Rent

“Rent” tells the story of a year in the life of an eclectic mix of New York characters struggling with uncertainty, jealousy, hopelessness, losing love and losing life. Scott Nell directs the Adelaide premiere of this rock opera with conviction, making good use of the width and depth of the Star Theatre stage. The ensemble pieces are this show’s strength, though there are individual standouts too: Rod Schultz’s “Collins” is a rock for the show, his jazz smooth but city-grime voice soaring where others missed their notes and he is utterly convincing when he takes us on his emotional ride with “Angel”, played with so much fun, life and complete credibility by James Christopher Reed, who relishes the best costumes of the show. Whitney Boyd gives us immense presence and power as “Maureen” and delivers a stunning duet with Deanna Farnell’s uptight “Joanne” – but there’s strength further down the cast list too: James Clark gets to enjoy playing dark and nasty and a snarly Petra Taylor nearly steals scenes with her ever mumbling homeless woman – and what a great shocking first line in “On The Street”! Chemistry between the various couples is not always in abundance, but you truly believe the grief late in the second act. Matthew Carey’s band performs terrifically, high above the back of the stage and the well-executed stage design puts up with occasional strange positioning and movement of actors, but it doesn’t jar too much and is more than compensated for by the excellent choreography in “Tango: Maureen” and the superbly steamy “Contact”. “Rent” is a story of tolerance and friendship despite the worst that life can throw at you – and the opening night certainly had its moments of trying to trip up the cast and crew with technical challenges, but these did not dampen the passion of the company and delivered us a show worthy of its last line “there’s no day like today”.