Based on the Puccini opera La Boheme, RENT focuses on the denizens of NYC\u2019s Alphabet City in the 1990s, mainly roomies Roger, an AIDS-afflicted rocker who\u2019s both has-been and wannabe, and Mark, a geeky filmmaker whose wife, Maureen, ran away with another woman, Joanne.\u00a0 You meet Mimi, the drug-addicted dancer at the Cat Scratch Club, and Benny, the Yuppie sellout.\u00a0 There\u2019s also Tom Collins, whose love story with drag queen Angel provides to be the heart of the show. Act 1 deals with a single day in the life\u2014Christmas; Act 2 centers on an entire year in the life, following the seasons of love and, sadly, death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So many of its songs have become musical theatre staples, including \u201cSeasons of Love,\u201d \u201cOne Song Glory,\u201d \u201cTango Maureen,\u201d \u201cSanta Fe,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll Cover You,\u201d \u201cLa Vie Boheme,\u201d \u201cTake Me or Leave Me,\u201d \u201cWithout You,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll Cover You (Reprise)\u201d and \u201cWhat You Own.\u201d\u00a0 Any show with that many memorable songs must be great, right?\u00a0 So why do I have so many issues with it?<\/p>\n
My main misgiving of RENT may be that I never believed it was entirely finished due to Mr. Larson\u2019s untimely death.\u00a0 It came close, but I believe it was a perhaps a tweak or two \u00a0away from greatness.\u00a0 And Mr. Larson\u2019s lyrics can sometimes be insufferable. Some may think the line from \u201cLa Vie Boheme\u201d–\u201cTo sodomy\/It\u2019s between God and me\u201d–as being quite clever; however, I find it incredibly forced.\u00a0 But he also rhymes \u201ccurry vindaloo\u201d with \u201cMaya Angelou<\/a>,\u201d so all is close to being forgiven.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t get me started on the following line from the same song: \u201cTo Sontag, to Sondheim, and anything taboo.\u201d\u00a0 This really gets my knickers in a twist.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s a mere line, but it\u2019s also a mere line that drives me crazy.\u00a0 I adore Sondheim; I don\u2019t know a Broadway fan who doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 But to claim that he is in any way \u201ctaboo\u201d is a laugh.\u00a0 Besides, the bohemians would probably pooh-pooh Mr. Sondheim and tag him as mainstream; they would not celebrate him while they sing of the decadent things in life that they do love like leather, dildos and huevos rancheros.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Yes, the show boasts those incredible aforementioned songs, but the story is overlong and the ending exceedingly hokey. Roger, constantly gnarled in anger, spends the entire musical trying to write the perfect song, a song that is so powerful and magical that it will actually bring a character back to life.\u00a0 But his final composition that does the trick, \u201cYour Eyes,\u201d is arguably the weakest song of the entire show, a tune so inexorably boring that it would certainly never raise the dead, and if anything, it will make permanent insomniacs go immediately to sleep.<\/p>\n I wonder how younger people will react to RENT. They may know some of the songs\u2014the iconic \u201cSeasons of Love\u201d or the powerful lesbian duet, \u201cTake Me or Leave Me\u201d\u2014but will they understand what the fuss is all about?\u00a0 Will they understand that it was a big deal three decades ago, that era\u2019s Hamilton?\u00a0 And will they understand the nightmare that AIDS was to the community and to the world?\u00a0 And some of the things in the show that seemed shocking in 1996\u2014drag queens; a woman leaving her husband for another woman\u2014come across as quaint today (well, maybe not in some red states).\u00a0 Besides, the whole \u201cmy-wife-left-me-for-another-woman\u201d subplot was tackled in the TV series \u201cFriends\u201d just two years before RENT debuted.<\/p>\n With this much RENT-controlled baggage to contend with, why do I still recommend the musical? Because it\u2019s a kick-ass night of theatre, and the Carrollwood Players have done a wondrous job with the material in their current winning production, directed by a true visionary, David Valdez.<\/p>\n This is not your average production of RENT.\u00a0 Immediately we know something is different because the cast remains onstage for the duration of the show.\u00a0 I love this choice, because it makes the whole thing rightfully presentational.\u00a0 You never question the brave and smart directorial decisions, like not having a long table in \u201cLa Vie Boheme\u201d (trust me, it works).\u00a0 And Mr. Valdez is a master when it comes to stage pictures.\u00a0 The material may be overwhelmingly sad, but the joy of performing takes over; this RENT is a celebration of life set to music.\u00a0<\/p>\n The production re-examines the original meaning of the show and turns it upside down; it also spotlight and deepens the connections and relationships of the various characters.\u00a0 Some productions lead head-first, this one dives in heart-first. It becomes quite emotional at times, so it\u2019s best if you bring enough Kleenex for yourself and anyone sitting around you.<\/p>\n The cast is quite good.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tony Capizzi plays Roger appropriately, as if he\u2019s constantly tied in an emotional knot; he has a wild rock-fueled voice in numbers like \u201cOne Song Glory,\u201d though the part itself lacks shading and depth.