Do not miss Rent

by Sharon and Matthew Falduto

TCR - Rent is a show that has impacted many people over the course of its history. We saw it at Hancher many years ago. We remember it as the first time we witnessed heartbreaking love dramatized on stage between two men. Despite our conservative upbringings, we have always had an open mind about such things, but witnessing the love of Collins and Angel brought home that the simple truth that love is love in a way that could never be forgotten. Rent is a show about seizing the moment, doing what's right, and above all else, loving each other. How fortunate we are that Theatre Cedar Rapids has chosen to produce this show. In fact, TCR is one of the first non-professional theaters in the country to be given a chance to produce the fin de siècle musical that lit up Broadway over a decade ago.

Rent is a musical about a group of young adults living in the artsy, Bohemian underbelly of New York City, dealing with relationships that are not necessarily along the traditional gender axes, and many of whom are living with AIDS. We’re grateful that Jonathon Larson created this musical, this slice of life, and these characters who seem so real even to someone who has never seen New York City closer than on a tour bus. The songs are beautiful and enduring, and we dare you not to leave the theater singing.

The performers began the show a little bit slowly as if they were overwhelmed by the fact that they were actually onstage singing the songs of Rent. The title song took a little bit of time to get going, though Steve Goedken who played Mark, was strong from the first note. This character is the stable, uncoupled filmmaking mensch at the center of the action. No matter what is happening on stage or his role at a particular moment, Goedken always perfectly inhabited the character of Mark. His Converse sneakers shuffled a bit as he sang “Seasons of Love,” the number that opens the second act with the entire company lined up in a community sing. Even when he was not the focus, we noticed him being Mark.

One actor who seemed a little overwhelmed was Aaron Brewer who played Roger, the musician struggling to create that one great song to propel him into immortality. His song, "Glory," was sung with passion, but unfortunately he didn’t include the audience in the moment, and we felt on the outside looking in at a tortured soul, rather than sharing in his pain. It must be said that as the evening progressed, Brewer found the audience and by the end, we were totally into the passion of the character. Hopefully, in future performances, he’ll be able to bring the audience in from the first moments of the show.

Before we go any further, we have to mention the set. The onstage portion of it was wonderful — minimalist, but fully functional as a two story setting. It evoked the industrial heart of a city and was an excellent contrast to the emotion that flowed all around it as the performers moved between the levels. However, the backstage of the show, in opposition to usual TCR standards, was actually quite visible from the audience. We were seated in the balcony, near the middle, and had a clear view of stagehands waiting for their moment to run out and move scenery. Which led to this conversation between your reviewers.

Matt: Why would they do that? It’s very distracting. Stagehands are whispering to each other during the action and that one person actually wheeled his chair around backstage.

Sharon: They clearly chose to do that. But why?

Matt: I don’t think it’s a choice. I think somebody screwed up.

Sharon: That’s too obvious for it to be a mistake. It has to be on purpose.

Matt: Well, it’s not a good choice.

We would love some input from the set designers about why we could see directly past the lights and into the backstage area, but I believe our readership is probably more interested in the play and the actors.

The character of Maureen demands a strong actress to pull off the part of the woman whom everyone loves no matter how much she hurts them. Alisabeth delivers a riveting performance mixed with wonderful humor and style. The character is an actress and performance artist, but even in between performing on her vacant lot stage Alisabeth imbued Maureen with a joie de vivre and a wide smile that invited everyone in.

Cameron Byrd as Tom Collins was a bit of a disappointment. We had difficulty understanding many of his lines, which we attribute to the fact that he seemed to direct a lot of his vocals to the floor. Fortunately, when he needed to deliver the emotional punch of his song in the second act, he raised his head to the balcony and belted out a truly beautiful number that we are certain caused a few tears.

DiAndre Neville is absolutely outstanding as Angel, the drag queen and heart of the show. His performance of "Today 4 U" is a showstopper. The costumes are a huge part of the character and when we see him stripped to the waist toward the end of the show, the contrast is striking and heart wrenching. This was one of the many times director Leslie Chariper used the two level stage to a powerful effect.

Another showstopper was Jennifer Anderson as Mimi, the stripper who catches the eye of Roger. Her “Out Tonight” was a glorious moment as she slithered among the pipes of the set wailing “You want to play, let’s run away!” It’s fair to say we all wanted to run away with Mimi.

What’s wonderful about this production is the ensemble singers are as good if not better than the leads. Especially notable was Nathan Cooper, who played Carmen Ghia in The Producers a few months ago. In another example of using the two levels to great effect, Chariper has him stand center of the second level as he leads the vocals in "Will I." It was a stunning moment from an extremely talented performer.

Theatre Cedar Rapids once again showed they are a community theatre of the highest level with an inspiring performance of Rent. You’ll regret missing this show. No question about it.