by Wayne Harada
Honolulu Advertiser
July 30, 2000

"Rent" duo Shaun Earl as Angel (in Santa Suit) with Horace V. Rogers

WHAT: Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical

WHEN: Opens Wednesday; shows at 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 13; special matinee at 2 p.m. Aug. 3

WHERE: Blaisdell Concert Hall

COST: $22.50-$65 ($20 for first two rows of seating, on sale two hours prior to curtain, cash-only, limit-two basis); $35 all matinee seats Aug. 3

INFORMATION: 526-4400 (groups 732-7733)

Talk about blind ambition: Shaun Earl auditioned for the part of Angel in the award-winning Broadway musical "Rent," not knowing who or what the role entailed.

"I just liked the name, so I picked that role and learned Angel’s song," said Earl. "I was on a country tour with Reba McEntire at the time (he came to Honolulu with her show), so I was really out of the loop."

Imagine, then, his initial reaction when he discovered that he would make his Broadway debut in a dress, a wig and high heels.

The character Angel, an HIV-positive transvestite musician, is one of the denizens in the pivotal ’90s musical, currently on a tour of Japan and heading to the Blaisdell Concert Hall Wednesday, playing through Aug. 13.

"Rent," of course, is the creation of the late Jonathan Larson, which assembles a community of artists struggling with their soaring hopes against the tough realities of the world. These include the HIV-positive musician, a computer whiz, an aspiring moviemaker, a performance artist, a yuppie entrepreneur, a lawyer and more.

A Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning rock opera, it was inspired by Puccini’s "La Boheme," in which the disease was tuberculosis; in the modern retelling, it’s AIDS.

"The dress thing really doesn’t bother me," said Earl, who landed the part in Los Angeles, when the company was on its initial tour there. He’s a Southern Californian who previously co-starred in the "Fame" TV show and appeared in such films as "Coming to America" and "The Bodyguard."

"I find it a challenging part for me," said Earl, who refuses to divulge his age. ("I’m a chameleon. If you tell, they say ‘he’s not old enough’ or judge you visually.")

"Jonathan Larson was clever in creating Angel; he works with taboos in society, knowing how people judge. Angel is a loving human being who finds true love on stage, too. The challenge for people is to see beyond the outside, beyond the gay thing, beyond HIV, beyond AIDS. The fact is, Angel loves to wear dresses and he’s in love with a man.

"He challenges the audience, too, because he’s the most taboo character in the show, and in the end, I think audiences love him. That’s what makes him wonderful - you don’t judge people by the way they look; you judge them by what they are."

When Earl was tapped to play Angel, producers flew him to Boston to see a performance. Then he had to shape the part in New York.

"I really had no time to do homework," he said.

"But how, really, do you research this? Angel just likes to dress up in girls’ clothes. In one evening, which is the first act of the show, you get a sense that that’s all he is."

But Angel’s spirit spills over to the performer and the viewers and raises consciousness among all, said Earl.

"Take the AIDS issue; I’ve lost quite a few friends to the disease," he said. "In the play, it could have been cancer, but Larson was really keen on the elements."

Larson provided a subtext legend to his work, dying at age 35 of an aortic aneurysm just before the show’s Broadway premiere, and his script centering on the subculture has been hailed by mainstream critics and fans alike.

"People take life for granted; people take people for granted," said Earl. "I think you can relate to any death - cancer of AIDS - and especially if someone’s on the deathbed for six months. You decide then to live life to the fullest, to appreciate friends before they leave, to live for now, to live for the moment. All of us need to celebrate life, even under the worst conditions, to the fullest. That’s Larson’s message."

That philosophy has infiltrated his personal life. "For me, Angel has become an affirmation of how I live my life, to reach out and dream. Fear is not a good thing."

With his platform heels, the show has some potential occupational hazards. "I have stunts and I have to always be aware that I’m in my heels," said Earl. As Angel, he also wears a Santa suit and has a couple of featured songs, including "Today 4 U" and "I’ll Cover You."

He said that fans are amazed at his shape and form.

"I don’t know what size dress I wear. I just put on what the costumers provide, but a lot of women admire my legs. Oh, some love my waist," said Earl cheerfully. "I do feel my feminine side when I’ve got my makeup and wig on; in society, women have to go to charm school to learn this stuff.

"Men try to figure me out because, face it, men have a rough edge. But I have a good sense of my body because I have a dance background, too (he performed with such artists as Jasmine Guy, Paula Abdul, Shanice Wilson), and people say I carry myself well."

But Angel, he said, does not try to pass himself off as a woman. "He just loves to dress up like a woman. It’s not like a Tootsie thing where Dustin Hoffman pretended to be a woman."