‘Rent’ — Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner. Direction and Choreography by Marcos Santana. Scenic Design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec; Costume Design by Rebecca Glick; Lighting Design by José Santiago; Sound Design by Alex Berg; Video Design by Beth Truax. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre through September 28.
By Shelley A. Sackett
North Shore Music Theatre is tailor-made for musicals with its theatre-in-the-round, signature creative set designs and talented casts. With Rent, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical set in New York City’s East Village from 1989 to 1990, it manages to pay homage to a classic that defined an era while also spotlighting its relevance to today.
Jonathan Larson’s rock opera became a sort of psalm for the era when HIV/AIDS first appeared and quickly steamrolled into a full-blown cultural and health crisis. The musical follows a diverse group of struggling wannabe artists as they navigate love, death, pre-gentrified Alphabet City, and the roller coaster that is always one’s early 20s. Add sex, drugs, performance art and rock and roll to the recipe, and the pot bubbles up and froths over, like a chemistry lab experiment gone rogue.
Yet, all is not doom and gloom. Strength, connection and love see these folks through the dark times of marginalization, false narrative and sickness. These themes reflected reality 30 years ago, and, sadly, they resonate just as powerfully today.
Jeffrey D. Kmiec’s set conjures the gritty area of 11th Street and Avenue B. Metal scaffolding gives the actors platforms and the audience the feeling they, too, are up on a roof, clinging to its rungs for dear life. Simple props evoke a shabby warehouse loft apartment and later a CBGB-esque club, restaurant and others.
The musical spawned many hit songs that became anthems for the era, such as “Rent,” “Tango: Maureen,” “Seasons of Love,” “La Vie Bohème,” “Out Tonight,” and “Take Me or Leave Me.” All receive superior treatment from NSMT’s terrific orchestra (under Robert L. Rucinski’s direction) and a cast of great voices.
A brief primer is in order to make sense of the fast-paced and complex string of scenes and keep track of the huge roster of characters.
The action opens on Christmas Eve. Two roommates, Mark (Aaron Alcaraz), a filmmaker, and Roger (Austin Turner), a rock musician, struggle to stay warm and keep the electricity going in their “apartment.” Their voice message machine brings the audience up to date. Their rent is not just due; their former roommate, Benny, their new landlord, is reneging on their oral agreement and demanding that, unless they pay last year’s rent in full, he will shut off their electricity and evict them. Mark’s mother leaves an edgy, passive-aggressive message from Mark’s hometown on Long Island.
We also learn in short order that: Mark’s girlfriend, Maureen (Cate Hayman, a knockout talent), dumped him; Roger contracted AIDS from his former girlfriend, who slit her wrists; and their friend, Tom Collins (Aaron Arnell Harrington, great vocals), a gay anarchist professor of computer-age philosophy at NYU, was just mugged outside their apartment.
Roger, a former “pretty boy front man,” longs to write one last, great song before his inevitable death.
Tom is rescued by Angel (Robert Garcia), a cross-dressing street drummer. It’s love at first sight, uncomplicated by the specter of AIDS since they are both already positive. Rounding out the scene are Mimi (gifted singer Didi Romero), Roger and Mark’s neighbor and an exotic dancer and drug addict, and Joanne (Kat Rodriguez, another excellent singer), Maureen’s new girlfriend and a lawyer.
All this within the first few minutes.
At this point, the plot thickens to a dense pea soup. Benny (former roomie, current landlord) shows up at Mark and Roger’s and tries to convince them that, his threats to evict them notwithstanding, he is actually a good guy. He’s trying to raise money from investors so he can buy the building and turn it into a cyber arts studio that will benefit them all. All they have to do is convince Maureen to call off her organized protest against his plans. If they do that, Benny promises, they can officially live as rent-free tenants.
Roger and Mark refuse.
Mark heads over to the protest to help Maureen with the sound system. Instead, Joanne (the new girlfriend and lawyer) is there, mucking with the equipment. The two circle each other like territorial alpha dogs before uniting in their shared dislike of Maureen’s manipulative, promiscuous nature. They literally join forces in the harmonious and witty duet dance, “Tango: Maureen.”
Despite their non-commutable death sentences (this was the late 80s, early 90s when there was no such thing as hope or a cure for those with AIDS), these neighbors bond to support and help each other. They share from the heart at their weekly support group and talk freely about their dreams for the future. Collins (Harrington) plumbs his soul (and baritone vocal chops) in “Santa Fe,” where he imagines he and Angel opening a restaurant.
One of “Rent’s” strangest numbers is Maureen’s protest performance piece, “Over the Moon.” Hayman is riveting as she writhes, growls, howls and scats her way through the wild number that combines song, dance, poetry and punk. Even when just seated at a table or as a member of the chorus, Haywood would command attention, even if she wasn’t impossible to ignore due to her height. Her physicality and raw talent are magnetic.
Thanks to Larson’s robust score and narrative lyrics, the show doesn’t bog down despite its dramatic morass. “La Vie Bohème” celebrates the group’s love for their lifestyle and priorities while acknowledging its pitfalls and fallout. As Act I ends, Mark and Roger learn that their building has been padlocked, a riot has broken out and Roger and Mimi share their first kiss.
Act II begins with the full cast singing “Seasons of Love,” a reminder that no matter what happens, life is to be measured in love. The plotlines blur frequently, with the musical numbers throwing a lifeline of coherence and entertainment. Maureen and Joanne’s duet, “Take Me or Leave Me,” is hands down the show’s most impressive. Hayman (Maureen) and Rodrigues (Joannne) reach such a high pitch on every level, it’s hard to believe they don’t spontaneously combust. There is always one such number (when we’re lucky) in every musical, and in NSMT’s version of “Rent,” this is it.
The show is one of the longest-running shows on Broadway, closing in 2008 after a 12-year run. Even if you’ve seen the show several times, it’s time to do it again. Its 1990’s messages of perseverance in the face of adversity, community and connection in times of divisiveness, and protesting unfairness and cruelty couldn’t be more contemporary.
For more information, visit https://www.nsmt.org/
