Penny Presents... RENT - Opening this Friday @ Tom Mann Theatre

Penny Presents – RENT – by Jonathon Larson Sunday 14th October, 2pm performance ACT TWO After a pleasant break in the Sun, listening to fellow theatregoers discuss whether Jayr was male or female (male), whether Roger and Mimi were an offstage couple (apparently not), and whether the sound was going to get any better (most disappointingly not), a very fortunate but sadly small audience trooped back in for the Act II. I had a horrible few moments at the beginning of ‘Seasons’ thinking that the promise of Act I was not going to be realised when the lights that were extremely slow to come up. Fortunately, the lighting overall was superior to the sound, although several changes were slow – particularly in ‘Goodbye Love’. Perhaps the slow-light was an intended effect, but if so, it was overplayed – leaving several neighbours whispering comments about whether there was a technical problem. But, Saints be Praised, the lights did come up, and the second Act outshone the first for emotional intensity and theatrical togetherness. I’m not sure what the cast were doing during interval, but they should keep doings so! The full cast pulled together like a well rehearsed jazz choir to deliver a tight, secure and very satisfying rendition of ‘Seasons of Love’. Here, I was disappointed to note that Collins did not make the reach for the upper octave for his solo segment. From his earlier moments, I presumed these were not too much of a stretch – and the presentation down the octave caused some enunciation difficulties: it would have been beautiful to hear it up higher. However, this was counterbalanced by fabulous vocal gymnastics from Joanne. Perhaps Ms Vietta was giving it everything for her final rendition, and perhaps she was going the extra mile for family or friends (there certainly was a lot of cheering), but either way it was a performance the outshone several of the recordings in my collection. ‘Happy New Year’ is part of the story which encompasses the full principal line up, but this show’s performance was seriously hindered by a tempo which made it difficult for the leads to get all the words out – and would have impacted on the understanding of the story for anyone who didn’t know the show. It may be that the piece was played unusually fast in this performance, but its impact was lessened as a result. After another strong showing from the ensemble – particular mention to all the answering machine players, who made the most of smaller roles with detailed characterisation and good vocal (accent) variation – the all girl power duet of ‘Take me or Leave me’ received deservedly huge applause. The vocal clarity of these women, and the utter absorption of both characters in the rightness of their own arguments was very convincing. There was true tension in the voices, and the delivery, with the slapping of hands on the table, and the insinuation of Maureen up Joanne’s leg were truly entertaining to watch. From ‘Take Me’, the show took flight due to the sheer emotional investment of the full cast. The story from here on in gets darker and more angsty, and the cast delivers this convincingly – yet, there’s a real glimmer of interior strength from the stage. It is something that doesn’t turn up often in amateur theatre: where the cast seems to have an awareness of each other, a sense that although they are telling a tragic story, they are not a tragic people. It was disappointing that this experience was not shared by a packed hall! The pace changes completely between ‘Take Me’, and ‘Without You’. Mimi’s interpretation of this was superior to any recording. ‘Without You’ is musically not an interesting piece – it is repetitive, and can often be in an awkward spot in a singer’s range. Yet, Ms Street carried this piece (with sometimes strained support from Roger) and presented it engagingly. Although quite physically distant on stage, this still carried well as a duet, but Roger again ran into the problem of being on the raised platform and competing for head room with the upstage lighting track. The audience was in for a huge treat with a fresh and erotic interpretation of ‘Contact’. Thank goodness a Director was brave enough to ditch the awful sheet routine, which has added so little to so many performances!! There were simply too many good bits to be able to take in everything in ‘Contact’. Vocally, this was a weak spot. It seems the unusual decision to not pre-record the cast for this track was made, and consequently the vocal delivery suffered as the cast (understandably) got distracted by what they were all busily up to. It is possible that the audience wouldn’t have heard most of the words had they been sung, however – this one was too much of a visual feast to bother too much with listening! Although ‘Contact’ is primarily about Angel and death, it was not good stage placement to have Collins and Angel in a position where they tended to block some very interesting antics by the various dancers. The piece on the whole, though, was very smoothly choreographed (if it wasn’t choreography, then the cast is having entirely too much fun!), and particular kudos must go to the planner of this section. Although an intended progression in the original production, the change from raunchy ‘Contact’ to the heartbreaking Memorial for Angel always feels too abrupt. It was slightly disconcerting to notice the elevated breathing and mussed up hair of the leads as they took their places around the grave. The grave, unfortunately, was again not all that well thought out. In a venue with non-tiered seating, placing a sheet on the stage floor and expecting all the audience to notice it, and moreover be emotionally engaged to the significance of it, is a mistake. I only noticed that the grave was there at all as I saw the stage crew place it – and I spent time being distracted by wondering