Reflections on RENT National Tour

What more can be said about a multiple award-winning show that ran for over 12 years on Broadway? The answer is probably not much. No matter how many times I see this show, every viewing of Rent never fails to remind me that there really is "no day but today." "Rent: The Broadway Tour" opened its limited engagement run October 28th at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and I could not pass up the opportunity to see it one last time, especially with the chance to see three original Broadway cast members, Anthony Rapp (Mark), Adam Pascal (Roger) and Gwen Stewart (Mrs. Jefferson and others).

Rapp and Pascal have been playing these roles for years, but you wouldn't know it from their high energy performances. While waiting for the show to being, I overheard plenty of buzz from audience members. Many were excited to see Rapp and Pascal perform the roles they originated and the duo certainly did not disappoint. Pascal brought a mature edginess to the character of Roger and Rapp's famous spastic dance moves always scored many laughs from the audience.

Caren Tackett was a satisfying surprise as Maureen, stepping into her understudy role for Nicolette Hart as if she performs it every night. Tackett gave just the right amount of spunk to Maureen, without making it seem too over the top. Her energy fed off of Haneefah Wood (Joanne) to produce a dynamic relationship that was very fun to watch. Their performance of "Take Me or Leave Me" was the standout song of the night, after the always beautiful "Seasons of Love." Michael McElroy's emotional deliverance of "I'll Cover You (reprise)" as Collins was also a memorable moment. Jacques Smith portrayal of Benny made him difficult to dislike as the yuppie scum landlord. And Justin Johnson delivered a performance as Angel reminiscent of Wilson Jermaine Heredia, original cast member and Angel in the movie adaptation. With several fast paced, big musical numbers, it's sometimes easy to keep focus on just the leads, but every member of the ensemble also shined.

Having been a fan of this show since college, I will miss getting to see it every few years when the tour happened to be in whichever city I was in at the time. Try to catch a performance of Rent before the national tour is over because there really is "no day but today."

With the closing of RENT yesterday at the Aronoff Center, where it ran from October 28-November 1, the tour will now head to Appleton, WI where it will run from November 3 to November 8.  For a complete tour schedule and to get tickets, visit www.siteforrent.com/tourschedule.  

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