by Brad Haynes
Orlando Weekly
January 21, 1999

Messy Mimi: A superb performance by Julia Santana gives the audience much to love about the dysfunctional character

It seems that the Orlando Broadway Series has become the little brother to the theater productions at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. While Tampa tends to nab tours on their initial run, Orlando has to wait for the hand-me-downs about a year later. But that's not such a bad thing. Like the much-superior tour of "Miss Saigon" that came through Orlando several years ago, audiences will enjoy a tighter and more strongly cast "Rent" than Tampa audiences witnessed almost a year ago. Though the late Jonathan Larson's rock rendition of "La Boheme" is going on three years old, this touring production has a freshness that's lacking in many companies.

Played out on a playground of scaffolding and steel, "Rent" details the lives of modern bohemians, searching for artistic meaning, but above all searching for love in a world torn apart by poverty and disease. Leads Roger (Christian Mena) and Mimi (Julia Santana) are both dealing with HIV status and drug dependency, but the main obstacle that they strive to overcome throughout the show is their inability to truly let each other in. Those same emotional barriers hamper the show's other characters in their search for love, as well.

Told through the lens of filmmaker Mark (Scott Hunt), Roger's best friend and roommate, "Rent" takes a nonjudgmental look at a variety of couples: Mark's ex-girlfriend, Maureen (capably played on opening night by understudy Christine Bandelow), and her lesbian lover, Joanne (Monique Daniels); Tom Collins (Dwayne Clark) and his newfound drag-queen lover, Angel (Pierre Angelo Bayuga); and Roger and Mimi.

The heart of "Rent" lies in the audience's acceptance of the characters of the drug-addicted Mimi and particularly of Angel, who succumbs to AIDS in the second act. Santana, who is the only lead actor to reprise the role from the Tampa production, is a superb Mimi, easily rivaling the dynamic Daphne Rubin-Vega from the original Broadway production. Armed with an intense sexual presence nicely balanced by a genuine vulnerability, Santana gives us much to love about the messy Mimi.

Bayuga's capricious Angel, stabilized by Clark's warm and affable Tom Collins, throws out quite a bit of attitude but keeps it in check, slowly growing on the audience until his loss midway into the second act resonates profoundly.

Both Hunt and Mena, as Mark and Roger, have exceptionally strong voices, most notably demonstrated in their duet "What You Own," although Mena, whose rather high speaking voice and beautiful tenor quality seems to belie the anger and machismo present in Roger, appears forced at times.

Even though the AIDS treatment of choice has shifted from a sole AZT dosage, as seen in the show, to a more potent and life-sustaining cocktail mixture, "Rent's" overall message of the importance of love and community in overcoming life's harshest obstacles remains timeless. And thanks to an energetic and exceptional cast, this production of "Rent" allows audiences to see the show as Larson intended.