Rent

‘Rent’ is a Rock Musical, with music and lyrics by 29-years-old Jonathan Larson, from the original idea of playwright Billy Aronson. Larson, a Marfan syndrome sufferer (very lanky c.f. Abraham Lincoln), died suddenly of an aortic aneurysm the night before the 1996 off-Broadway premiere.
Loosely based on Puccini's La Bohème, which was about the lives of poor young artists with Tuberculosis, ‘Rent’ has replaced TB with AIDS. ‘Rent’ closed on Broadway in 2008, after a 12-year run; however, during this time it won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Musical.
This Koorliny Arts Centre and London Street Theatre Group production is now showing at the Koorliny Arts Centre, Sulphur Road, Kwinana Town Centre with the three-hour evening performances starting at 8.00 pm, shows until 26^th March. There is a matinee on the 26^th at 2.00 pm.
 
 
       It is December 1999; an impecunious group of adolescent artists and musicians have been living in a dilapidated flat in New York's Lower East Side. One of the group, Benny (Brad Tudor), decides to buy the building, thus giving security to his flat mates. However, when his red-hot girlfriend, Mimi (Melissa Gall) leaves him for guitar playing Roger (Laurence Williams), he decides to evict the whole gang. It is Christmas week, the weather is freezing and they have nowhere else to stay. Even Bolex camera wielding Mark (Jesse Angus), who spends most of his day capturing student life on film, cannot help their plight.
 
        The other flat mates are street performer Tom (Darren Bilston) and his long-time transvestite partner, Angel (Will Groucutt) along with the insanely jealous Joanne (Jaymie Erin Boaden – alternate Shelley Whiteaker) who is anxious about her girlfriend, the abused, bisexual Maureen (Corrie Jacob) all find themselves about to join the street’s homeless community.
 
         The group gather in Life Café, along with other lost souls like Gordon (Allen Blachford) and dancer April (Zoë Jay). Their plight is totally ignored by the local clergy (Scott Sulak). Even the pathetic bag lady (Kharlee Hamel) and junkies (Kirsty Blachford, Nathan Taylor and Garry Swindell) are ignored by the authorities. As the new Millennium approaches, a seasonal call to Mark from his mother (Ellie Whiteaker) doesn’t seem to offer any consolation.
 
         With the horrors of AIDS starting to bite, what hope can there be for this sad group?
 
 
When you buy the 16-page, A4 full colour programme (Nathan Taylor), you know that an immense amount of work will probably have gone into the whole production. Young director, Brad Tudor, his assistant director Kim Angus and his dramaturg, Lynn Thomson, have produced a masterpiece. They have captured and developed all of the subtleties and hidden meanings of the script, before having this lively cast depict them with passion. There was even a brief Nativity scene and a hint at the Last Supper as the rich symbolism came to the fore.

With a young, and fairly inexperienced cast (although many are ex WAAPA) the standard of singing is amazing. The whole cast of around 15 sang perfectly in tune as they belted out the numbers. The music was catchy, the lively lyrics interesting and the whole effect just wonderful as the fast pace carries you along. The tender and tragic moments were treated sensitively.

The band (Ken Ellis, Axl Rivers, Andrew Lippiatt and Peter Lippiatt) was led by conductor Merylena Sulak. The arrangements (Steve Skinner and Tim Weil) were well balanced and not overbearing.

The thought of 43 musical numbers made me shudder, but they were brief and varied. Some had a simple melody, others complex harmonies; whatever was asked of the cast they came up with the perfect balance, whether it was the loss of a friend in song, or the zany, unaccompanied ‘Over the Moon’ - with Maureen showing us a real moon - the cast were magnificent.

The lighting was exceptionally well designed (Jon Lambert) with brief and effective use of UV. Three hours of various moods, numerous complex changes all handled most professionally. The sound was crisp, and with the whole cast having been fitted with headset microphones (Alex Coutts-Smith), the lyrics came through clearly. The set was mainly scaffolding poles, but these were arranged imaginatively. The feeling of dirt and misery was well depicted.

The whole cast were alive and dedicated for the whole production, there was some extraordinary singing but I will not name anyone in particular as everyone put in a 100%.
The imaginative choreography (Allen Blachford) and vibrant enthusiasm of the cast made this an exceptional show, which just flew along. It is not simply for the young, but was fully appreciated by all of the age groups present. Although it had ‘adult themes’ there was nothing really offensive.

Very highly recommended.