REVIEW
Center Stage: ‘RENT’ is phenomenal show on tiny stage
By Loyal Fairman
Published: Friday, November 27, 2009 10:40 AM CST
Council Bluffs Nonpareil
OMAHA – SNAP! Productions opened the Tony Award-winning rock musical by Jonathan Larson, “RENT,” last weekend. Director Todd Brooks and Musical Director D. Laureen Pickle have an incredibly talented cast of actors. Fifteen actors in the cast and a band featuring six musicians fit amazingly well into the SNAP! Theatre space. The music is remarkable and the audience definitely experiences this masterpiece. The theater is the perfect space for this production.
The setting is a neighborhood in New York City, early 1990s. An artists’ community full of people who have no money, no heat, no electricity and no future. The neighborhood is plagued by AIDS, drug addiction and people going nowhere fast.
There are 40 songs in the show. Some are very short and others are full production numbers. The song “Rent” is performed by the entire company, which is the third song at the opening of the first act. One of my favorites is “Light My Candle,” which is performed by Roger, a rock singer down on his luck, that is brilliantly played by Jason Carroll. He looks like a rock singer with tattoos, bald head and a guitar. He falls for Mimi, who stops into his apartment to have him light a candle with his matches. Mimi is an exotic dancer played superbly by Audrey Fisher. She is on drugs and he wants her to change her lifestyle.
The person who guides us on the journey is Mark, who is a filmmaker and is photographing the turmoil in the neighborhood. He is played with passion by Timothy J. Vallier. Allison Wissman plays Joanne, lesbian lover to Maureen played by Angie Heim. Their relationship is turbulent. Maureen is leading a rally to protest conditions in the neighborhood. They are both really good. Derrick Crawford plays Benjamin, a former neighborhood resident who now has money and owns property in the neighborhood. He is the one trying to collect the rent. He is excellent in the part. The cast is huge; the talent is fantastic.
The second act opens with a huge production number with the entire cast singing “Seasons of Love.” What an incredible way to open the second act.
Tom Collins is played by E. Dwayne Moore, who falls for Angel, played by Sean Buster. Angel is a drag queen who is dying of AIDS. Their relationship is incredible and both give stellar performances.
Others in the cast, who are all great, include: Stephen Michael Shelton, Adam Hogston, Tom Miller, Megan O’Connell, John Remington, Mallory Vallier and Rusheaa Smith.
“RENT” is a must- see event at SNAP! Productions. If you enjoy great music, great performances with a cutting-edge rock musical, this show is for you.
The set by Shane Staiger and Brooks works well for the intimate space. Katie Hogston is the choreographer for the show. Costumes by Donita Brooks and specialty costumes by Kevin Steward are good. Lighting design by Mike Runice and Todd Brooks fits the mood of the play. Props are by Connie Fowler.
The planned run for “RENT” was through Dec. 13 at 3225 California St., Omaha. Curtain times are 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 6 p.m. Sundays. It has been extended with added performances Dec. 21 and 22 and Dec. 28-30. All shows will be at 8 p.m. for the extension. There is no Thanksgiving performance tonight.
Ticket prices are $20 and can only be purchased online at www.snapproductions.com. This is an adult production that features language and sexual situations. The play runs two hours and 30 minutes and that includes a 15-minute intermission. Playwright Jonathan Larson would be proud of this production, “No Day But Today.”
Reviewer Loyal Fairman can be reached at loyal.fairman@woodbinetwiner.com.
SNAP! Productions announced the extension of the run of the musical “RENT.” Tickets sold out within 24 hours of their release, so an additional five performances have been added to the schedule. The added performances will be Dec. 21 and 22 and Dec. 28-30. All shows will be at 8 p.m. for the extension.
The theater will open about a half-hour before show time.
Tickets are on sale at www.snapproductions.com. Ticket price for all shows is $20.
PREVIEW
SNAP! takes on the iconic production in its intimate space
by Warren Francke
THE READER
Rent won Tony awards, a Pulitzer Prize for drama, ran for years on Broadway, and its touring company came twice to the Orpheum in downtown Omaha. But it has never been seen here up close and personal with local talent.
That’s why it’s a big deal when the musical opens this week as a SNAP! production. We get not only a regional premiere, but the story set in the close quarters of the SNAP!/Shelterbelt space near 32nd and California.
So director Todd Brooks has good reason to be excited.
“I’ve been trying forever to get the rights because it fits our mission statement so well,” he said.
” SNAP!, which started meaning “Support Nebraska AIDS Project,” stresses understanding and tolerance of diversity, and often offers shows such as Rent that feature gay and lesbian roles and deal with AIDS and other timely issues.
