Remember the Love,
A review of RENT
By Joan E. Kruger
Staff Reporter
 Is there anyone who doesn’t know the
saga of the Broadway musical RENT— the almost Greek tragedy of a
promising young playwright, Jonathan Larson, who took New York by
storm in 1996 with his defining work of young bohemian artists
living with the AIDS pandemic at the end of the millennium, when he
himself died suddenly and shockingly (heart ailment) on the very
eve of his landmark play’s off-Broadway debut? It’s the kind of
theater legend that adds a certain cachet and ups the ante to the
anticipation of the show, which ends its national tour this week at
Sacramento’s Community Center Theater.
A special
treat, this production of RENT features some members of the
original cast, notably Anthony Rapp (who plays documentary
filmmaker Mark, who also narrates the show), who was with the show
from its inception, developing his character in workshop, and Adam
Pascal, playing Roger (Mark’s songwriter roommate), as well as
Nicolette Hart, reprising her role of Maureen (Mark’s ex-lover) and
the show-stopping Justin Johnston as Angel, who played this role
with such exuberance and joy, he was truly infectious; the cheers
after all of his numbers were long and resounding—and
well-deserved! Their stunning performances come from a deep
place—literally a decade of knowing their characters—that few
actors could ever hope to achieve, and the opening night crowd
rewarded their efforts with thundering applause and cheers at every
turn. (In fact, this reviewer has to say, after decades of enjoying
the Broadway series, this was the largest, youngest, and most
enthusiastic crowd I’ve ever seen! Jonathan Larson’s RENT boasts an
astonishing 12 years on Broadway, international tours, a film, and
a revival before this last national tour, and is the
eighth-longest-running show in history! There’s a lot to love about
RENT; it’s gritty and edgy and passionate and touching, and if you
didn’t happen to catch on Broadway, catch it this week at the
Community Center Theater.
 RENT is, of
course, a modern La Boehme, with Puccini’s character Rodolfo now
the songwriter and HIV positive Roger; his love interest, Mimi,
whom he meets when she comes to his door to light her candle (just
like Mimi in the opera), is not dying of consumption (as in the
opera), but dying (as the song goes) “in America at the end of the
millennium” presumably from AIDS, as she ends her “Goodbye Love”
number with “hello disease”. The specter of AIDS haunts all the
characters, including has Roger’s ex (and suicide), April, as well
as Angel, who is in many ways the heart of the show. In terms of
echoes of La Boehme, the need for money for rent is there, of
course, as is the candle-lighting scene, and the scene of Roger
burning his songs for heat, the gang trying to encourage Mark to
get out and live a little (despite everything); if you know the
opera, you’ll know this play. But
the play
transcends the opera, with the underlying carpe diem message, and
in an important difference that drives that point home, Larsen’s
Mimi (unlike Puccini’s) does not die in the end—though we think she
has, as the cast sings their goodbyes (in “Goodbye Love”) while she
languishes in Roger’s arms—but she rises up triumphant in the
eleventh hour, having turned back from the light and Angel’s
beckoning. He left us far too soon; she won’t make the same
mistake.
The narrative opens on Christmas Eve (also echoing La Boehme) and
continues over the course of one year, as the young artists living
in “alphabet city” (Avenues A and B in New York) struggle valiantly
against the things young people have always struggled
against—poverty and the process of finding oneself, the difficulty
of relationships, “them” versus “us” in the form of the slum
landlord wanting the rent and threatening eviction (complicated in
this case by the landlord being Benny, a former roommate and friend
of Mark and Roger), overlaid with the additional impact of drugs,
disease, homelessness, and political protests gone wrong. It’s a
rough world,
and we follow our characters, played
by an impeccable ensemble cast, deal as best they can. Roger, who
accuses Mark of “hiding behind his camera” (in “What You Own”),
while he himself yearns for Sante Fe (in “Sante Fe”) and the warmth
his life lacks—and he goes there, in fact, only to return, still
pining over Mimi. Maureen leaves Mark for a lesbian lover, Joann,
but they fight all the time, while the cause that united them
(protesting the razing of the building and lot next door, a haven
for the homeless), fails.
Meanwhile, Collins (played by Michael
McElroy) meets and falls in love with Angel, the drag queen, the
one character who has nothing but love for everyone else and is the
very embodiment of the hope they all so desperately need. It’s all
about survival, and sadly, all our characters don’t survive; before
the year is up, they have been evicted, hard times have gotten
harder, relationships have been broken, and Angel has died, a scene
so subtly and deftly directed by Michael Greif that Angel’s passing
is barely a whisper—yet is the most powerful moment of the show.
The actors might be acting on the stage, but the audience’s tears
are real; we’ve already grown to love Angel, too.
 Yet
strangely, Mark and Roger, Maureen and Joann, Mimi, and especially
Collins all draw strength and sustenance from Angel even after
death, in remembering all he was—especially poignant in Collins’
wonderful reprise of “I’ll Cover You” in Act II, and especially in
what is undoubtedly the best-known song from the show, “Seasons of
Love”. That’s the one that begins “five hundred twenty-five
thousand six-hundred minutes…”, and reminds us to “measure your
life in love”. It is a particularly moving message, in these times
when so many of us have been touched by HIV in our lives through
people we know and love (but if it works for you to substitute
cancer, or any other disease, do that), even as we see increasingly
better treatments and ever-growing hopefulness for happy outcomes,
the fact is, none of us can really know how long we (or our loved
ones) have—we do indeed need to treasure every moment, to “share
love, give love, spread love”—to remember that there’s “no day but
today” (from the song—and by the way, also the tag line on the
souvenir t-shirts sold in the lobby!) After the driving rock music
and raw passions of the players have faded away we are left, in the
end, with the message: live and love in the moment. Say what needs
saying, as in the touching “I Should Tell You”, offer comfort, as
in “I’ll Cover You”, and “…celebrate…the life of our friends [and]
remember the love.”
The
production values for this show were the highest; the terrific
multi-level urban set, all bricks and scaffolding, cleverly held
the musicians (no orchestra in the pit, here) on stage, allowing
them to blend into the landscape as bystanders to the action while
providing the accompaniment. The funky urban chic costumes were
timeless, and the cast was superb, many of them reprising roles
they’d done before, either on Broadway or on tour—this reviewer had
a hard time deciding which of the two male leads, Adam Pascal or
Anthony Rapp, had the more powerful voice (both were mind
blowing!), but my notes called Pascal’s “visceral”! Justin Johnston
was the true crowd-pleaser, though, and he’s one of those
performers whose dancing looks effortless, even as we are
breathless and cheering.
The one tiny criticism I had was that the sound could be cranked
down a notch; it’s a loud show, and that’s good, but the sound was
a tad too loud, leading to some distortion of the lyrics—which,
after all, drive the story, so we need to be able to hear them.
Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize (and Tony Award) winning RENT
continues this week at the Community Center Theater, 1301 L Street,
Sacramento, 8 pm Wed-Sat, 2 pm Thursday, Saturday and next Sunday,
and 7:30 pm next Sunday (last show).
www.californiamusicaltheatre.com. For more information, please
call Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office at (916) 557-1999.
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