At the conclusion of Friday’s opening performance of Rent, one member of the ensemble wore a wide-eyed smile on her face as she held the last note of the musical. You couldn’t blame her — she, with the rest of the cast, had filled the Kay Theatre in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center with two and a half hours of festivities that ranged from frantic to tender.
The widely renowned musical is an immense undertaking by the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. Playwright Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning rock opera requires a ton of energy and talent, never mind the fact that Rent might be the biggest name to grace a TDPS program in years.
The show follows a year in the lives of seven artists in the East Village of New York City. Mark (Matt Hill) is documenting the year on film, and struggling with his roommate Roger (Jonathan Helwig) to pay the rent to their landlord, Benny (Patrick J. Prebula). Roger is struggling to write “one great song” and falls into a relationship with Mimi (Erica Philpot), a stripper and on-again-off-again drug addict. Mark’s ex-girlfriend Maureen (Kathryn Pace) is an eclectic performer, scheduling protests and clashing with her new girlfriend, Joanne (Jenay McNeil), who prefers order and control. Finally, Roger and Mark’s friend Collins (Patrick Grant) finds the loving drag queen Angel (David Todd), by accident after being mugged, and falls in love.
The group struggles during their year together, facing the harsh realities of poverty, hunger and the heartbreak and trials of fighting AIDS. Immediately upon walking into the Kay Theatre, audiences will be immersed. The set is easily among the most impressive in recent memory, (rivaling last fall’s Enchanted April) impressively rivaling the grand sets of Broadway productions. The East Village is made of brick and steel, trash bags lie about, graffiti covers the walls and Christmas lights decorate the winter skies (and the Kay’s seating area). It’s gritty, striking and used to great effect.
The band, an asset to musicals too often overlooked, has its own spot among the scaffolding. The music is a literal fixture in the set. The costumes, too, are spot on. The clothes are ratty, torn and have obviously seen better days before they were worn by these starving artists.
Director Alan Mingo Jr., a University of Maryland alumnus who portrayed Collins in the Broadway production of Rent, has let his student performers take some chances, many of which pay off. Instead of replicating the original Broadway soundtrack, each character is infused with a bit of something new. Mark is slightly edgier than some other depictions, while Benny seems more vulnerable, and Roger is more outwardly emotional.
The cast is quite strong. McNeil and Pace are both powerhouses with great chemistry (providing a great rendition of “Take Me or Leave Me”); Philpot masters difficult choreography in “Out Tonight”; Grant literally embodies Collins; and Todd shows some spunk as Angel, a challenge to cast due to vocal range and the ability to dance in high heels. The ensemble makes the East Village live and breathe: Their contributions do not go unnoticed. Helwig’s voice is best used during rock ballads like “One Song Glory” and “What You Own.”
There were some small missteps opening night. The microphones needed quite a bit of adjustment throughout the show to compete with the overpowering band and some performers showed some fatigue during a few numbers. But overall, the entire experience is a positive one, as Larson’s music brings smiles and chills to the Kay Theatre.
Rent is arguably the best musical of the twentieth century, and TDPS has breathed new life into it, reminding audiences to fill their lives with love and live for today. For any one stumble, there are a number of fantastic, touching moments.
Those who go to CSPAC to “viva la vie boheme” will get to experience them all.
Rent will run through Oct. 28 in the Kay Theatre in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The performances are sold out.
VERDICT: Rent is an ambitious and enjoyable celebration of life at CSPAC.
afreedman@umdbk.com
