Rent

Choreographer: Lauren Graham

Rent” a musical / rock opera ‘East Village’ version of Puccini’s “La Bohème”. “Rent” marks a corner stone in the history of musical theatre bringing with it a real-life story so affecting that it would have overwhelmed the musical itself had the substance of the show not been so intertwined with the story of its creation.

Interweaving homosexual relationships, HIV and heroin addiction is no mean feat to deliver as a musical plot and Director Ian Bennett has done a commendable job, Just watching the performance it was clear that Ian has tirelessly lived and breathed this production for the last 6-9 months, the love and amount of passion Ian has for both this musical and the society shone through in the performance which is so rare and so inspiring to witness.
However, I would’ve loved to have seen this production take more risks in some of its decisions, when this show was first staged in the mid 90’s it was hard-hitting, edgy and raw so to truly recapture the essence of what “Rent” was and is, as I believe Ian Bennett aimed to do, it needs to find itself constantly alive in the current moment, not paying strict homage to what it once was but still; from a society presenting shows such as “Oliver!” to then present “Rent” soon after is a pretty impressive, exciting and risky decision in itself!

Simon Murray as transvestite street performer ‘Angel’ dominated each of his scenes with genuine flamboyance, gentility and optimism.
Laura Bryant was transformed into Mimi from the usual twee leads we’re used to from her. No one can deny she looked incredibly sexy and added a level of truth to the darker elements of the plotline to great success. She had some of the qualities this part demands, vulnerable; yes, racy; sadly not. Vocally, she didn’t rock out!
Helen Rodgers as Maureen was perky and her adventurous sexual appetite reminded us exactly why she’s so irresistible to both Mark and Joanne. Helen and Dominique Flynn as Joanne deliver strong performances both individually and collectively.
Adam Whittle as Roger was the complete reverse of Laura, he sounded right and delivered the part with vocal strength but this is a guy who is suffering, falls in love, is angry and sad, a guy who, lets face it, is probably on the verge of suicide. With these emotions comes light and shade but we got a ‘rocking out’ Roger each time. Adam delivered very well indeed, he held his own on stage and gave an incredibly commanding performance, his wealth of experience shines through it was just a shame we missed a sense of true emotional depth.

The set was everything you would expect from the ideas or images you have in your mind of any other production of Rent, mainly consisting of bone structures and scaffolding and ‘the’ table.

James McEwen as Mark, the glue to this show as we, the audience see the stories evolve through his eyes was outstanding! He gave us a performance very much reminiscent of Anthony Rapp but with his own spin, he wasn’t forced and was very relaxed making a very comfortable and easy performance to enjoy.

At this particular performance we did experience a few sound issues, mainly a crackling speaker which was distracting but the entire audience was supportive of the cast and were clearly determined to not let this spoil their experience.

Musical Director Duo Jonathan Chalker & Simon Murray had put a good band together, on a few occasions they could’ve afforded to be louder to give it more punch particularly in ‘Today For You’. Both the title number and the shows anthem ‘Seasons’ sounded great as company numbers.

A particular highlight for me was ‘What You Own’; a song which often takes a back seat but Adam & James’s relationship was beautifully exposed in this number.

Congratulations All Saints on a neat and well presented production!

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.