by John Black
Cape Cod Times
April 13, 2001

Dominique Roy and Maggie Benjamin. Remember those names. If their show-stopping performances in "Rent" are any indication, these young performers are going to be opening Broadway shows of their own in the very near future.

"Rent," based loosely on Puccini's opera "La Bohème," tells the story of a bunch of struggling New York artists trying to survive in the city. It centers on a would-be filmmaker, Roger (Jeremy Kushnier); a wannabe songwriter, Mark (Matt Caplan); and the band of artists, addicts and
hangers-on that wander through their lives.

The first act depicts them gathering on a Christmas Eve and becoming friends. The second act shows how a tragedy tests that friendship.

The musical took the theater world by storm in 1996 - winning a Tony for Best Musical and a Pulitzer for Drama - partly because its creator, Jonathan Larson, had the courage to use Puccini's drama to tackle the issue of AIDS head-on.

Five years later, the power of the musical - at least in terms of addressing AIDS - remains strong. Its themes about the bohemian lifestyle of young artists, however, has not aged well.

One of the plot points in "Rent" involves the 20-somethings holding a performance art protest to stop a developer from building a state-of-the-art digital studio in a lot used for a tent city by the homeless. Such altruism may have been believable when the show was written, but it doesn't hold up well in the dot.com entrepreneur world of today.

The main flaw with this current production lies in the character of Angel, played by Shaun Earl. A bubbly transvestite, Angel is supposedly such a strong and vibrant character that he is the glue that holds all the friends together in the first act. When he exits the play early in Act 2, the friendships fall apart without him. Well, it just doesn't feel real. This Angel comes across as the least important of the characters in Act 1, and the emotional crisis brought on by his absence in Act 2 feels fake, no matter how heartfelt the actors sing their parts.

Without that emotional kick, "Rent" becomes a series of set pieces - some great, some just bearable. For example, when Roy enters the stage to sing "Out Tonight," it's a perfect snapshot of the power of theater. With legs that would make a Rockette jealous, Roy fills the cavernous Wang Center with power, personality and a voice powerful enough to give people in the balcony goosebumps.

Likewise, Benjamin's appearance center stage at the end of Act 1 to sing "Over the Moon" is the kind of theatrical moment that tattoos itself on your memory.

While the rest of "Rent" is certainly enjoyable, if a little dated, it never reaches the heights set by these two numbers or these two performers.