Providence Journal
February 10, 2000

When I first saw Rent just after it opened on Broadway, I was expecting the world. After all, this was the musical of the end-of-the-century, the show that would wrap up the zeitgeist, tune us in to what was happening to a generation. Rock 'n' roll over Broadway. Toughest ticket in town.

And what a disappointment. The late Jonathan Larson's show (he died in his 20s before it got to Broadway) seemed self-indulgent and false. The retelling of La Boheme was a pale imitation, losing much in the move from 19th-century Paris to New York's drug- and AIDS-ridden lower East Side.

Subsequent viewings in Boston and Providence only renewed my dissatisfaction. I always thought of what a friend said the night we left Rent on Broadway: "I think I work too hard to care about these people.''

But now along comes a fourth viewing, this one of a scaled-down production but with an energetic, winning cast that opened Tuesday night at the Providence Performing Arts Center.

This Rent begins to give me an idea of why so many liked the show so much.

Although the familiar faults -- a scattered story line, a patently false ending, self-indulgence made a virtue -- are still there, this Rent carries with it the combination of sweetness and rock, of a yearning for something new even while trapped in a relentless onslaught of disease and drugs.

Rent concerns a group of twentysomethings self-exiled to the vibrant but scratchy lower East Side. They are artists, hangers-on, searchers. Some come from highly privileged backgrounds, others don't. They work as waiters, as performers in an S&M bar, or not at all.

They've occupied a building, one without the niceties of heat or adequate electricity. Naturally, they don't pay the rent, either.

The score is the biggest asset of Rent . Larson's rock is hard-edged but eminently suited to the stage, and moves the story along. From the witty Tango: Maureen to the love song between doomed lovers, I'll Cover You , it sparkles.

So does much of the cast in this smaller version. As the rich kid from Scarsdale living in Alphabet City, Matt Caplan does a nice job giving a softer edge to the character than other actors have. Shaun Earl is winning -- funny and wistful -- as Angel, the doomed drag queen.

Cary Shields as the doomed (notice a trend here) songwriter Roger and Horace V. Rogers as the poetic Tom Collins are winning. As the ill-fated (and then revived by a great white light, one of my real issues with the book) Mimi, Saycon Sengbloh is wonderfully energetic. Understudy Raquel Roberts did a good job filling in on the role of Joanne.

And then there is the audience. On Tuesday night, PPAC was filled with young people. This show is not on the theater's regular subscription list, and so those who go have bought tickets specifically for it and really want to be there.

It showed. The audience cheered and clapped along; they clearly knew the songs and loved them. It all helped a lot. There was the feeling of a rock show, with committed fans ready to have a great time.

In this opinion, Rent is still far from being a great musical. But this time around, at least, I can see why so many other people love it so much.