Rent is the first musical back at PaliHi after the Palisades Fire.
Many Pacific Palisades residents may have seen Rent on Broadway, where it was a smash hit from April 1996 to September 2009. The rock musical, which is loosely based on the 1896 opera La Boheme, chronicled the lives of a group of impoverished artists in Lower Manhattan’s East Village, who were living under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
This production is terrific and it is largely because of the unbelievable talent that directors Cheri and Monique Smith had to select from. . . .it’s hard to realize this is a high school theater.
As Mimi Marquez, Avery Smith Anderson has a voice that fills the stage with nuance and her dance number (she is an exotic dancer) is simply “wow.” She is well-matched by her love interest Roger Davis (Madenn Garcia) and their duet during Light My Candle was haunting and poignant.
Mark Cohen (Sebastian Florido), a filmmaker who shares the loft with Roger, has a great voice. He can also Tango, and in an interesting scene demonstrates the Tango: Maureen with his ex-girlfriend’s new lover JoAnne Jefferson (Lily Moss).
There are so many exceptional performances, that it becomes difficult to signal everyone out, but go decide for yourself – even those actors playing the mom’s in cameo roles are great.
The musical is loosely based on creator Jonathan Larson’s life and won Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Book, Musical and Lyrics.
A quick refresher, the show opens on Christmas Eve, circa 1996. Mark and Roger are living in an apartment owned by a former friend, Benny. He shows to tell them they owe rent for last year (and he’s turned off the heat in the apartment) to force a move.
Mark’s ex-girlfriend, Maureen, has planned a protest performance with her girlfriend Joanne, to block Benny from evicting the houseless encampment. Benny says if they can convince Maureen to cancel the protest, he will erase their debts and allow them to live there for free.
Mimi, also lives in the building and begins to flirt with Roger. He lost his girlfriend to HIV and is also HIV positive.
Tom Collins, a friend of Mark and Roger, comes to visit after being expelled from M.I.T., but before he can reach the apartment, he is robbed and found by a street musician named Angel, who is HIV positive. Four of the lead characters in Rent either have HIV or AIDS. By 1990, it was the leading cause of death among people aged 25-44 in New York City.
The second act opens with Seasons of Love, or also known as 525,600 Minutes (the number of minutes in a year). The lyrics ask what the proper way is to quantify the value of a year in human life . . .and concludes to “measure in love.”
This is the final week for the musical: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March on 19, 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. There will be a matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturday, 21. General admission is $18 and VIP seating is $25 and tickets are available click here.