RENT—FROM BROADWAY TO PITTSBURGH
F.J. Hartland 

           The production of Rent playing through April 19 at the Benedum Center is billed as “The Broadway Tour” quite possibly because two of the original cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal headline.  But if you read the Who’s Who in the Cast section of your program, many of the other performers appeared in the show at one time or another during Rent’s ten-plus year run on Broadway.

            And maybe that’s what makes this production so electric.

            Written by the late Jonathan Larson, Rent transposes the opera LaBoheme to New York City’s gritty Lower East Side of the Reagan Administration.  Larson took on such issues as AIDS, homelessness and the greed of the 1980’s in a show that took Broadway storm in 1996.

            Rapp and Pascal play Mark and Roger, respectively.  One is an aspiring film maker; the other an HIV-positive rock musician.  While both actors turn in amazing performances, they are at their best in their Act Two confrontation scene followed by the powerful duet “What You Own.”

            They get high-energy support from the rest of the cast.

            Justin Johnson as Angel, Lexi Larson as Mimi and Nicolette Hart as Maureen are all powerful singers and incredible dancers—all while usually wearing the most skin-tight of costumes.  Hart is particularly funny during the sequence of “Over the Moon,” a piece of “performance art.”

            In the role of the lawyer Joanne, Haneefah Wood is tiny—but mighty!  She and Hart truly shine in the number “Take Me or Leave Me.”

            Michael McElroy as Tom Collins has a slow start in Act One, but Act Two delivers an emotional version of “I’ll Cover You.”

            The entire cast is so high-energy, multi-talented and does such rapid fire character changes that it’s more than a little surprising that when they take their final bows, you see there are only a handful of them.

            Adding to the show was the excitement of the crowd—many of whom were obviously Rent devotees.

            The only real criticism was that sometimes the musicians and the vocalists create such a cacophony of noise that lyrics (and therefore plot points) get lost.

            The set by Paul Clay with lighting by Blake Burbs captures the harsh, gritty look of New York City’s Alphabet City.  Costumes by Angela Wendt perfectly add to the overall grime.

            What was probably most refreshing at this performance was to see the number of young people in the audience.  Rent forever changed the landscape of the Broadway musical, but if it did nothing else than bring a new generation of youthful audiences in to the theatre, it would still be a landmark.

            Rent continued through April 19.  For tickets call 412-456-6666.