Sunday, August 27, 2023

From the Desk of Jim R, Take 2, Column 420, A Review: "Rent" (White Rabbit Theatre)

By James V. Ruocco 

Then, now, always.
The experience that is "Rent" - not just onstage but in the audience - is shaped by story, vocals, music, exchanges and characters that touch the heart, stir the senses, create an atmosphere of pure euphoria and produce lots and lots of wet tears for those willing to succumb to the musical's oft-told tale of triumph, adversity, friendship, life, death and bohemian camaraderie.
Twenty-seven years old, it remains a source of great joy, strength and opportunity.
It rocks effectively.
It tilts and spins.
It is unmistakably catchy, inspiring and timely.
It promotes diversity.
It's every bit as powerful as when it was first performed.
And like all great music or art, it has acquired a strong sense of history, rhythm and pulse that goes way beyond the Bohemian stratosphere from whence it came.

"Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six-hundred minutes.
Five hundred twenty-five
Moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand
Six hundred minutes
How do you measure - measure a year?
In daylights - in sunsets
In midnight's - in cups of coffee
In inches - in miles
In laughter - in strife"

"There's only us, there's only this.
Forget regret, or life is your's to miss.
No other path, no other way.
No day but today"

"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!"


No matter how you look at it - The East Village premiere in 1996 or the thrilling 2023 revival by White Rabbit Theatre - the legacy that is "Rent" remains the brainchild of the very man himself - 35-year-old Jonathan Larson, the visionary composer, lyricist and author of the hit musical who died of an aortic aneurysm on January, 25, 1996, just days before his ground-breaking rock opera made its official 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.
This, of course, came as no surprise to anyone in the cast, the audience, the producer's chair, the backstage crew or the creative team.
"Rent" was a Broadway musical, like no other.

Edgy.
Blatant.
Effective.
Revelatory.
Unhinged.
Sexual.
Prolific.


Winner of the 1996 Award for Best Musical and Best Musical Score, among others, "Rent" completely changed the face of musical theater - Broadway, West End, Fringe, Regional, National Tour - with an adrenaline-pumped, frenzied musical score of seamlessly mixed salsa, reggae, opera, gospel, tango, electric rock, pop and Sondheim-tinged eclecticism.
Its angst-filled story of gay and straight characters fighting for survival in N.Y 's bohemian milieu of St. Mark's Place was fueled with grit, hope, boldness, revelation, lust 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 to sing the harmonic anthem "Seasons of Love," a tearful, angst-ridden reminder of living and measuring life on borrowed time, your heart just broke and broke and broke. 

At Cheney Hall in Manchester, an inviting, elegant Victorian structure of brick and brownstone, White Rabbit Theatre's invigorating revival of the 1996 Tony Award winning musical, fills the historic venue with an immersive, in-the-moment exhilaration and celebratory, pseudo pop feel that not only pays homage to 
Jonathan Larson's vision, concept and blueprint for "Rent," but does full justice to his visionary story, his representation of different races, his colorful gay and straight characters, his contagious rock score and his overflowing sense of promise, hope, attitude and urban rawness.


The cast of 23 is new.
The interpretation is new.
The direction is new.
The style, the staging, the twists, the ideas and the vision is new.
The costume design is new.
But this is "Rent" the way it was meant to be seen, enjoyed, performed and experienced.

No stone is left unturned in this White Rabbit Theatre revival.
It is bold and brazen.
It is focused and uplifting.
It is electric and connected.
It is raw and sexual.
It is urgent and romantic.
It dances to its own decided heartbeat.
It also has a mind of its own, as seen through the eyes of its extraordinary directors, Adam Tortorello and Lena Felix.


Written by Jonathan Larson (book, music and lyrics), "Rent," which loosely takes its inspiration from Puccini's celebrated opera "La Boheme," deals openly and objectively with upfront and personal themes and ideas about drug addiction, eviction, materialism, queerness, struggle, legacy, entitlement, debate, sexual identity, transgender activism, death, poverty, individualism, urban redevelopment and AIDS.
Its raw, necessary, stringent language ("fucking weird," "fucking bitch," "dildo," "clit club," "queer," for example), jump starts the storytelling, its musical format and its scene-by-scene progression without any form of hesitation, whitewashing, cop outs, editing or censorship. Here, the principal characters are full-on and reflective of their impoverished, quirky East Village milieu. Nothing is taken for granted, pumped up, overplayed, exaggerated or prettified. Everyone has his or her piece to sing or recite including Larson's wandering, perfectly integrated populate of parents, police officers, vendors, junkies, homeless people, beggars, waiters, pastors and AIDS-inflicted men and women clinging to a hope of a better tomorrow.