But rarely does SNAP! have a chance to offer the first community treatment for a musical as popular and well known as Rent. When the contract came in the mail, Brooks, who is heavily involved in finding SNAP! scripts, shouted, “Great.” Then he “kept it under wraps until the board approved. The vote was unanimous.”
Before its release to community companies, an abridged high school version was available, but soon ran into censorship, even with certain songs and details excised. And Brooks understands that the heavy drug use and homosexuality “would be controversial in other settings.”
In the right atmosphere, he contends, “You don’t judge it that way because of the authentic characters.” He feared the Omaha Community Playhouse might schedule it when rights to Chicago were denied, but felt relief when they substituted Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.
If that fear was unjustified, it reflects his anticipation of premiering a show “that I always conceptualized for our stage, as a performance piece where you create the atmosphere.” He’ll stage it on four levels, as fits a story set in a grungy apartment building where dwellers protest a rent increase and evictions.
A record 70 came to tryouts. Derrick Crawford plays Benny, whose family’s ownership of the building makes him seem a traitor to his young buddies. Tim Vallier is Mark, who films some of the action; and newcomer Jason Carroll plays Roger, who is involved with Mimi (Audrey Fisher) in a key romantic pairing.
The other principals are Sean Buster as the transgendered Angel, Wayne Moore as his lover, Tom Collins; Angie Heim as Maureen, who leaves Mark, to pair with Alison Wissman’s Joanne. Six supporting players include Stephen Michael Shelton and Rusheaa Smith.
“Mark narrates and breaks the fourth wall,” Brooks notes. “And you can actually feel more for Roger and Mimi. It’s so much more intimate here than under large proscenium arches.”
It’s the custom to name AIDS victims at one point in the performance, “so my plan is to have sign up sheets for friends you want to memorialize,” the director said. “The first night we’ll probably have people we know,” such as SNAP! contributor Bill Bohannon.
Even in a small space with some dark themes it’s a musical with big numbers, choreographed by Katie Hogston, with music directed by D. Laureen Pickle. The “La Vie Boheme” production not only reminds that the musical borrows from the opera La Boheme, but has the cast dancing on tables.
While Brooks professes to “like it all,” the reprise of “I’ll Cover You,” a love song for Angel and Tom, is a favorite. He expects more great moments as rehearsals move towards Thursday’s opening night.
“We’ve got a lot riding on it,” he admits, but early response promises a sell-out.
“We had 800-plus tickets available for the full run,” he explained, and more than a week before opening only 200 remained.
Rent runs Nov. 19-Dec. 13, by SNAP! Productions, 3225 California St., Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 6 p.m., with no performance Thanksgiving Day. Tickets are $20. Reservations only at snapproductions.com.
18 Nov 2009
Published Saturday November 21, 2009
REVIEW
Up close, this ‘Rent' is really rocking
By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
When 14 “Rent” cast members form a line across the stage to sing the show's signature ballad, “Seasons of Love,” they stand shoulder to shoulder — and wall to wall — in the tiny SNAP/Shelterbelt Theatre.
The lush, big-voice harmonies, with great solo work from Megan O'Connell and Stephen Michael Shelton, gave me goose bumps at a Thursday night preview.
I got that same jolt of electricity twice more — when a broken-hearted Tom Collins (Wayne Moore) reprises “I'll Cover You” after the death of his lover, Angel (Sean Buster), and when the company joins in a rousing finale of “No Day but Today,” led by Mimi (Audrey Fisher) and Roger (Jason Carroll).
You'll rarely see more talent squeezed into less space than at the metro area's first amateur production of “Rent.” They're tripping over one another all night long as Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer-winning rock musical about struggling young artists in Manhattan's East Village plays itself out in your lap.
The close quarters amp up the emotional impact of this melodrama based on Puccini's opera “La Boheme.” Director Todd Brooks' busy staging sometimes accentuates the show's biggest negative. Chorus members cross from one platform to another, up and down steep ladders, for no discernible reason but movement, or actors squash themselves into too-small playing areas and then struggle to move — and move again.
But there's little to fault about powerhouse work from eight leading players, surround-sound choral blends that raise the hair on the back of your neck, and incendiary ensemble work that projects energy through the roof.
“Rent” literally rocks, thanks in no small part to music director D. Laureen Pickle's careful vocal prep and a tight band that includes Pickle and Brooks on keyboards, plus two guitars, bass and drums.
The list of standout solos and duets is too long to recite in full but must include Fisher's howling “Out Tonight,” Tim Vallier and Allison Wissman's silky blend on “The Tango Maureen,” Wissman and Angie Heim's crackling “Take Me or Leave Me,” and Carroll and Fisher singing just about anything.
