By Dale King
Lake Worth Playhouse brings forth a Broadway blockbuster — the breakthrough musical Rent — as its official 71st season opener at the venerable showhouse in downtown Lake Worth Beach. LWP already presented a special performance of West Side Story to get the audience juiced for its autumnal theatrical kickoff.
Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent is also a musical, but of a much different stripe. With melodies, lyrics and book by Jonathan Larson, the production is loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera La Bohème. Artistic Bohemians — people who adopt an unconventional lifestyle and usually reside in colonies — can be found in both.
Rent recounts the tale of impoverished young artists doing their best to survive in a derelict New York neighborhood. A Pulitzer Prize-winning creation that ran on Broadway for 12 years, it was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won five, including the prize for Best Musical. Writer/scholar Christina Rodriguez De Conte directs this top-flight, high-energy performance that taps a bevy of players who pour considerable vocal and acting talent into their every moment on stage.
Musically, many tunes are nail-tough rock anthems that push performers to stretch their voices to the limit. Storied ballads and melodies with sweet harmonies are interspersed into the show that is largely sung.
Rent is definitely for all ages. While it was spawned in the days when the AIDS/HIV crisis was at its peak, Larson’s production was bold enough to deal not only with the fearful virus, but it also examined social issues such as homophobia, substance abuse and multiculturalism.
Ironically, the performance begins on Christmas Eve — normally a happy time — but not for the young people in an artisan ghetto with little hint of holiday cheer. Some glumly sung seasonal tunes are heard, but do little to lighten the mood.
One thing is on the minds of those on stage — rent — how to pay it, or avoid it. The tune, “Rent,” sung by Mark (Casey McNamara), Roger (Dimitri Gann), Tom Collins (Matthew Kelly) and others, is a heart-wrenching piece, setting the stage for a play depicting folks subsisting in trying times and cold temperatures.
Benjamin Coffin III (Bruce La’Ron Melton) emerges as the villain. Once an impoverished resident of the community himself, he now owns the main residential building — and insists the rent be paid. Melton’s portrayal of a turncoat is sinfully seedy.
Love and music manage to flourish in this grimy clime while the neighborhood’s denizens hone their trades. Mark records goings-on with a camera, hoping to create a documentary. Roger tunes an electric guitar repeatedly and laments he has crafted only a single hit (“One Song Glory”).
Jasarie Mercedes as Mimi in Rent, now at Lake Worth Playhouse. (Bad Hair Day Photography)
Meanwhile, Angel (Billy Hannam), a cross-dresser, rescues a wounded Tom Collins (“You Okay, Honey?”) and they fall in love. Roger hooks up with Mimi (Jasarie Mercedes), a drug-addicted stripper, whose feelings are affectionately shown and shared in the tune, “Light My Candle.” Her “Out Tonight” number is a seductive Act I treat.
Music certainly enhances the show. “Tango Maureen” features Mark and Joanne (Pamela Hankerson) in an impromptu twirl, under a streetlight, in the cold chill. “Santa Fe” finds Tom, Angel, Mark and the ensemble dreaming of opening a restaurant in New Mexico.
Every performer finds a personal niche and the director manages to keep the crowded stage action moving briskly.
Mercedes plays Mimi as both strong and vulnerable. Kelly’s Tom Collins and Hannam’s Angel are endearing, funny and tearfully bittersweet. Maureen (Stephanny Noria) and her girlfriend, Joanne, are strong-willed and fist-tough, but proficient enough to instill some comic relief into this otherwise bleak tale.
Plaudits to a strong and vocally adept cast, particularly the players who take on multiple roles. The stage crew has designed a set that’s sparse, but adequate, and costume designer Jill Williams has crafted an array of outstanding outfits.
Larson’s iconic musical helped shape a generation of audiences and taught us all to measure our lives in love. A moving finale triggers the audience to rise in a loud and prolonged ovation of gratitude.
Rent continues through Oct. 22 at the Lake Worth Playhouse, 713 Lake Ave., Lake Worth Beach. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 561-586-6410 or visiting www.lakeworthplayhouse.org.