Rent - School Addition

This was staged on a minuscule budget but with vast amounts of talent, energy and commitment.  The director, choreographer, actors, techies,  and the musicians apart from the Musical Director, are all students.  The choice of musical was theirs and it was an excellent choice.  The story, loosely based on La Boheme concerns the struggles of young artists as they cope with poverty, illness and drugs.  There is complete acceptance of the many different sexual lifestyles and despite periods of disharmony the bond of their fellowship survives and supports them.  

The set was simple, scaffolding, a fireman's pole and a few items of furniture enabling scene changes to take place smoothly.  The telephones were either side of the stage.  

Lighting was inspired with some very good effects and a follow spot was used to good purpose by a young man in his first year at the college.  The height of the scaffolding made this a little tricky but otherwise, it worked well.

The band, piano, guitar bass and drums made a fabulous sound.  Perhaps a little loud in the first act, although all on stage could be heard.  At the interval the director tweaked this.  The sound balance thereafter was very good. 

Costumes and makeup were just what was needed and bearing in mind the tiny budget I would imagine they had been largely provided by the cast.  It was good to see that the costumes were worn comfortably and not fiddled with even Angel once the frock was on he wore it as if it was his normal attire.

The performances were truthful and fearless and the actors were living the character they were portraying.   We were drawn into the story, feeling the pain with them and as the year or so passed by the relationships changed and this felt like a natural progression.  There are many hugely emotional moments in this story and every time the emotion came from the heart of the actor.  There cannot have been a dry eye when Angel died,  and when the unearthly cry of "Mimi" is sung as they think she is dying.   Without exception the principal actors were of a stunning standard.  The smaller roles too were so convincingly played. So much work and attention to detail had brought this to a high level but had taken nothing from the feeling of freshness.  To keep up the level of energy that this show must have is a very tiring business and some in the cast were in their early teens.  It is so important to keep that level of intensity going until after the curtain.  To act so convincingly is hard work.

The American accents were constant through the performance but not, I am delighted to say, to the detriment of the diction.  The speech was clear and easy to understand.  

As would be expected from students who will make musical theatre their life the musical numbers were glorious.  Some truly beautiful singing.  An absolute joy to listen to.

The placement for the bows formed an almost perfect picture.  This was the first night and the masking of one actor would have been remedied by the following performance.

Marketing is probably not part of MTG's education but the excellent standard of this production deserved a much larger audience.  Might it be possible perhaps for another group in the college to take on this task and fill the auditorium for future productions?

Producing this show is part of their education and many of these students will shortly be leaving for further education in the field of theatre. The support, and trust,  they receive from their tutors is invaluable.  The standard of this production was outstanding.  In the future I shall be in the audience for as many of their shows as possible, it was so worth the long drive.  Many congratulations to Ivybridge Community College  Musical Theatre Group.

Joyce Pomeroy for Gareth Davies, District 3  

 

 

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.