Saturday, August 20, 2011

Theater Review: RENT


New Tenants Come Up a Little Short on the RENT
By Lauren Yarger
The new Tenants of Jonathan Larson’s musical about friends coping with love, money and AIDs issues are using all the utilities – the heat of a passionate story, lyrics flowing with emotion and the electricity of a rock score – but the new Off-Broadway revival comes up a little short on the RENT.

Part of the problem is that most of us have seen the show (or been in it) multiple times over the years since RENT burst onto the Broadway stage in 1996 and changed the face of musicals. The original launched the careers of Broadway performers like Anthony  Rapp, Adam Pascal, Jessie L. Martin and Idina Menzel, so this first New York revival since the 12-year Broadway run ended in 2008 has a big vacancy to fill.

Michael Greif, who directed the original, returns to direct the story, loosely based on Puccini’s LaBoheme, and casts a sensational Annaleigh Ashford as Maureen Johnson, a performance artist and activist for the homeless. Her rendition of “Over the Moon” is sensational and, well, over the moon, and it’s the reason you should see this version of RENT. If only the rest of this production could have been so mooo-ving.

Vocals on a number of the other leads are lacking. Adam Chandler –Berat plays Mark Cohen, a filmmaker whom Maureen left for lesbian lover Joanne Jefferson (Corbin Reid), Matt Schingledecker is Roger Davis, Mark’s roommate, and Arianda Fernandez plays Mimi Marquez, a sex-club dancer who becomes involved with Roger.  All three spend most of their time yelling songs instead of reaching stylized belts. Roger and Mimi also don’t seem to have any chemistry as the HIV-positive couple who find love despite their baggage. He just doesn't light her candle.

Also lacking chemistry are Tom Collins (Nicholas Christopher) and Angel (Dumott Schunard), though they lend lovely singing voices to “You Okay Honey?,” “Santa Fe,” and “I’ll Cover You.” We get that Tom, who brings friends Roger and Mark food and other gifts at Christmas time and who cares for partner Angel dying of AIDS, represents compassion, but Angel’s role representing the good in mankind gets padlocked from the premises, somehow, like the characters who fail to  pay their rent. Most of the time this character evokes thoughts of an “odd” fellow, not “every” fellow. His metallic red cape, silver platformed boots, ruffled sleeves, blond hair-piece and glittered eye shadow detract from poignant lyrics like “will I lose my dignity?” (Angela Wendt, costume design, also designed for RENT on Broadway).

The small band, conducted by Music Director Will Van Dyke, housed on the second story of Mark Wendland’s truss/platform set, does a nice job with Larson’s score (Billy Aronson, original concept/additional lyrics; Steve Skinner, musical arrangements; Tim Weil, music supervision and additional arrangements). Amazing snow effects (Peter Nigrini, projection design) are visually pleasing, but watching cast members climb and hang off of various parts of the set grows wearisome (choreography is by Larry Keigwin).

Rounding out the principal cast is Ephraim Sykes as Benjamin Coffin III who owns Roger and Mark’s building and who gets tangled up with Mimi. Tamika Sonia Lawrence is notable as the homeless woman and the soloist for the musical’s best known number, “Seasons of Love.”

RENT plays at New World Stages, 340 West 50th St., NYC. Tickets are available by clicking here.

Christians might also like to know:
      ·         Show posts a MATURE Advisory
·         Language
·         Sexually suggestive moves
·         Homosexuality
·         Homosexual activity
·         Nudity

1 comment:

Janine said...

I think you meant to say Anthony Rapp not Adam Rapp

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

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All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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