis, while "Rent"'s characters struggle
with AIDS.
With the help of some key players in the industry,
such as Stephen Sondheim and Jim Nicola of the
New York Theatre Workshop, "Rent" was on its way
to becoming an incredible success. Director Greif
worked in collaboration with Larson to further
develop a story line that would compliment the
energy and optimistic passion of his music.
After months of revisions and workshops, "Rent"
premiered coincidentally on the 100th anniversary
of the opera "La Boheme." While the timing of the
premiere was done unconsciously, irony is an
element present in almost every aspect of the
production's existence.
Many of the actors who helped develop the
characters during the workshop in 1994, were
literally starving artists who couldn't pay the rent.
The most chilling irony is the unexpected death of
Larson shortly before the show's premiere. He had
been in and out of hospitals the week of scheduled
preview performances and was misdiagnosed with
the flu and food poisoning before he died of an
aortic aneurysm.
As a result of his untimely death, Larson is
immortalized in the passionate lyrics and music of
"Rent." For many in the original cast, Jonathan's
death fueled their performances and ignited the
overall spirit of the production.
"Rent" is a must-see for all musical theater
enthusiasts. Its rawness, and rock 'n' roll
foundation is a departure from the average
Broadway musical. Terrific lighting, costume and set
design, as well as the musical talents of an
ensemble accompanied by an orchestra, combine to
amaze the audience, which is what "Rent" is all
about. It is a theatrical experience like none other.
-Maya Washington