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Rent
Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
Produced by Ontour, LLC / Broadway in Chicago
Cadillac Palace Theatre
151 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, IL
Tickets: 312-902-1400, all BIC box offices, or www.ticketmaster.com, $22.50 - $70 (limited $20 rush tickets available 2 hours before the show)
Wed, Thu & Sun at 7:30, Fri and Sat at 8:00, Sat/Sun matinees at 2:00
Running time is 2 hours 30 minutes with one intermission
Through Feb. 17
Rent Still a Moving Theatrical Experience
The national touring company of the 90’s smash hit Rent opened its one-week Chicago run Tuesday evening to a packed and enthusiastic house. The show is presented in Chicago by Broadway in Chicago at the historic Cadillac Palace Theatre. What struck me most about the opening night was the broad range of people who were attracted to the show. Judging by their reactions, it is clear that Rent has transcended its pre- AIDS cocktail, period-piece status to become an enduring and important musical in the history of the American stage.
Rent borrows most of its plot from Puccini’s classic opera La Bohème. In this 90’s version the bohemian friends are a group of artists and hangers-on living in New York’s alphabet land, east of the lower east side. It is the epicenter of anarchy with all of the inherent problems associated with the lifestyle: poverty, hunger, lack of heat, squalor and in 90’s New York, addiction and AIDS. The show was conceived and opened when the mortality rate of HIV infection in America was much higher. Its defiant extolment of the importance of human love in the face of doom, along with the untimely death of the musical’s creator, propelled the show to the stratosphere of musical theatre accomplishment and garnered four Tony Awards, including best musical, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
For a the generation or two that lived through the unceasing death that surrounded those years, the show’s best moments are still those in which the company joins in loving defiance. Will I?, Life Support, La Vie Bohème, and the show’s anthem Seasons of Love are musically brilliant and, while fans of the original recording might miss a voice, this company has abundant talent in its own right. Heinz Winckler, of World Idol fame, gives a strong performance as recovering songwriter/guitarist Roger. The People Magazine “hottest hunk” looks the part and is a crowd fave even if he does warble his way over the top of the other performers at times. Girlfriend Mimi (Jennifer Colby Talton) can stay with him and their work in the tender ballads Light My Candle and Without You is moving.
This cast has a great sense of the show’s humor as well. Standout Kristen-Alexzander Griffith, as transvestite best-pal-to-all Angel, practically steals the show with her Today 4 You rendition. Christine Dwyer, as performance artist Maureen, moos her way over the mooooooon in the wonderfully staged Over the Moon and Maureen’s ex- and current lovers Mark (Jed Resnick) and Joanne (Onyie Nwachukwu) dance a side splitting pas de deux in the classic Tango Maureen. Anwar F. Robinson, as Angel’s stalwart lover Tom Collins, is simply the perfect intellectual Robin Hood and his voice is special even in the midst of this very gifted company.
Rent has something for almost everyone. Audience members who were in high school when the show came out will still relate to the perennial themes of youthful rebellion that are pervasive. Those even younger than that will as well. Others will, no doubt, relish the opportunity to see the heart-throb, Mr. Winckler, in person. For the older set who may have lived some of the show’s era, Rent is as moving as ever. For those who knew of the scene only from a distance, Rent invites the voyeur to come on in and be welcomed with warmth and dignity. If you haven’t seen Rent, this is a must see show. If you are an aficionado of the show, this is an opportunity to relive the original experience with a great cast, a splendid orchestra, and a beautiful set in a marvelous old house.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Randy Hardwick
Date Reviewed: February 12, 2008
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments
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