From its very first performance at the 150-seat New York Workshop, the defining pulse, sting and heartbeat of "Rent" comes from Larson's inventive, optimistic, character-driven musical score. Cleverly integrated into his hypnotic thought-provoking, two-act narrative, this defining and creative mix of anthems, duets, ballads, rock songs, plot-driven laments, rifts, pronouncements, declarations and lively showstoppers seamlessly reflect the anguish, rage, conflict, underbelly and emotion he intended for the two-act musical.
"La Vie Boheme," "Another Day," "One Song Glory," "Light My Candle," "Rent," "Out Tonight," "I'll Cover You," "You Okay, Honey," "Take Me or Leave Me," "Seasons of Love," "Without You," "I Should Tell You," "Santa Fe," "Christmas Bells," "Goodbye Love," "We're Okay," "Over the Moon," "What You Own," "Today 4 U," "Tango: Maureen," "Will I?" "Life Support," "Your Eyes."
It's all here at White Rabbit Theatre - loud, proud, significant, harmonic, energized - and nothing gets lost in the translation.
Larson's recurring musical themes - living on the edge, taking chances, tragic losses, fighting for survival, a strong sense of community, death and adversity, homophobia, shielding loved ones from danger, unspoken truths - are emotionally sustained, addressed and melodically revisited in this eclectic WRT remounting which is musically directed by Marc Sokolson and band director/conductor Nick Stanford (doubling as keyboardist 1) alongside the talented, handpicked orchestral team of Maurice Thomas (Bass), Mike Bafuma (drums), Nick Zavaglia (guitar 1) and C. Descoutures (guitar 2, keyboardist 2).
A collaborative effort that gives way to a luxury outing of colorful, collective interludes, beats, rhythms and pulses, Sokolson and company fuel "Rent" with a dizzying, involved frenzy, fire and spirit that sets Larson's great musical artwork in motion. There's shimmer and grasp. There's lingering drama and resonance. There's rainbow flag theatricality. There's lift and challenge. There's punch and climax. There's variety and contact. There's warmth, ache, sorrow and presence.
As "Rent" evolves, there is also a real immediacy and realization here offset by precise, seamless involvement and navigational detail reflective of Larson's original concept for the two-act musical. From the catchy, pulsating beat of the opening title song "Rent" to the tear-stained, emotional "Act II Finale," things are hauntingly replayed with a bustle or two of nostalgia lovingly mixed with thrill, substance, style and RentHead verve and momentum.  


As with any musical - "Evita," "Sweeney Todd," "Fun Home," "Les Misérables," "Next to Normal," to name a few - the underlying strength, aside from the original musical score, that is, comes from the interpretative stamp of the director of choice and his or her emotional take on the story, the characters and the evolutional journey that ensues between actor and audience. Here, at White Rabbit Theatre, "Rent" springs to life under the directorial tutelage of Adam Tortorello (he also portrays Mark Cohen in this production) and Lena Felix (guest "Seasons of Love" soloist for the 9/03 performance), two artists and visionaries whose love, connection and commitment to Jonathan Larson's acclaimed, iconic work is met with a seamless blend of vibrancy, buzz, passion, thrust and boom that ignites their telling with an expressive depth, fury and specificity that makes their presence known throughout the theater and on the stage at Cheney Hall during any given performance of "Rent."
Directorially, Tortorello and Felix come to this revival with a grab-bag of ideas, visions and staging maneuvers that heighten, strengthen and influence their reenactment of the popular musical. If you've seen "Rent" before ("Is there anyone out there who hasn't?"), this revival, though faithful, in part to Larson's original work, takes chances and occasional liberties with the play text while experimenting, exploring and filling in the dots with colors and shading that accentuates and improves the already familiar story and libretto.
As directors, and exceptionally talented ones at that, they are not interested in dusting off the blueprints of the 27-year-old musical, its revivals, its anniversary productions, its final tours or its subsequent by-the-book incarnations. Instead, they have looked for new ways to stage key story points, elements exchanges and situations of the popular musical. It's a directorial strategy that not only heightens and enlightens their telling of "Rent" but give it a shine and uniqueness all its own.
Reinterpreting the musical, they bring some of the upstage, elevated-tiered action - the AIDS-related encounter group sessions, for example - downstage, front and center - which, in turn, make these individual scenes much more powerful and effective. Elsewhere, Maureen's "Over the Moon" protest (based on the 18th century nursery rhyme "Hey, Diddle, Diddle") finds the character entering the arena from the rear of the Cheney Hall auditorium transporting two cows - one that's as big as the Milky White cow from "Into the Woods;" the other, a full-blown miniature white plastic replica she carries onstage. It's a three-dimensional directorial stroke that works splendidly and heightens both the over-the-top humor, unrest and tension of the piece tremendously. It also puts a lively spin on Maureen's cleverly staged infusion of fresh milk as she hilariously sucks the hell out of the cow's udder's savoring each drop of the milky treat that lands smack, dab in her mouth. It's a moment you're not likely to forget for quite some time. 
Tortorello and Felix also take great delight in staging and reinventing the musical's many tune ups, voice mails and holiday greetings that are shrewdly infused by Larson into the ongoing action. Often, in other productions, these moments are sometimes lost or sidetracked depending on how they are staged, interpreted or performed. Here, each and every one of them (there are many) never once miss a beat, pause or musical note. They are performed and blocked with an enlivened twist, perk and craziness that smartly reflects Larson's penchant for comedy, dialogue and vaudevillian timing and delivery.