The show also overflows with comedic character bits like the deadpan “Christmas Bells Are Ringing,” voice mails from parents (Rusheaa Smith) and agents (Mallory Vallier), vagrant rants (O'Connell) and waiter protests (Tom Miller). Shelton scores as a sardonic drug dealer, while Fisher and Buster deliver powerful dramatic punches.
Lights didn't quite keep up with the fast-moving players at the preview. Set designer Shane Staiger splashes the black walls with inspired graffiti and accommodates quick scene changes, and costumer Donita Brooks makes streetwise choices that capture a hint of the Broadway design. Katie Hogston's choreography adds much despite severe space limitations.
It's probably not fair to call this can't-miss theater, since more than 70 percent of the tickets were sold before opening night. Performances have already been added Dec. 17 through 19, but those seats will go fast as well.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
PREVIEW
RENT good fit for SNAP
By Bob Fischbach
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Todd Brooks had been watching online for months, waiting for the release of amateur rights to the musical “Rent.”
He surprised even himself when he snagged them in February, making tiny SNAP Productions the metro area’s first theater to stage Jonathan Larson’s rock musical.
The show, which closely echoes the plot of Puccini’s opera “La Bohème,” follows starving young artists struggling with love, homelessness, drug addiction and AIDS in Lower Manhattan. The musical became a sensation not only because it won the Pulitzer Prize and the best-musical Tony in 1996 but also because its creator, Larson, died of an aneurysm just after its final dress rehearsal.
Larson’s death added emotional resonance to the poignant life-and-death story lines of “Rent” and its overarching message: No day but today. Younger people, in particular, became avid fans.
“The popularity of the piece alone made me want to do it,” said Brooks, the show’s director, who saw it twice on Broadway and in two touring productions at Omaha’s Orpheum Theater. “But it also hit the theater’s mission statement so right on, with its themes of tolerance and acceptance and AIDS, and its sense of community.”
SNAP, which stands for Support Nebraska AIDS Project, began as a fundraising theater. Though it no longer sends revenue to the Nebraska AIDS Project, it continues to present gay-themed shows. Several characters in “Rent” are gay.
Having gotten the rights, Brooks faced the daunting task of finding 14 performers with great voices who could also convincingly act the show’s gritty plotlines, drenched in high drama. The tiny 55-seat theater puts actors almost in the laps of audience members, adding to the challenge of creating believable characters.
Brooks admits he was “kind of scared” that the needed talent wouldn’t turn out for auditions in late July.
“Auditions were surprising,” said D. Laureen Pickle, the show’s music director. Not only did 70 people show up (more than double the usual for a SNAP musical), but there were two men for every woman auditioning, the opposite of a typical turnout but the exact ratio of men to women needed in the cast.
Brooks credits the show’s popularity among 20- and 30-somethings, who relate to the characters and the strong rock score. Many auditioners knew the show’s hit songs by heart: “Seasons of Love,” “Light My Candle,” “Santa Fe,” “Goodbye Love,” “La Vie Bohème.” Pickle said that made her job much easier, concentrating on polishing what was already there.
“We could have cast the show three times over,” Pickle said. “We had some hard choices to make. And the overwhelming majority were people we had never seen before, so that was kind of cool, too.”
For the Broadway show, the director cast Adam Pascal as rock guitarist Roger, though Pascal had no background in theater and came from a rock band.
For SNAP’s show, Brooks cast Jason Carroll, 32, who has almost no theater background but has played in a series of rock bands since high school.
“I got the ‘Rent’ CD my freshman year in college,” Carroll said. “It just really spoke to me, someone who had no interest in musical theater. It’s straight-up rock ’n’ roll, not like other theater people sing. I found that quite inspired.”
Carroll said he also related to his character’s story line of wasted opportunity.
“It’s such a real thing, to think I wish I could have done this, to not follow what you love,” Carroll said.
Tim Vallier, who plays filmmaker Mark, first heard tunes from “Rent” when he sang in show choir at Burke High School. Two things gripped him.
“They were singing about suicide and AIDS,” he said. “It was the most mature story line I’d been introduced to.”
Then he learned that Marfan syndrome, the same thing that had killed his cousin, caused Larson’s aneurysm.
“I suddenly felt like I could relate to the show in a very personal way,” he said. “It’s the realism behind the emotions. All the characters are very stripped and exposed as far as their emotions.”
In that way, he said, the show is well-suited to an intimate performance space, since what the characters go through is so intimate.
“In a big theater, the audience is watching, rather than being invited in,” Brooks said. For some scenes, he’ll have actors go into the audience or surround the seating area as they sing.
“I hope the audience feels they’ve participated in the production, become a part of that group,” he said.
Contact the writer:
444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com |
