RENT

The company of Theatre Sheridan’s RENT. Photo by John Jones.

By Victoria Bégin

Presented by Theatre Sheridan
Directed by Lezlie Wade
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
Choreographed by Marc Kimelman

In a voice laden with anxious energy, Mark (Joel Gomez), a young filmmaker, asks this question of his friends and the audience at large, as we shiver in our seats watching a group of struggling youth try to keep warm on Christmas Eve. This is the passionate opening scene of RENT, now playing at the Panasonic Theatre, starring the exceptionally talented students of Theatre Sheridan.

Winner of the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, RENT takes a group of impoverished youth living in New York's Bohemian “Alphabet City” (better known as the Lower East Side) and sets their individual stories to an energetic and at times heartbreakingly emotional soundtrack of rock music. The story centers around filmmaker Mark and his musician roommate Roger (Aaron Hastelow), who uses his guitar as a coping mechanism after the suicide of his girlfriend, who took her own life after testing HIV positive, a virus that Roger also carries.

AIDS is the theme that runs steadily through RENT, as four of the main characters are attempting to lead normal lives while living with the disease. Although the characters are dealing with intensely serious issues, they are still regular young people with parents who worry about them, as illustrated during five voicemail scenes that appear at various points in the story. Mark's anxious, heavily-accented Jewish mother leaves an especially memorable, Christmas voicemail: “We hope you liked the hot plate, just don't leave it on!”

The relationships between the characters tug on our heart strings, specifically the relationship between Roger and Mimi (Michelle Bouey), a club dancer and addict. The audience knows, early in the story, that Roger is struggling with AIDS, and we know that Mimi has a secret as well, but the two characters repeatedly dance around the subject, the lyric “I should tell you..” appearing in all of their songs to one another. Tom Collins (Jacob MacInnis) and drag queen Angel (Andres Sierra) share a very intense and emotional connection as well, one that carries throughout the entire musical as poverty, drug use, and AIDS loom heavily over them.

Although RENT tackles weighty subject matter, one main message is taken away from the story, which is to live for today, with no regrets. After Intermission, the opening notes to the optimistic “Seasons of Love” were barely audible over the excited response of the audience.

Other outstanding numbers include: Michelle Bouey's “Out Tonight, a wild illustration of Mimi's untabable character, and the free-spirited lesbian Maureen (Julia McLellan) singing “Over the Moon," her energy and incredible voice leaving us mesmerized. At the end of the first Act, the entire cast fills the stage to unabashedly celebrate their lives, belting “La Vie Boheme” to explosive applause and cheering from the audience, a preview of the standing ovation that came at the show's end.

The young talent of Sheridan College's music theatre performance program's graduating class make up this unforgettable cast of young people trying to make their way in the world. This outstanding production is guaranteed to leave you feeling inspired by the various lives portrayed on the stage.

RENT runs until June 3 at the Panasonic Theatre. Visit mirvish.com for more information and to buy tickets.