[NEohioPAL] Review of touring "Rent" at Playhouse Square

[Bob Abelman]

Tired, non-Equity tour of ‘Rent’ makes it difficult to forget regret



Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics



Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical “Rent,” now in the throes of a second year of a 20th anniversary U.S. tour, is on stage at Playhouse Square.  



The show, which originally opened off-Broadway in 1996, is loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s popular opera “La Bohème,” which opened at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, in 1896.   “Rent,” a grunge/rock opera, follows a year in the lives of seven young artists in New York’s East Village who are struggling to follow their dreams without starving or selling out.



Despite the hundred years that separate these two works, both celebrate the excesses of youth and the pleasure that can be found in moments of camaraderie and romance.  And they lament the consequences of both.  For “La Bohème,” the consequence was heartbreak. For “Rent,” the consequence is AIDS.



This is a moving and powerful musical and the 15-member cast in this production is in fine voice.  They absolutely nail the ensemble money-song “Seasons of Love,” which is pretty much the litmus test for any production of “Rent.”  And the five-member orchestra under Matthew Demaria’s direction is superb.



But boy are these young performers – many of them doing their first tour, some having served as Disney and Norwegian cruise line entertainers, and a few still in college and on professional leave – bone-tired and brain-weary. 



For more of this article, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/
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