whether any of the cast were going to step on it once the movement started again after the ‘I’ll Cover You (Reprise)’. As mentioned earlier, Collins’ performance of his farewell to Angel was phenomenal. With the sobs, and tears, there was considerable tension from the auditorium wondering whether he was going to be able to get through the song, yet when he opened in that rich, controlled Bass-Baritone, interspersed with further shatteringly sad breaths, the audience (and cast) lost it. We grieved for the beautiful Angel with Collins and his friends. This sort of engagement is unusual – particularly when you are familiar with a show – yet the tears flowed freely. Bravo! Jarring against the wonderful strains of I’ll Cover You, the final disintegration of the “family” of leads occurred with outstanding and convincing rage, pain, bitterness and heartbreak from each actor. The screamed recriminations of all principals was a confronting display. Mark stepped up to the plate in Halloween. Although still struggling with volume (perhaps there was something wrong with his mike this performance, as the volume problem was fairly consistent), the dramatic, pained, delivery of the litany of “what if” and “why” which we all ask all our lives was exceptional. It is always particularly gut-wrenching in RENT to watch the friendship of Mark and Roger collapse. Presented as friends from before the beginning of the show, these two appear to have been there for each other through everything – the one constant in a hopelessly tenuous existence. Mark effectively poured out his fears and observations on the futility of life, only to have it all thrown up in his face by a grief-mad and insanely jealous Roger. The way these two actors tore apart the friendship was (as mentioned) unusually strong and moving. Already unsteady after the emotion of ‘I’ll Cover You’, the audience was again sent scuffling for handkerchiefs as Mimi took her turn bidding her love goodbye. The devastation in Mimi’s voice, and her frantic final attempts to communicate with Roger, before finally turning to the reality of her illness was very hard to watch: as though we were intruding on something intimate. Once Mimi has departed, the men pay for the funeral (special mention to the Pastor, who doubled with several other minor principal roles, and gave a very nice Irish lilt to his delivery in this cameo), and Collins delivers his sheepish confession on the demise of the unseen Akita (Evita). The delivery of the response of Benny to this was a light moment in a very heavy scene. Still strong from a great delivery of ‘Halloween’, Mark powered into ‘What You Own’ – commencing with a highly stylised (slightly deranged) Buzzline story introduction. Several of my neighbours winced when Mark slammed the very painful looking telephone, yet unfazed, Mark launched into his disassociated duet with Roger. Both men were, as mentioned, powerful and convincing vocally, but seemed tethered to their respective sides of the stage. Although there is the obvious need to be physically separate at the outset as the characters are in different cities, both actors tended to fall back onto repetitive movements when stuck in the spotlight. This detracted from the delivery. Once Roger is back in New York, and Collins has delivered a temporary source of income (so often you can feel the audience think “Now, if I could just do that, I’d never work again!”), it appears briefly that life if going to settle down, until the screams of Maureen and Joanne rouse the apartment dwellers for the final (near) tragedy. Perhaps finding himself in the wrong place unexpectedly, Roger practically skittered off the stage with a most unusual running style, before disappearing to deliver a devastating “Noooo!”, which set the audience off again. Roger carries in his Mimi (who should really have had a further significant costume change here), who shudders close to death in his arms after ‘Your Eyes’ – which was again a worry for the audience as the grief seemed it would be too strong to control for Roger. But, as for Collins, there should have been no worry – Roger delivered his own farewell with tightly controlled grief, rather than the fiery anger of earlier. The chemistry between this couple manifested here in acute, tangible pain. The final challenge of RENT is for Mimi to die believably, and for her to resurrect without the audience laughing. It was a challenge that this company met easily. The cough and shudder of Mimi’s demise was small and dignified, and the gradual return of her voice, and then her body to a clearly weakened state (rather than the baffling 100% recovery sometimes portrayed) was honest and touching. The audience was left with the knowledge that, although “thank God this moment’s not the last”, it would probably not be long. Yet, even this small length of time was going to be treated like a gift. The reconnection of Roger and Mimi, through the touches, and the gazes of the final sequence speaks volumes of an excellent piece of casting in this couple. The final delivery of the overall theme of the musical – “no day but today” was emphatic. You had the feeling that the cast, through their experiences of performing a show like RENT, had come to understand and believe in that catch-cry. Although there were technical difficulties (mainly sound) throughout today’s show, this did not overshadow the overall quality of the cast. There is significant talent on the stage – many of whom should seriously consider leaving whatever their day jobs are and look into theatre full time. There are still places where tightening up is needed, but in general, this production was an innovative, highly emotional and very well executed delivery of RENT. I urge everyone who can to see this show. Charitable aims notwithstanding, this is a group of people you should experience, doing a show which is a significant tome on modern life.