'Rent' delivers heartbreak, passion and love
Toolbox
By JIM LOWE Staff Writer - Published: August 2, 2009
WESTON — "Rent," the Broadway hit musical based on the opera "La Boheme," may lack Puccini's music, but in the new Weston Playhouse production, it has all the opera's heartbreak, passion and love.
On Friday, Weston Playhouse opened a spectacular, heart-wrenching and heartwarming production of Jonathan Larson's 1996 Broadway hit for its New England premiere.
"La Boheme" was the tragic story of penniless artists in the garretts of 19th-century Paris, while "Rent" follows impoverished artists — plagued by AIDS — in New York's Lower East Side ghetto in the early 1990s, all set to infectious rock music. Larson based much of his plot and characters on the opera (noted in parentheses).
Mark (Marcello, the painter, in the opera), a struggling filmmaker, Roger (Rodolfo, a poet), an unsuccessful songwriter, and Tom (Colline, the philosopher), an HIV-infected, unemployed philosophy professor, live together in a condemned building. Benny Coffin III (Benoit, the landlord), who used to live the three but has married money and bought the building, is going to throw them out.
The performance artist Maureen (Musetta, a singer), who has left Mark for a woman, Joanne (Alcindro, a state councilor), is gong to perform in the lot next to the building to protest the artists' loss.
Meanwhile, while all the others are out preparing for the protest, Roger is approached by the HIV-infected Mimi (Mimi, a seamstress), an AIDS-infected exotic dancer, when the electricity goes out — straight out of "La Boheme."
Of course, Roger and Mimi fall in love, but they just as ill-fated as Mimi and Rodolfo. Where "La Boheme" is purely a love story, "Rent" is a commentary on the times, as well as a love story.
Larson's rock score is quite compelling, particularly when paired with his powerful and often humorous lyrics. There are even a few themes that opera lovers will recognize. As a package, "Rent" is compelling and moving theater.
The Weston Playhouse production, directed and choreographed Bill Castellino, was colorful, fast-paced and powerful at Friday's opening night performance. The singing throughout was first-rate, particularly that of Christina Bianco as Maureen.
Kristoffer Cusick gave Roger dimension — from soft and tender to hurt and surly — while Rona Figueroa made the doomed Mimi hard-edged as well as endearing.
Perhaps most entertaining, despite its tragic end, was the love between Tom and Angel (based on the musician Schaunard in the opera), an HIV-positive drag queen. Jeremy Leiner's outrageous and outrageously funny — yet very tender — Angel was balanced beautifully by Jordan Barbour's earthy Tom.
Leo Ash Evans made the unhappy and searching Mark convincing, while Stacey Sargeant did the same for the frustrated Joanne. The chorus was first-rate. One of the very few problems at Friday's performance was that some of the important lyrics were overpowered by the excellent band's accompaniment.
Weston's "Rent" is also a wonderful spectacle with effervescent choreography, raucous and sometimes tender music directed by Greg Brown, powerfully atmospheric setting by Timothy Mackabee, dramatic lighting by Jack Mehler and evocative costumes by Kirche Leigh Zeile.
Weston's "Rent" is nearly as powerfully operatic as "La Boheme" — and that's a great compliment.
james.lowe@timesargus.com
Weston Playhouse
Weston Playhouse Theatre Company presents an Equity professional production of "Rent, the Jonathan Larson musical, July 30-Aug. 22 at its playhouse on the village square, Route 100, in Weston.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays- Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays; plus 3 p.m. matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Tickets start at $36, $40 on Friday and Saturday evenings; call (802) 824-5288, or go online to westonplayhouse.org.
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