by Julie York Coppens
The Tribune
October 4, 2000

It's not the leather pants, the wailing guitars or the hip-thrusting salutes to sexual freedom -- as refreshing as these elements might be in any Broadway musical. No, the magic of "Rent" reveals itself in a quiet moment, as the cast assembles along the footlights for the beginning of Act II. With the opening chords of "Seasons of Love" tumbling softly from the bandstand, 15 performers cast their eyes down to the orchestra pit, where two rows of "Rent" fanatics not much younger than themselves gaze back in adoration.

It's the moment both groups have been waiting for, the kind of moment that never happens in a movie theater or over e-mail or through an answering machine. The touring production of "Rent" now playing at the Morris Performing Arts Center has a lot going for it, but one virtue trumps them all: the actors' ability to connect with their audience as completely as they connect with each other.

Right now there are two "Rent" companies criss-crossing the nation, and the New York production remains a hot ticket four years after its premiere. With any Broadway show that enjoys an extended life, the trick for cast members is to make the material their own while reproducing a proven product. Generally, the more they sound like the actors on the original cast recording, the happier audiences (and thus producers) will be. But with "Rent," a show all about spontaneous bursts of creative expression, imitation is death.

This company, led by Christian Mena as Roger and Matt Caplan as Mark, strikes just the right balance between recognizability and originality. Even if we've seen (or at least heard) the show dozens of times, Mena's intensity, Caplan's energy, Maggie Benjamin's unbridled and hilarious self-worship as Maureen, still take us by surprise. So does the tunefulness of Jonathan Larson's score, thanks to the quality of voices here and Shelley R. Hanson's sensitive conducting. If a few recurring themes grow stale, it's a fault of the material, not the performance.

Whole sections of empty seats at the Morris suggest that "Rent" might not be as well known here as it is in other cities -- or that South Bend likes its musicals free of navel rings and the "f" word. Yes, it's a loud, unruly, sexy show, but it's not so far removed from its romantic, operatic roots (Larson based "Rent" on Puccini's "La Bohéme") as one might imagine. In a few more years, it will probably be considered tame. For now, it's a thrilling reminder that live theater isn't quite dead yet.