Rent

In a similar style to Jesus Christ Superstar, Rent is a rock opera, with little dialogue. Coming from an operatic background, I found remarkable similarities between the genres. The story was dramatic, based on Puccini’s opera La Boheme; the music was powerful and highlighted the drama of the piece; and it might as well have been sung in Italian as I could hear less than half of the words.
Having sat through many foreign language operas being unsure of the plot, this did not bother me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Some friends who attended and couldn’t afford the $10 program had no idea what was happening during the first act, but enjoyed the second act much more once I had read them the plot.
The parallel would have been complete if surtitles had been employed; not just to compensate for the loud (and very good) band, but often characters were singing different lines at the same time which would be difficult to identify, even with a more accommodating accompaniment.
The production by Whitehorse was excellent. The scaffolding gave different levels to work with and occasionally a table was brought on or a light suspended from the flies. With such an excellent cast it would be churlish to single out individuals but I will mention Brad Alcock and Vanessa Burke for the outstanding lighting!
Perhaps next time some surtitles or a free one sheet synopsis as is provided at the opera.

Graham Ford
 

International rock musical theatre hit Rent is an unusual musical, inasmuch as it deals with tragedy rather than light-hearted froth and bubble.
Set in New York in the 1960’s, Rent draws on the plot of the opera La Boehme, but instead of Tuberculosis, it deals with HIV and AIDS. It was influenced by life experiences of writer / composer Jonathan Larson and his friends and flatmates living in New York’s SoHo. Larson himself never lived to see the international success of his Pulitzer and Tony winning hit, dying suddenly on the morning the day of the show’s off-Broadway premiere in 1996.
A dark set, comprised of a long table, variously used for sitting at, dancing on and moving over and under, and terraced platforms on several levels at the rear of the stage, was used to the full.
The well-produced show was extremely well performed. Congratulations to Daniel Benge as Mark, a film maker and the narrator, Leigh Barker as Angel and Steve Simmons as Roger, who falls in love with Mimi. Mimi was given a superb performance by Katie Wood. Wood has great stage projection, a fine voice and is a good actor.
The cast gave a high standard performance of this moving musical, using the set to the full extent and working well with each other. The costumes were appropriate to both period and the Bohemain poverty of the characters.
There was a fault in the sound engineering, which caused vocal distortion when the ladies hit a high register, a problem that seems to be all too common these days.
A well produced, performed and directed production, with the sound issue being the only fault.
Peter Kemp