by Ed Huyck
Green Bay Chronicle
March 30, 2001

Yet the hair-raising thrills from the show that debuted five years ago is still present in the touring production visiting the Weidner Center this week. And despite some glaring technical glitches on opening night, this "Rent" packs more of an emotional punch than many of the past companies. The rock musical is an update of "La Boheme," moving the cast of poor artists from Paris to New York City. The story also takes on a modern edge.

Four of the main characters have AIDS. Of the three couples the story follows, one is gay, one is lesbian, one has two people struggling with drug addiction. The first act is set on a fateful Christmas Eve, while the second act follows the characters over the next year, as they try to make sense out of their relationships and their lives.

"Rent" marked the end - sadly - to writer and composer Jonathan Larson's brief career. Just days before the show's debut in 1996, Larson died of an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm. He left behind the first truly successful "rock" musical. Plenty of past shows used the trappings, but "Rent" was the first to completely embrace the music - in style, in emotion, in attitude. The show's direction is clear from the opening, title number. Backed by a throbbing beat and sharp, loud power chords, the characters set up their life clearly -"We're not going to pay rent!" Throughout, the characters celebrate their lives and lifestyles in the face of adversity, from the simple pleasure of a night on the town ("Out Tonight"), to reaching out to someone ("I Should Tell You") and just living ("La Vie Boheme"). Larson does add plenty of styles into the mix, especially soul and rhythm and blues. There is also a tango (appropriately, "The Tango Maureen") and a wonderful pastiche of performance art ("Over the Moon").

Developed over a four-year period at the New York Theatre Workshop and directed by Michael Greif, "Rent" also has a staging that cuts across the norm of today's touring shows. Set up with scaffolding, a tall pile of rusting junk and the odd table and chair - all against a graffiti-filled brick wall, most of the action is focused on the 15-person ensemble cast.

The most effective moment of the night is during "Season of Love" - when the 15 performers line up across the front of the stage - and then "I'll Cover You," when 14 performers stand in the same position, with an empty space for a fallen friend.

There are also more subtle touches sprinkled through the play. "Without You" is a song about facing life alone. It starts with Collins comforting his partner, Angel, who lies on a bed, connected to an IV. It ends with Roger and Mimi, the other characters with AIDS, sitting on that bed, embracing each other. On the surface, the song is just about a relationship, but the staging gives it a new depth - one where the characters aren't just breaking up, but are facing mortality.

The ensemble - led by Jeremy Kushnier, Matt Caplan, Shaun Earl, Jacqueline Arnold and Dominique Roy in the key roles - is a fantastic group of players. They've gone beyond the interpretations of past touring companies and added an extra layer of depth to the characters. Roy was particularly striking as Mimi. (In Larson's version of the story, the doomed lover is an exotic dancer and drug addict who has AIDS.) Angel, the cross-dressing drummer that binds the characters together, usually steals the show. Earl, who played the role on Broadway and on the first national tour, doesn't disappoint.

Tuesday's performance featured a trio of understudies stepping into roles. While there performances were precise, they didn't have the same chemistry the rest of the cast showed.

The biggest disappointment of the night was the technical end of the show. It got off on the wrong foot when the most basic of effects - a ringing phone - failed twice in the opening scene. Throughout the show, there were failed microphone, odd buzzes from the sound system and a visual effect that left the cast singing "and it's starting to snow" when only a few stubborn flakes fell to the stage.

While distracting, the technical glitches didn't ruin the show. The performers worked through the problems and pulled off a show that still, after five years on the road, packs an emotional wallop.