Review: Jonathan Larson's RENT at the Carrollwood Players

Welcome back from Uranus if you have never heard of RENT, that 90s zeitgeist musical that turns thirty this year and is in 12th place as the longest-running Broadway show ever.

When I first experienced the musical a couple of years after it first opened in the 1990s, I immediately dubbed it as “Hair for Gen X,” a perfect encapsulation of the Grunge/Slacker/Neo-Bohemian NYC spirit.  It had so much power, as well as a compelling backstory (the show’s creator, Jonathan Larson, dying just before the first Off-Broadway preview in 1996), that we forgave its many flaws.  Even its enthusiasts would concede that it’s far from perfect; who wants perfection with a show this, for lack of a better word, cool?

Based on the Puccini opera La Boheme, RENT focuses on the denizens of NYC’s Alphabet City in the 1990s, mainly roomies Roger, an AIDS-afflicted rocker who’s both has-been and wannabe, and Mark, a geeky filmmaker whose wife, Maureen, ran away with another woman, Joanne.  You meet Mimi, the drug-addicted dancer at the Cat Scratch Club, and Benny, the Yuppie sellout.  There’s also Tom Collins, whose love story with drag queen Angel provides to be the heart of the show. Act 1 deals with a single day in the life—Christmas; Act 2 centers on an entire year in the life, following the seasons of love and, sadly, death. 

So many of its songs have become musical theatre staples, including “Seasons of Love,” “One Song Glory,” “Tango Maureen,” “Santa Fe,” “I’ll Cover You,” “La Vie Boheme,” “Take Me or Leave Me,” “Without You,” “I’ll Cover You (Reprise)” and “What You Own.”  Any show with that many memorable songs must be great, right?  So why do I have so many issues with it?

My main misgiving of RENT may be that I never believed it was entirely finished due to Mr. Larson’s untimely death.  It came close, but I believe it was a perhaps a tweak or two  away from greatness.  And Mr. Larson’s lyrics can sometimes be insufferable. Some may think the line from “La Vie Boheme”--“To sodomy/It’s between God and me”--as being quite clever; however, I find it incredibly forced.  But he also rhymes “curry vindaloo” with “Maya Angelou,” so all is close to being forgiven.

And don’t get me started on the following line from the same song: “To Sontag, to Sondheim, and anything taboo.”  This really gets my knickers in a twist.  I know it’s a mere line, but it’s also a mere line that drives me crazy.  I adore Sondheim; I don’t know a Broadway fan who doesn’t.  But to claim that he is in any way “taboo” is a laugh.  Besides, the bohemians would probably pooh-pooh Mr. Sondheim and tag him as mainstream; they would not celebrate him while they sing of the decadent things in life that they do love like leather, dildos and huevos rancheros.   

Yes, the show boasts those incredible aforementioned songs, but the story is overlong and the ending exceedingly hokey. Roger, constantly gnarled in anger, spends the entire musical trying to write the perfect song, a song that is so powerful and magical that it will actually bring a character back to life.  But his final composition that does the trick, “Your Eyes,” is arguably the weakest song of the entire show, a tune so inexorably boring that it would certainly never raise the dead, and if anything, it will make permanent insomniacs go immediately to sleep.

I wonder how younger people will react to RENT. They may know some of the songs—the iconic “Seasons of Love” or the powerful lesbian duet, “Take Me or Leave Me”—but will they understand what the fuss is all about?  Will they understand that it was a big deal three decades ago, that era’s Hamilton?  And will they understand the nightmare that AIDS was to the community and to the world?  And some of the things in the show that seemed shocking in 1996—drag queens; a woman leaving her husband for another woman—come across as quaint today (well, maybe not in some red states).  Besides, the whole “my-wife-left-me-for-another-woman” subplot was tackled in the TV series “Friends” just two years before RENT debuted.

With this much RENT-controlled baggage to contend with, why do I still recommend the musical? Because it’s a kick-ass night of theatre, and the Carrollwood Players have done a wondrous job with the material in their current winning production, directed by a true visionary, David Valdez.

This is not your average production of RENT.  Immediately we know something is different because the cast remains onstage for the duration of the show.  I love this choice, because it makes the whole thing rightfully presentational.  You never question the brave and smart directorial decisions, like not having a long table in “La Vie Boheme” (trust me, it works).  And Mr. Valdez is a master when it comes to stage pictures.  The material may be overwhelmingly sad, but the joy of performing takes over; this RENT is a celebration of life set to music. 

