by Deborah Martin
San Antonio Express News
August 23, 2000

As all the cheering after key numbers opening night demonstrates, "Rent" owes more to rock concerts than to traditional musicals.

It's got all the elements of the best rock spectacles: The music and choreography sizzle, and it leaves you wanting more.

The high-energy show, which plays through Sunday at the Majestic Theater, puts a rock spin on "La Boheme." It's built around a tightly knit group of artists struggling to stay true to their dreams without selling out — a tough task when they can't afford to pay the electric bill.

It opens on Christmas Eve shortly before the power goes out in Mark and Roger's tenement apartment. Mark (Matt Caplan) is a filmmaker whose most recent girl- friend left him for another woman; Roger (Joshua Kobak) is a musician who hasn't left the apartment since he was diagnosed with AIDS. Over the course of the show, they battle with Benny (Brian M. Love), their former roommate-turned-landlord, whom they accused of selling out his principles after he wed a debutante.

Roger is drawn out of his shell by Mimi (Saycon Sengbloh), a sexy neighbor and fellow AIDS sufferer who can't quite shake her drug addiction. Kobak and Sengbloh do a great job of portraying the emotional obstacles their characters have to overcome to get together.

Meanwhile, Mark makes friends with Joanne (Jacqueline B. Arnold), his ex-girlfriend Maureen's lover. And Joanne and Maureen (Erin Keaney) bicker, break up and reunite repeatedly.

The heart of the piece is the relationship between Angel (Shaun Earl), a street percussionist/drag queen, and Collins (Mark Richard Ford), a former MIT teacher weary of academic politics. It begins playfully, then quickly deepens into a rich romance envied by their friends even after Angel's death.

Earl and Ford give witty and ultimately moving performances. Earl's appearance in a festive holiday outfit, complete with red-glitter lipstick, is a marvel to behold, as is his graceful leap onto a table in platform shoes during "Today 4 You." And Ford's stripped-down rendering of "I'll Cover You" after his lover's death is gut-wrenching.

"I'll Cover You" is one of several high points in the show. Others include "Over the Moon," Maureen's performance piece protesting Benny's role in the loss of her performance space; "The Tango Maureen," a very funny duet between Mark and Joanne about the difficulties of romancing the tempestuous performer; and "Seasons of Love," thanks partly to Maia Nkenge Wilson's powerful vocals.

One traditional "Rent" showstopper, "La Vie Boheme," was hampered by a poor sound mix which also reduced big portions of "On the Street," another densely textured piece, to little more than noise. Hopefully, that will be fixed, because this is a show in which you don't want to miss a word.