Cain Park kicked off the summer season with Rent, Jonathan Larson’s now classic (and Pulitzer-Prize-winning) musical about creative artists trying to survive in New York City.
Today, the storyline is less startling than it was in 1996 (we’ve moved on from AIDS to Covid to whatever), but the heart and the feels are still there. We see, once again (as Puccini made clear in La Bohème, the opera Rent is modeled after), being a starving artist isn’t fun.
Despite its focus on tragedy, the Cain Park version of Rent offered tremendous opportunity for emotional solos, rebellious anthems, and general celebration of youth, diversity, and spunk. The talented 17-member cast, under the guidance of guest director Nathan Henry, told the story with spirit.
full review at Cool Cleveland
https://coolcleveland.com/2023/06/theater-review-rent-cain-park-by-laura-kennelly/