BWW Reviews: RENT IN CONCERT, King's Theatre, Edinburgh, November 16 2013

While this is billed as "Rent In Concert" it has been developed into more of a complete production than previous concert stagings I have seen before. The 20th anniversary show first opened in Manchester in April and toured the UK and has returned for a second leg due to popular demand.

When describing the plot of Rent to friends I find myself struggling to do it justice. Set in New York's East Village under the shadow of HIV/AIDS it doesn't sound like the most obvious formula for an uplifting musical. At its core, Rent is about love, friendships and living your life with the attitude "no day but today".

The set is minimal but Rent is the kind of show that doesn't require an elaborate set. In fact the screen that they did have for scene setting was a bit distracting at times.

While Natasha Hamilton is the big name appearing on the tour, her portrayal of Maureen was not one of the stand-out performances of the evening for me. It was an extremely talented cast and it is difficult to single out highlights when there were so many but I thought Rory Taylor was exceptional reprising the role of Roger. All of his songs were excellent but One Song Glory was a particularly special moment. I also couldn't imagine a more perfect actor to play the role of Angel than Ian Stroughair and he clearly had a lot of fans in the audience in Edinburgh. Rachel John was also well cast in the role of Mimi and gave a powerful performance.

This tour is to mark the 20th anniversary of Rent and I find it hard to believe the music has been around for this length of time as it hasn't dated in the slightest.

Rent In Concert is on tour around the UK in November and then again in January/February 2014.

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