by Graydon Royce
Star Tribune
December 23, 1999

What is it about ''Rent''?

It has been written dozens of times that Jonathan Larson's pop opera is tremendous theater. But why has it become a defining piece of pre-millennial American culture? A touring production of "Rent" opened Tuesday at the Ordway Music Theatre -- the show's third engagement there -- and the legend continues to grow.

Of course, there is the music; no puzzler there, with its great hooks and melodies, marvelous voices and electric band. The choreography and pacing soars, never allowing you a bored moment. And a big industrial set captures the cold steel and concrete alienation of urban life.

Further, it's a time capsule for the '90s, loaded with cultural references -- Doc Martens, call waiting, voice mail, beepers, performance artists, a desert called Cyberland, parked trucks loaded with fertilizer and fuel oil, Peewee Herman, tabloid TV, ATMs -- . whew! -- all packaged for a generation weaned on alternative rock and "Friends."

But all of this still doesn't explain the connection "Rent" has made with its audiences. After all, while the crowd at the Ordway for Tuesday's opening skewed young, it wasn't all Gen-Xers.

No, "Rent" etches its place in our hearts with a timeless, transcendent hope: I want to be somebody; I want people to know that I lived, that I had a purpose and people loved me. And that life is not just a quantity measured in minutes and hours and years; life is a quality.

Were the characters of "Rent" not scrabbling to put together their lives from day to day -- struggling with AIDS, drug addiction, homelessness -- these themes would not seem so sharp. These are desperate people, making conscious decisions to stay alive each raw day of existence. It is reminiscent of Viktor Frankl, the concentration-camp survivor, who wrote of finding purpose and meaning, asking, "What does life at this moment demand of me?"

The poignancy of this message reveals itself early, when Roger, an HIV-positive rock singer, sits alone with his shadow trying to "write one great song before I die." Yes, you start to think. Yes, that's right. It might not be a song, maybe not even a great piece of art, but yes, I want to make some mark on this Earth. When Roger sings of wasted opportunities it convicts us all the more to start taking our lives seriously.

Life and legacy strikes again when the company, many of them dealing with their disease, asks plaintively, "Will I lose my dignity? Will someone care?" What is more central to the human soul?

Well, maybe love. And here Larson eloquently renders the showstopper, "Seasons of Love." How do you measure a year? With a scientific quantity of time, or with a mythic quality of relationships? It's a fortuitous message in a society that today is obsessed with the coming big tick of the clock that shoots us into 2000.

Oh, there is so much more to consider in "Rent". Have the '90s finally extinguished the beat soul spawned by the '50s? Will our rush toward technological brilliance eclipse the spirit's need for reflection? Is America -- on the cusp of the millennium -- a place where "You are what you own?" Have intellect and reason failed us?

Given all that, the music -- with its unique ability to touch our inchoate core -- and energy of the cast would seem like just frosting, if they were not so essential. This is a different company from the previous two Ordway engagements, but there is no discernible difference in quality. Passion imbues every performance, and you get the sense that even as a spectator you are participating in something important in the life of America. Indeed, you are.

Who: Music, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson. Directed by Michael Greif. Choreography by Marlies Yearby.

When: 8 p.m. Sat. and Dec. 28-Jan. 1, 7 p.m Sun., 2 p.m. Sun., Wed. and Dec. 31-Jan. 1.

Where: Ordway Music Theatre, 345 Washington St., St. Paul.

Review: This is an essential piece of Americana -- a show that defines the '90s as much as "Hair" might have defined the '60s. Because of its proximity to death, "Rent" forces us to evaluate our lives and determine whether we are making time or wasting it.