THEATER REVIEW
“Rent”
Grade: B
Through Aug. 16. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays. $20-$37. Actor's Express (at King Plow Arts Center), 887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta. 404-607-7469, www.actors-express.com.
Bottom line: Exuberantly rendered, if not for all tastes.
Notwithstanding the fact that it won both the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Tony Award for best musical in 1996, “Rent,” a grungy rock-musical variation on the famous Puccini opera “La Boheme,” isn’t for all tastes — namely mine, frankly. To borrow from one of the overindulgent deadbeats, er, “bohemians” who populate the show, let he who is without sin be the first to condemn some of these characters or their actions. And then let he whose professional “sin” is that he’s a critic be the second.
The story spans one year (1989) in the mainly irresponsible lives of a group of friends from New York's East Village. While not exactly glorifying such characters as a junkie stripper or a street-walking transvestite, "Rent" does romanticize them. Some can't get a job, pay their bills or otherwise grow up, although they have presumably idealistic hopes and dreams about becoming a filmmaker or a musician or a performance artist.
One of them has vague academic credentials as a part-time teacher of “computer-age philosophy,” whose response to being “thwarted by the metaphysical puzzle” of life is to figure out how to steal money from an ATM. Nobody else seems to have any problem with that — but earn your own living or tire of enabling the freeloading lifestyle of your former roommates, and you’re the “yuppie scum” villain of the story.
Needless to say, I’ll probably never fathom the enduring popularity of the show (scripted and composed by Jonathan Larson, who sadly died shortly before it took Broadway, if not the whole wide world, by storm). So kudos to Actor’s Express artistic director Freddie Ashley and his largely resourceful company of actors and musicians for mounting a version of “Rent” that’s more likable and enjoyable than it arguably has a right to be.
Under the music direction of Alli Lingenfelter (leading a four-piece band), the show isn’t precisely “sung-through,” but there’s a sing-song-y delivery to much of Larson’s “dialogue” that’s more monotonous than melodic. And in the bigger, louder production numbers, a lot of the lyrics are mostly unintelligible.
It’s in its quieter moments that Ashley’s “Rent” really resonates. Song highlights include the duets “Light My Candle” and “Without You” (nicely handled by Julissa Sabino and Jeremiah Parker Hobbs as a pair of star-crossed lovers), “Tango Maureen” (ditto Patrick Schweigert and Jeanette Illidge as former and current flames of the same woman) and “Santa Fe” (ditto Greg Hunter and Austin Tijerina as that embezzling professor and his drag-queen boyfriend), in addition to the “Seasons of Love” number performed by the entire 16-member ensemble.
In terms of acting, the winsome Schweigert and especially the luminous Sabino stand out in a cast that also features Jennifer Alice Acker, Michael Stiggers, Shelli Delgado and Jordan-William Snead.
In basically preaching to the choir that is the show’s pre-existing fan base, the Express’ “Rent” may be nothing new and good enough. On the other hand, that it effectively manages to win over at least one convert — that would be me — is quite an unexpected feat.