Bright, snappy and atmospheric choreography is key to the evolution, enjoyment and enhancement of the "Rent" musical story and Chantel Martin's lively, intuitive, character-driven dance maneuvers and movements ("Tango: Maureen," "Today 4 U," "Out Tonight," "La Vie Boheme") provide the necessary pulse, thrust and sensation necessary to propel the action forward, get the juices flowing and heighten the dramatic momentum of the narrative.
Confident, original, modern and athletic, her choreography fits perfectly into the dramatic fabric of the story and much like that of the original work, it allows the audience to feel and experience the emotions conveyed in the musical by every one of the characters.
There's color, excitement and individuality in her choreographic choices. There's style. There's spirit. There's excitement. There's irony. There's command.
Dance wise, it's also greatly focused and assured, confidently showcasing the bohemian milieu of the "Rent" locale, its 90s framework and its troubled, angst-ridden populace.


Playing the pivotal role of Mark Cohen, Adam Tortorello is the ideal choice to bring the character of the young Jewish-American documentary filmmaker-narrator to life. He's personable. He's confident. He's driven. He's passionate. He's anxious. He's the focal point of Larson's story. His heart is also in the right place, which in terms of storytelling and progression, fuels "Rent" with the pace, the want, the rhythm and the arrangement necessary to keep the production afloat from start to finish.
Acting wise, he taps believably into Cohen's psyche and delivers a fascinating performance that is real, honest and raw and perfectly in sync with the production's sense of time, place and story.
He gets Larson. He understands Larson. He loves Larson. He respects Larson.
He also knows everything there is to know about "Rent" - front, back, center and sideways - and nails all of the familiar character traits, quirks, values and street-smarts that Larson set forth for Mark.
Vocally, he imbues the character's many songs - "Rent," "Tango: Maureen," "La Vie Boheme," "What You Own" - with a pitch-perfect, rich-sounding musicality that is powerful, direct, immediate and very much in the moment. It's dream role come true for any actor and one he ignites with a feel-good energy and excitement that captivates, charms and evolves.

In the role of Roger Davis, the restless, HIV-positive singer and songwriter whose previous girlfriend committed suicide once she learned of her AIDS diagnosis, Tiernan Shea convincingly projects the emotional intensity and epic despair of his character, his struggle for survival and his strong determination to compose one hit song before he dies. It's an edgy turn, performed with angst, anger and naturally appropriated solidity.
His raw, anguished rendition of the popular ballad "One Song Glory" and "Your Eyes" is rendered with appropriate pain, emotion and pathos as is "What You Own," the character's big, fiery, harmonious duet with Mark in the middle of Act II.
Performance wise, both he and Tortorello naturally reflect and recall the performances of Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp who originated the roles of Roger and Mark in the original 1996 Broadway production of "Rent" and subsequent 1998 London staging. A compliment, no doubt, of the highest order.