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alex Markoulis is strong as the bespectacled Mark, resembling Freddie Garrity from the Sixties group Freddie and the Dreamers.\u00a0 Unlike other interpretations of the reactive part that I\u2019ve seen, he never recedes into the background; he becomes the anchor of the show.\u00a0 And Adrian De La Rosa makes for a formidable antagonist as Benny.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael Vega continues to fulfill the early \u00a0promise as a performer by inhabiting the part of the drag queen Angel with such a brave heart.\u00a0 I have personally always had a problem with the part, who in \u201cToday for Me, Tomorrow for You,\u201d gets a lot of laughs for celebrating the killing of a dog named Evita in a most horrific manner.\u00a0 \u00a0Vega even adds a little Vogue move during the song for good measure. But the performer fills the role with so much courage and soul that we forgive and root for them so deeply that it all becomes so unbearably heartbreaking during Act 2. Yes, we find ourselves mourning and crying over a dog killer.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Natalie Whitlock is a force to be reckoned with as Mimi, showing such a wide range with the rabid \u201cOut Tonight\u201d and the soul-breaking \u201cWithout You.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Aaliyah Saint Charles brings a lot of spunk to the part of Joanne; her duet with Maureen, \u201cTake Me or Leave Me,\u201d is one of the show\u2019s best numbers.\u00a0 Emma Beekman is a standout as Mark\u2019s annoying mom.\u00a0 Tyler Brankey provides solid support, as does Nia Evens.\u00a0 Dylan Lauricello does quite well and gets to show off his strong vocals in various parts.\u00a0 Stephen Mikell, Jr. is always welcome onstage, inhabiting his roles with so much verve.\u00a0 And Alli Lynn Thomas hits just the right notes as Alexi Darling.\u00a0<\/p>\n But two performances shine brightest of all, elevating this RENT to another dimension entirely: Kristin Brazzell as Maureen and, especially, Christian M. McLaurine as Tom.<\/p>\n I recall seeing Ms. Brazzell in SPC\u2019s Into the Woods where I compared her Little Red to Manson Family murderess, Susan Atkins<\/a>.\u00a0 She knows no fear onstage.\u00a0 Here, she takes Maureen and runs with it.\u00a0 Her \u201cOver the Moon\u201d is the stuff of legend, as strange a song as ever written, and Ms. Brazzell gets the joke and tears the song to shreds like it was a toy in a mutt\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 Her Maureen is a fierce typhoon, and she burst the show to life whenever she became the focus of the scene.<\/p>\n Best of all is Christian M. McLaurine as Tom.\u00a0 I am still not over his rendition of \u201cI\u2019ll Cover You (Reprise),\u201d a song that will leave you both breathless and sobbing.\u00a0 His duets with Angel, including the contagiously hummable \u201cSanta Fe\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll Cover You,\u201d are filled with so much joy over newfound love that we believe in their relationship 100%. His singing touches the depths of your soul. \u00a0<\/p>\n This is the Christian McLaurine part that we\u2019ve been waiting for. Wow!\u00a0 There\u2019s a gospel quality with his singing, his voice sometimes going quite deep like an Alphabet City preacher, sounding like a combination of the Reverend Al Green<\/a> and Paul Robeson<\/a>.<\/p>\n The cast\u2019s harmonies sound good under the musical direction of Lisa M Chase, especially in my favorite song of the show, \u201cWill I?\u201d The fun choreography of Devon Bittinger works as well as it can in the small Carrollwood Players stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n I like the Keith Haring works that adorn Krista Virga’s otherwise extremely minimal set design. Costumes work okay for the most part, although I never really got the sense that I was in a cold New York City winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n I could hear the cast, even though they were not microphoned.\u00a0 However, I worry about some of the voices, straining so hard to be heard over the music that their vocal cords can be damaged if not properly warmed up.\u00a0 Microphones wouldn\u2019t hurt the production and could help prevent any potential vocal damage (it\u2019s a rockin\u2019 show and the voices must be heard).<\/p>\n But this RENT comes to amazing life due to the brilliant vision of one man: director David Valdez.\u00a0 The show earned its instant standing ovation on the night I saw it, easily becoming one of the stronger musicals performed at the Carrollwood Players.\u00a0 It succeeds in making us enjoy every moment of every day.\u00a0 So, take advantage of each of these moments in this beautiful but very flawed world of ours, and that includes making sure you get your tickets now to join the Alphabet City avant garde. Because, as the show keeps reminding us over and over, there\u2019s no day but today.<\/p>\n RENT gets a good long run at the CWP and ends its journey on June 27th.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Reader Reviews<\/p>\n To post a comment, you must register<\/a> and login<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 An actor, director, and theatre teacher, Peter Nason fell in love with the theatre at the tender age of six when he saw Mickey Rooney in \u201cGeorge M!\u201d at the Shady Grove in Was… (read more about this author)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n![\"BroadwayWorld](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/myshowsbanner3-1780562307.gif\")
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