The production re-examines the original meaning of the show and turns it upside down; it also spotlight and deepens the connections and relationships of the various characters.  Some productions lead head-first, this one dives in heart-first. It becomes quite emotional at times, so it’s best if you bring enough Kleenex for yourself and anyone sitting around you.

The cast is quite good. 

The talented Tony Capizzi plays Roger appropriately, as if he’s constantly tied in an emotional knot; he has a wild rock-fueled voice in numbers like “One Song Glory,” though the part itself lacks shading (he's either bursting with fury or lost).  

Alex Markoulis is strong as the bespectacled Mark, resembling Freddie Garrity from the Sixties group Freddie and the Dreamers.  Unlike other interpretations of the reactive part that I’ve seen, he never recedes into the background; he becomes the anchor of the show.  And Adrian De La Rosa makes for a formidable antagonist as Benny. 

Michael Vega continues to fulfill the early  promise as a performer by inhabiting the part of the drag queen Angel with such a brave heart.  I have personally always had a problem with the part, who in “Today for Me, Tomorrow for You,” gets a lot of laughs for celebrating the killing of a dog named Evita in a most horrific manner.   Vega even adds a little Vogue move during the song for good measure. But the performer fills the role with so much courage and soul that we forgive and root for them so deeply that it all becomes so unbearably heartbreaking during Act 2. Yes, we find ourselves mourning and crying over a dog killer.   

Natalie Whitlock is a force to be reckoned with as Mimi, showing such a wide range with the rabid “Out Tonight” and the soul-breaking “Without You.” 

Aaliyah Saint Charles brings a lot of spunk to the part of Joanne; her duet with Maureen, “Take Me or Leave Me,” is one of the show’s best numbers.  Emma Beekman is a standout as Mark’s annoying mom.  Tyler Brankey provides solid support, as does Nia Evens.  Dylan Lauricello does quite well and gets to show off his strong vocals in various parts.  Stephen Mikell, Jr. is always welcome onstage, inhabiting his roles with so much verve.  And Alli Lynn Thomas hits just the right notes as Alexi Darling. 

But two performances shine brightest of all, elevating this RENT to another dimension entirely: Kristin Brazzell as Maureen and, especially, Christian M. McLaurine as Tom.

I recall seeing Ms. Brazzell in SPC’s Into the Woods where I compared her Little Red to Manson Family murderess, Susan Atkins.  She knows no fear onstage.  Here, she takes Maureen and runs with it.  Her “Over the Moon” is the stuff of legend, as strange a song as ever written, and Ms. Brazzell gets the joke and tears the song to shreds like it was a toy in a mutt’s mouth.  Her Maureen is a fierce typhoon, and she burst the show to life whenever she became the focus of the scene.

Best of all is Christian M. McLaurine as Tom.  I am still not over his rendition of “I’ll Cover You (Reprise),” a song that will leave you both breathless and sobbing.  His duets with Angel, including the contagiously hummable “Santa Fe” and “I’ll Cover You,” are filled with so much joy over newfound love that we believe in their relationship 100%. His singing touches the depths of your soul.  

This is the Christian McLaurine part that we’ve been waiting for. Wow!  There’s a gospel quality with his singing, his voice sometimes going quite deep like an Alphabet City preacher, sounding like a combination of the Reverend Al Green and Paul Robeson.

The cast’s harmonies sound good under the musical direction of Lisa M Chase, especially in my favorite song of the show, “Will I?” The fun choreography of Devon Bittinger works as well as it can in the small Carrollwood Players stage. 

I like the Keith Haring works that adorn Krista Virga's otherwise extremely minimal set design. Costumes work okay for the most part, although I never really got the sense that I was in a cold New York City winter. 

I could hear the cast, even though they were not microphoned.  However, I worry about some of the voices, straining so hard to be heard over the music that their vocal cords can be damaged if not properly warmed up.  Microphones wouldn’t hurt the production and could help prevent any potential vocal damage (it’s a rockin’ show and the voices must be heard).

But this RENT comes to amazing life due to the brilliant vision of one man: director David Valdez.  The show earned its instant standing ovation on the night I saw it, easily becoming one of the stronger musicals performed at the Carrollwood Players.  It succeeds in making us enjoy every moment of every day.  So, take advantage of each of these moments in this beautiful but very flawed world of ours, and that includes making sure you get your tickets now to join the Alphabet City avant garde. Because, as the show keeps reminding us over and over, there’s no day but today.

RENT gets a good long run at the CWP and ends its journey on June 27th.