RENT (Hope Mill Theatre/Umbrella Rooms)****

By Cal

Link: https://hopemilltheatre.co.uk/events/rent-online £20

Available until: Shows Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm and Sundays at 7pm. The final performance is Sunday 20^th December. The video is available from 7.15-11pm so you don’t need to watch it live, but you do need to watch it on the same night.

Content warning: Drug-use, strong language & themes of adult content. Parental guidance required for children under 15.

169 years ago, a man called Henri Murger wrote a series of stories called Scènes de la vie de bohème. This inspired not one but two composers to write an opera called La bohème. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1897 opera is actually really good, but it is Puccini’s 1896 opera that was embraced by the public – and which inspired composer, lyricist and writer Jonathan Morgan to create a musical based on La bohème but set in Lower Manhattan in New York. Sadly he did not live to enjoy the success of the musical, he died the night before the Off-Broadway premiere in 1996. But the show has proved popular. There have been a number of UK productions including three in the West End and one in a paper mill, as well as an eight-year run on Broadway.

The story is based around the AIDS pandemic. I don’t have AIDS, but as a gay man, it’s something I’m very aware of. It’s a horrible, devastating disease which a lot of people associate with male homosexuality, but Rent acknowledges that it can also affect straight people.

Despite that, there is a lot of hope in Rent. Luke Sheppard directs a moving production which brings out the sad and beautiful moments but doesn’t forget the humour. This approach works really well and also reminds us that even when terrible things are happening, it is not only possible but all right to have fun. We can’t have fun by getting close to our friends, but we can certainly have fun watching this group.

Rent is very varied musically, drawing on styles including ballroom and even opera. Roger and Joanne’s enjoyable tango as they discuss the failings of Maureen (Roger’s ex and Joanne’s current girlfriend), anything sung by the delightful Angel, and the duet where Roger and Mimi meet (very like the one where Rodolfo and Mimi meet in La bohème) are just some of the highlights.

The only disappointment musically is when part of one of Puccini’s arias is performed by the orchestra as Roger begs Mimi not to die. It is a great aria and I’m certainly not objecting to the more relaxed arrangement of it, but the aria is sung by Musetta (known as Maureen in Rent) when she talks about how everyone stares at her. The aria is about a different character, a different point in the story and a completely different context. I’d have loved to hear the arrangement of the aria elsewhere, but it seems literally out of place.

Tom Jackson Greaves’ choreography is inspired. It’s not all very flashy (though there are notable exceptions), but the actors dance like the characters would dance. I think it’s very important in this musical to ‘feel’ the story and be invested in the characters and seeing a whole group of impoverished young Americans transforming themselves into Fred Astaires every time there was a dance number would take you out of the story for a minute. These characters remain themselves when they dance and this gives the choreography an extra beauty.

The characters are different from the La bohème originals in lots of ways, but it was fun spotting the similarities as well as the differences. Modern adaptions of La bohème usually annoy me, but Rent is the perfect way to tell this story in a modern context. The biggest change is to Musetta’s Government official sugar daddy, Alcindoro, who is here reincarnated as a young hotshot lawyer named Joanne (I guess Government officials just aren’t cool!) and is given a much bigger role.

The poet Rodolfo becomes a songwriter-musician called Roger; the painter Marcello becomes film maker Mark; seamstress Mimi becomes an erotic dancer (much more interesting) of the same name; singer Musetta becomes a performance artist called Maureen (an odd choice: Melissa sounds more like Musetta, or Tango Michelle would have the same rhythm as Tango Maureen); musician Schaunard becomes drag queen percussionist Angel Schunard (was the extra A just too masculine? I’m not just making fun: I am actually curious); philosopher Colline becomes anarchic philosophy professor Tom Collins; landlord Benoît becomes landlord Benny.

Knowing the opera it was based on gives me even more of an appreciation of how well it works and how timeless the story is. The world is still full of creatives (particularly now) who are struggling to earn enough to eat. The world is certainly ravaged by disease. And the people of the world still fall in love.

Tom Francis’ acting as Roger is often subtle, but that makes it all the more effective and he has a great rock voice. Maiya Quansah-Breed is excellent as Mimi – plenty of sass, but with at least a hint of fragility. Another former Six queen, Millie O’Connell, is a crazy (probably just in the figurative sense) but irresistible Maureen. Her two love interests are the gorgeously geeky Blake Patrick Anderson as Mark and Jocasta Almgill’s fun but just slightly intimidating Joanne. You wouldn’t want to be on the opposite side in her courtroom. Ahmed Hamad’s Benoit is so much more than the pantomime bad guy I was expecting.

The male couple are Dom Hartley-Harris as a loyal and loving Collins (his voice is absolutely beautiful) and Alex Thomas-Smith as the fabulous Angel. Angel is a wonderful addition to the story and if I were Puccini or Leoncavallo, I’d be wishing I’d thought of it. Schaunard doesn’t usually come over that strongly, but you can’t miss Angel and you really wouldn’t want to. He is a genuinely lovely and fun character who wants everyone to be happy. He and Collins have a sweet and touching relationship too.

It isn’t cheap, but it’s a great opportunity to enjoy a musical with some of the most popular and talented West End stars. Definitely one I’d consider watching twice.