As Angel Dumont Schunard, Galen Donovan, garbed in colorful costuming, glitter, makeup and hair styles that would make any East Village drag queen green with envy, delivers a sassy, intuitive and sparkly performance of high kicks and whirl-and-twirl flirtation wrapped up Technicolor camp, gayness and engagement that is playfully executed, designed and accentuated.
Mixing the character's intentional flamboyance with wicked hints of "Kinky Boots," "La Cage aux Folles," "Barbie," "Goldfinger's" Pussy Galore and "Everybody's Talking About Jamie," Donovan glides through "Rent" with a sizzling and fresh drag queen oeuvre, aura and edgy sunniness. 
Dressed in Brendon Rogers creative, inspired and outrageous costuming, he turns Angel's big musical numbers - "Today 4 You" and "I'll Cover You" - into major star turns. And when his character shows up during the conclusion of the Act II finale, there isn't a dry eye in the house. This moment, which indirectly changes the original ending of "Rent," if only for three, four or five seconds, is a stroke of genius on Rogers' part as well as that of co-directors' Tortorello and Felix. 
The always charismatic Kevin Kiley, in the role of Tom Collins, is both sincere and heartfelt as Angel's newfound boyfriend and lover. It's a role he invests with an emotional sweetness, warmth and realness that catches one's eye whenever he's on stage or thrust center stage in the spotlight. 
He's the perfect choice to bring the character to life in the evolving "Rent" story.
And when it comes time for him to sing his character's poignant Act II reprise of "I'll Cover You," a tear-drenched vocal that occurs immediately following Angel's funeral, Kiley's serious vocal heft, style and chill, gives this particular musical number a soar and wound like no other.



Olivia Ciaffaglione and Krystina Diaz create all the right, necessary sparks, passion, tilts and spins as the touchy-feely, often argumentative and combative lesbians Maureen Johnson and Joanne Jefferson. They are funny. They are fiery. They are intense. They are outspoken. They are effective. They are sensational.
Together, or alone, they each bring plenty of excitement, color, flair, charm and sensuality to her individual roles. Their big duet "Take Me or Leave Me," staged and choreographed by Martin, is laced enough fire, sizzle and snap to ignite a power outage at Cheney Hall.
Maureen's "Over the Moon," an avant-garde, wonderfully wicked song of protest is so impeccably conceived and performed, both comically and vocally, one wishes there was a "Repeat" button in the theater so it could be replayed for a second or third viewing. That's how much fun it is. 

As Mimi Marquez, the drug stoked Hispanic dancer and stripper with a serious heroin habit, who lives downstairs from Mark and Roger, Destiny Whitten enlivens the proceedings with a sultry, slippery and sensuous allure that is exactly right for her characterization. Vocally, she brings plenty of erotic electricity to "Out Tonight," her big dance-and-song solo in the middle of Act I and naturally cements "Light My Candle," "I Should Tell You" and "Without You" with the warmth and romantic sentiment envisioned by Larson. The latter, a tale of love and loneliness, performed halfway through Act II, is not only vocally affecting (Shea also joins in for romantic purposes), but inhabited with a stunning, lyrical sonority and control that elevates it to immediate showstopping status.


Cast in the otherwise underwritten role of Benjamin "Benny" Coffin, the local landlord and former roommate of Mark and Roger and the ex-lover of Mimi, Abraham Hussein has such a strong stage presence and charismatic command and gait, he transforms the part of Coffin into a three-dimensional character that catches your eye whenever he's on stage or seated in the front row of Cheney Hall during the "Over the Moon" protest near the end of Act I urging audience members ("Team Benny" t-shirt friends and groupies, included) to fight for his cause.
There's a vaudevillian charm to his performance heightened by a feeling of freshness and fizzy pop that's ingeniously mixed and stirred with the right ingredients, humor and musicality. 


The "Rent" ensemble - so full of life, love and vigor - play a variety of different, choice and standout role throughout the two-act musical including artists, drug users, homeless people, parents and members of an important HIV/AIDS support group. They are Diana Yeisley, Gillian Snyder, Daniel J. Otero, Jenn Lohmann, Des Tahnee Manick-Highsmith, Amanda Butler, Tomas Echevarria, Anna Greenwald, Angelica Velez, Amanda Starr, Jeff Snyder, Melissa Rand, Christina Haff and Lauren Roosa.
All exceptional singers, actors and performers in their own right, they contribute greatly - individually or in a group - to Jonathan Larson's timely, realized, realistic snapshot of New York East Village life, circa, 1989 and 1990.
Gillian Snyder's solo turn in "Seasons of Love" during the 8/25 performance also deserves special attention. It was not only impeccably performed - what a voice - but one that would bring a smile to the original cast of "Rent" if they were seated amongst the audience during the musical's opening night at Cheney Hall. Well done, indeed.


Photos of "Rent" courtesy of A.J. Marquot.

"Rent" is being staged by White Rabbit Theatre (Cheney Hall, 177 Hartford Road, Manchester, CT), now through September 3, 2023
For tickets, visit www.cheneyhall.org/buy-tickets or email WRTTRent2023@gmail.com


No comments:

Post a Comment