I enjoy musicals although I don't get to many but I was lucky enough to be offered tix to Rent at the Canberra Theatre. Rent is a rock musical from the mid-1990s, out of NYC, a winner of numerous awards, well toured and modelled on Puccini La Boheme; a story of a year in the life of a group of bohemians in NYC's East Village in the time of AIDS. Some parallels are obvious: AIDS for Consumption; largely parallel characters; Mimi for Mimi; several musical quotes. There's more same sex and drums and guitars. Otherwise, I guess the issues of bohemian life are similar: money, friendships, commitment, housing, heating, eating, partying and the like. The script was virtually all sung except an introduction and ending. That's interesting but also can be harder to hear and comprehend, so the first half, a long Act 1, was pretty confusing. We were not the only ones reading the Wikipedia plot description in the break. When I did hear lines, sometimes I found them unexceptional and conversational, but I didn't concentrate on this. I did more concentrate on the music and singing and dancing and presence and performance. The music was rock, so fairly few chords and mostly fairly simple melodies. The band was not easy to see, but I heard drums, bass, guitar, keys, sometimes perhaps a doubled guitar. Leaving, I saw two screen at the back of the theatre, presumably so performers could see the conductor. Dunno. A jazz bass walk appeared at one time, I think associated with contacting parents who were a butt of jokes. Also a guitar solo or two in good screaming metal style. All good. I liked the music, the incessant drums, the mix with some really excellent vocals. Overall, I found Mark was my all-round favourite, catching my eye for singing, dancing and presence. The central character Mark (Noah Mullins) has elements of the creator, not least poor housing and losing a girlfriend to another girl. He's a film maker who documents these goings-on and is later queried by flatmate guitarist/singer/songwriter Roger (Jerrod Smith) when he finally takes a commission. Interestingly, there's a projected film at the end which is presumably the original artists. Roger and stripper/addict Mimi (Martha Berhane) fall in love but Roger keeps Mimi at arms length to protect her, thinking he has AIDS. She ends up heartbroken and homeless and virtually/maybe dies of AIDS but seems to magically resuscitate after seeing a vision of tranny friend Angel (Chad Rosete) who earlier died of AIDS in the arms of lover NY Univ-rejected philosopher Collins (Nick Afoa). There's some suggestion (Wikipedia?) that all other than Mark died of AIDS, but Mimi does seem to survive, let alone the others. Not sure of that one. It all happens from one Christmas to the next, in Alphabet City. The summary tune was Seasons of wonder, covered by Stevie Wonder and more. Its hook is "Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes / how do you measure a year in the life / How about Lo-o-ove / How about Lo-o-ove": the theme is obviously love. The whole cast ends singing this one. Creator Jonathon Larson had also written Superbia, somewhat influenced by George Orwell 1984, and Tick, Tick... Boom!, an 'autobiographical "rock monologue"' (Wikipedia) then ended up dying suddenly aged 35 the day before Rent was first performed as an off-Broadway preview. What goes around, comes around. Bohemian poverty in life as in art, in two operas a century apart. No match for West Side Story, but a well intentioned rock musical with some great performances. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Rent is a rock musical by Jonathon Larson. It was staged at Canberra Theatre.
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