by Judith Newmark
Post Dispatch
December 20, 2000

A small prediction: One day in the not-too-distant future, "Rent" will have turned into "Grease."

It will be a show with a devoted following mostly among fairly young audiences - audiences too young to recall the cultural moment that the show lovingly evokes.

Presumably the "Rent" crowd will be a little older than the crowd for "Grease," which in terms of audience is now practically a children's show. "Rent" paints a wildly romantic portrait of the artists as young men and women. Everyone is sensitive, everyone's in love, everyone is doomed. If that's not going to appeal to an adolescent audience, nothing ever is.

That probably may not be what composer/lyricist Jonathan Larson had in mind when he created "Rent," a musical that transplants "La Boheme" and "Hair" to New York's Alphabet City in the age of AIDS. But worse things could happen to a show; "Grease" is an enormous and apparently perpetual hit. In 1996, "Rent" won both the Tony for best musical and the Pulitzer Prize. (It's the kind of acclaim that Larson may indeed have dreamed of, but which he unfortunately did not have a chance to enjoy. He died of an aneurysm hours before "Rent" opened. He was 35.)

"Rent," which opened on Tuesday at the Fox Theatre in a strong production with an able cast, already seems a little dated. But its appeal seems more certain than it ever did.

"Rent" follows the entwined lives of three couples - one heterosexual, one gay, one lesbian - who cannot pay the show's title. These romances coalesce around a protest against the landlord, a former friend who has made good financially but not, in terms of the play, morally.

This story can be hard to follow because the show is almost entirely sung. But Larson's rock-style songs, performed at chest-shaking volume by an onstage band, have nearly unintelligible lyrics.   Actually, that may be OK. Some of the lyrics that do come across need a lot of work. "Maybe he's in denial," one actress sings. Another performer refers to "the cutting room floor of memory."  They still sound like first drafts.

Would Larson have continued to work on the show? We'll never know. That interrupted quality is part of the allure, but it doesn't solve the problem. The score is troubled, too, with a self-defeating tendency to quote Puccini at its most emotional moments. Larson trades in borrowed emotions every time we hear "Musetta's Waltz."

This ensemble is excellent. Cary Shields, who plays the struggling composer Roger, cuts a smoldering figure and handles his dramatic solo, "One Song Glory," with Byronic bravura. Maggie Benjamin does a standout job with the show's best number, "Over the Moon," a delicious satire of performance art. Dominique Roy and Shaun Earl bring plenty of flash and swagger to their roles as the haunted Mimi and Angel, and Mark Richard Ford offers a strong voice and solid presence as the computer genius Tom. Matt Caplan makes a sweet foil as Mark, a video director. Caplan and Shields lead a strong performance of the hard-driving "What You Own."

The passage of years brings more appreciation of the show's persuasive style. With its bare-bones set, found-objects sculpture, grunge clothes and harsh lighting, "Rent" captures its high-tech moment to a T.  This is one show in which head microphones and sound packs fit right in. Paul Clay designed the set, Angela Wendt the costumes, Blake Burba the lighting and Steve Canyon Kennedy the sound. Michael Greif is the director and Marlies Yearby the choreographer.