Rent

By Mark Kearney

Rent

Jonathan Larson's magnum opus, Rent, certainly caused a fuss when it first opened off-Broadway in 1996. The late writer's tale of love and loss in New York's impoverished Alphabet City district was acclaimed by many; it was awarded the prestigious Tony Award for Best New Musical and Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

These accolades are unsurprising when you consider the ground-breaking nature of the show’s main themes, especially for a mid-nineties audience. HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and drug abuse are central to the stories of bohemian misfits Mark, Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Angel, Collins and Benny. 

The story of Rent is made even more remarkable by the fact Larson died just hours before the show was scheduled to open.
 
Whitehorse Musical Theatre is the most recent company to produce the show for the Melbourne stage, this time with director Paul Watson at the helm. After being thoroughly impressed by Whitehorse's May offering, Anything Goes, I was excited to return to the Besen Centre, Burwood, for another night of entertainment.

This Rent is a usually enjoyable fare, albeit far from seamless. Despite some strong performances from within the cast, the production is let down by technical difficulties and confusing direction.

The lighting design of Rent was the biggest disappointment of the night.

There are some elements of theatre which should heighten the action on stage, not distract from it. Among these is makeup, sound and lighting. Unfortunately, lighting was a constant distraction throughout the show. 

Designers Brad Alcock and Vanessa Burns used an incredible array of equipment and special effects. However, these bells and whistles were usually to the detriment of the story-telling. They disrupted the onstage drama and meant the show often felt more like a rock concert than a rock musical! 

Other occasions when lighting drew audience attention were the show's opening number, "Rent", "Seasons of Love" and "I'll Cover You (Reprise)". The lighting was far more successful when it took on a subdued approach. In "Without You", key cast were lit from above and let us closely observe the nuances in each actor's performance. I also liked the pulsing red lights in "Contact".

The ensemble experienced sound problems throughout, too. I can only imagine the enormous challenge sound designing Rent must present with its countless singing parts and audio cues. Because of this, I really liked Conrad Hendricks’ incorporation of four hand microphones on stands into the set. They created a useful space for the ensemble to perform the show’s several answering machine sequences. 

Otherwise, there was regular imbalance between the band and performers, some of whom weren’t even miked to combat the power of Musical Director Andrew Leach’s tightly knit rock unit. As a result, the audience missed several of the cast’s entries and lyrics.

Watson’s direction was sometimes exciting, sometimes confounding. His biggest triumph was Angel’s death sequence at the conclusion of ‘Contact’. It was new, not to mention loaded with symbolism. But there were many occasions when the direction was less successful. 

Blocking often seemed arbitrary and ill-timed. Pertinent example include Benny’s climb on top of the table in his solo, ‘You’ll See’ and Mimi telling Benny to not touch her, despite the fact she had shaken him off a minute before. There was certainly no sign of the “subliminal” messaging Watson promises from his blocking in his Director’s Note.

Choreography from Scott Ponsford was well-constructed dance in its own right, not to mention well-performed, but sequences like ‘Santa Fe’ seemed entirely out of place in RENT. During ‘Out Tonight’ and ‘Contact’ it bordered on gratuitous. Choreography was most complementary in the beginning stages of La Vie Boheme. It was humorous, fun and – most importantly – entirely appropriate for the scene.

The minimalist set from Jeremy Bailey-Smith worked quite well. The set consisted of several scaffolded levels, connected to one another by narrow staircases. I am a fan of static sets as they cut down long scene changes and demand that the audience use their imagination. Even so, I felt that the long kitchen bench was overused and meant that much of the show was performed along one linear plane. Its movement was often left in the hands of the performers which was awkward because moments for its repositioning were not well integrated into the action. No doubt the re-use of this one set piece was part of Watson’s minimalist vision, but it restricted movement and variety in blocking.

Bailey-Smith again completes the Set Design/Costume Design double for Whitehorse and as a result, the ensemble is outfitted wonderfully. He combines pattern, colour and texture so effectively; the designs are simultaneously theatrical and real-to-life.  Angel’s Act Two dress, constructed from prints of Marilyn Monroe, is just plain cool!   

Many of the cast deliver memorable, well-crafted performances. The stand-out performance comes from Daniel Benge as Mark Cohen. Benge’s Mark is the heart and soul of RENT. Because he acts as a narrator-type figure, it is important that Mark connects with the audience. Benge was able to do this almost immediately while still maintaining an enviable vocal standard. In his hands, Mark is the most likeable of all the characters as he struggles to comprehend the possibility of life without his dead and dying friends.

Katie Wood as Mimi and Steve Simmons as Roger are very capable performers, but a large age gap between the two is difficult to ignore. Mimi is certainly meant to be young – consider the lyric, “you look like you’re sixteen/I’m nineteen, but I’m old for my age” – but Wood and Simmons have a creepy father-daughter presence on stage that made their relationship difficult to invest in. But they both sounded the part, especially Wood.

Katie Weston was also impressive in the role of Maureen. Her entry in the latter stages of the first act is a welcome injection of primal energy and her introductory number, ‘Over the Moon’ is one of the most engaging sequences in the show. Her vocal performance manages to capture just the right amount of reckless abandon needed for Maureen.

Zuleika Khan plays Maureen’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, Joanne. She possesses a wonderful voice, which is only really unleashed during the Act Two opener, ‘Seasons of Love’. Unfortunately, her key dramatic scenes fell a little flat. She needed a bit more emotional gravitas to communicate just how frustrated she is in her relationship with Maureen. 

As Collins, Phil Haby sings soulfully. Having performed this role once before, Haby appears entirely comfortable in Collins’ skin. He exudes warmth as a man who, despite a diagnosis of AIDS, is able to love and be loved.

The object of Collins’ affections is transsexual Angel, portrayed here by Leigh Barker. The experienced performer moves and sings well in a different interpretation of the role than I expected. For me, Angel is meant to be the life of the party who drags (pardon the pun) an often morose assemblage of main characters out of wallowing in their own self-pity. This Angel was a little more subdued than I would’ve expected.

The somewhat thankless role of Benny was played very well indeed by Christian Cavallo. The businessman and ‘sell-out’ who repossesses the building in which the main cast squat could easily be considered cold in the hands of a less-talented performer. But Christian drew sympathy from the audience and sang the role crisply.
 
Some of the most noteworthy performances come from the featured ensemble. Kate Burns as Mark’s mother, Ashleigh Kreveld as Roger’s mother, Jules Sutherland as Alexi Darling and Henry Brett as the featured soloist in ‘Christmas Bells’ are delightful and provide welcome moments of quiet. 

Ultimately, Whitehorse’s RENT is a production that will keep you thoroughly engaged. There is a smorgasbord of technical, musical, directorial and choreographic skills on display. But the difficulty comes in the knitting together of these production values. Many are far too heavy-handed and make RENT a bit overwhelming. This show reminded me that no matter what you have at your disposal, ‘less is often more’ in the craft of story-telling.