Daily Texan Staff
Bohemia is not dead. The culture that values art over money, risk over security and eccentricity over normality is very much alive and kicking, immune to the greedy philosophy of today's society.
Or so Rent argues, a play that attacked the notion of consumer culture long before Fight Club hit movie theaters. Rent captivated audiences at Bass Performance Hall last week, as part of the Austin Broadway series.
The plot, for those not familiar with Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, is inspired by Puccini's La Boheme. Rent tells that story of roommates Mark and Roger, whose former roommate Benny after marrying the wealthy Alison Grey of Westport (who is never seen) buys their old building and threatens to throw the two out. Benny wants to construct a high-tech cyber-arts studio on the property, and plans to evict all the homeless tenants in both the building and the lot next door.
Mark's ex-girlfriend Maureen stages a protest on Christmas Eve, leading Benny to pad-lock the building, and the tenants to attempt to break back in. The rest of the play follows the events of the next year.
The plot of Rent is really secondary to the music and blocking it inspires. Complete with 32 musical numbers, all free of Andrew Lloyd Webber-ish schmaltz, the play comes alive through the dynamic voices of its characters. Two of the best numbers "I'll Cover You" and "La Vie Boheme" capture the tone of the play: optimism and selflessness in the face of adversity.
Rent was expertly staged, from start to finish, thanks to director Michael Greif and choreographer Marlies Yearby. The blocking of the play was skillful the actors' movements made us believe they were really dancing on balconies in a New York apartment building, or breaking into that very same building. Both the music and the choreography were made even more effective, because of Bass Concert Hall, which was a terrific venue for Rent. Small enough to capture the more intimate moments of the play, and large enough to contain the sometimes booming music and incredible dance sequences.
Overall, Rent was a fantastic play, full of great music, acting and choreography that indeed proved Bohemia lives on.
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