Street-smart ‘Rent’ rages again

Tom Titus

For the third time in six years, the grim and grimy underbelly of

America’s largest city is pouring over the stage of the Orange County

Performing Arts Center. Yes, “Rent” is due again.

Actually it’s nearly overdue. Jonathan Larson’s gritty,

in-your-face musical drama checked in Tuesday and will be gone after

Sunday, offering its passionate followers a limited opportunity to

get their periodic “Rent” fix.

This time around, under the direction of Michael Greif, who staged

the original 1996 New York production, “Rent” seems even more

strident, if possible. The three love stories (only one of them

heterosexual), two of which are played out in the shadow of the

specter of AIDS, run their conflicted course against the backdrop of

a coterie of street people mad as heck and not about to take it

anymore.

The unifying force is a concert aimed at saving these “squatters”

from eviction, headlined by the former girlfriend of Mark (Andy

Meeks, the show’s narrator and leading character), who now has a

girlfriend of her own. Even the nominal “bad guy” joins in, trading

on his former amicable history with the potential evictees.

At the core of “Rent” is its passionate, almost desperate need for

connection. Musician Roger (Dan Rosenbaum) and dancer Mimi (Tallia

Brinson) -- both HIV positive -- attract and repel each other like

magnets. But strong as their performances are, their self-destructive

character motivations remain somewhat cloudy.

Equally afflicted are Tom Collins (Marcus Paul James) and the

street denizen Angel (Damien DeShaun Smith), whose ill-fated romance

proves the strongest of the three. More volatile is the relationship

between Mark’s ex, Maureen (a performer billed only as Ava) and her

lesbian lover Joanne (Adrienne Fishe), who seem to delight in catlike

conflict.

Brinson, seductively poured into a pair of glistening blue pants,

is a certified show stopper, a mega-talented dancer with a tough

attitude that belies her more fragile nature. Rosenbaum excels at

resisting commitment, then rages over the top when his character

loses it.

James and Smith conduct a looser, more laid back union, which

makes the bitter end for one of them even more bitter when it

transpires. Smith makes a splendid drag queen, prancing around in

pants as tight as Brinson’s, while James functions splendidly as a

staunch survivor.

Ava’s flashy arrival, on an imaginary motorcycle, and her goofy

performance piece, takes a good deal of the spotlight, along with the

fact that she’s quite physically appealing. Fishe raises jealousy to

an art form in a visceral performance lightened by her dance with

erstwhile rival Meeks, the rib-tickling “Tango Maureen.”

Meeks, video camera in hand, dutifully records the unfolding

dramas, keeping his own emotions in check until he’s drawn into a

musical faceoff with Rosenbaum in one of the evening’s strongest

moments. Mario Ferrell as Benny, the former street comrade who’s

married well and now owns the squatters’ building, brings a steely,

if ultimately agreeable, presence to the conflagration.

There is so much coming at the audience from all sides in “Rent”

that first-time viewers may be momentarily confused -- and the

stridency of the vocalizing often comes at the expense of clarity.

Even on the third viewing, there are some moments that don’t

completely register, although the tenor of the performances leaves

little room for ambiguity.

“Rent” is a raw, robust musical that retains its uncompromising

gravitas, and certainly has exhibited its staying power -- a

circumstance its creator, Jonathan Larson, never lived to appreciate

as he died suddenly just as the show was materializing. His legacy

lives on in this dynamic touring production.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot.