by Kimberley McGee
Las Vegas Sun
October 29, 1999

There was no curtain, no dimming of the lights to signal that the play was about to begin. Instead, a hush fell over the crowd as the actors, dressed in bright, frayed, leatherette costumes padded onto the stage.

The opening night of Broadway began in Las Vegas.

"Rent," which opened Wednesday at the Las Vegas Hilton and runs through Nov. 7, is a moving contemporary rock opera that borders on a live concert at times. The play is jubiliant in its pulsating style, but the undertone is the threat and knowledge of impending doom -- that minutes are ticking away and life is winding down.

Set in the early '90s against the backdrop of HIV and the artist's lifestyle in the East Village of New York, "Rent" follows a pack of Bohemians with financial, emotional and physical woes who form a loose family bond, a la Giacomo Puccini's beloved opera, "La Boheme."

Amid the mangled objects of everyday life -- bicycles, street signs, grocery carts and scaffolding -- "Rent" unfolds a year in the life of talented unknowns on the brink of something big, be it death, love or sell-out fame.

Christian Mena plays lead character Roger, a sensitive bad boy with the driving need to fulfill one dream in this stinking life before fate, or AIDS, takes it. Mena, a former rock singer, pauses over the words of playwright Jonathan Larson in his first solo, "One Song Glory," before powerfully pushing them toward the still-stirring audience.

The mixed bag of audience members, dressed in everything from T-shirts to diamonds (sooo Las Vegas) seemed unusually quiet as the actors strained to pull them in. Couple that with the sound of the individually-miked actors sounding a bit mucky, like speaking through wax.

However, the audience proved they were awake by the ninth number, "Tango: Maureen." (Hey, it's never too late, right?)

With the quick wit and fast pace of "Tango," Scott Hunt, as the play's narrator, Mark, a recently-dumped filmmaker, and Jacqueline B. Arnold, who portrays Joanne, new love of Mark's ex, put the audience upright in their seats and left them salivating for more of the story as well as the musical numbers. It was getting interesting.

Arnold has a powerful voice that demands respect and got it from the audience with a few whistles and whoops. Throughout the play Hunt set up the stage, the scenes, filled in the gaps and almost stole the show as he ate up the stage with his boundless energy and clear, strong voice.

The play is life-affirming, even though it rolls around in the muck of despair, loneliness and fear.

"Rent" doesn't wrap up so much as it lingers, caressing the dream in the back of almost everyone's mind, to find love, true friends and to understand the meaning of his life.