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13,872,960 minutes. That’s how long it’s been since “Rent” debuted on Broadway, ultimately winning both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Musical. And yet, Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking musical is still teaching us lessons today. “Rent” is about Love. Life. And Death. But, more importantly, it teaches us how to live, how to love, and how to leave a legacy. Mimi utters, “Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other path, no other way, no day but today.” Roger is desperate to write a song that will bring him glory before death finds him. Angel believes in karma: if you help those around you (today for you), then good things will find their way back (tomorrow for me). Mark and Maureen believe there’s power in numbers - it’s better to be an “us” than a “them,” and if you don’t like something? Moooooooo. What I love so much about this story is that it’s a love letter to bohemia: this mecca where artists can live, breathe, and create, regardless of whatever barriers society may have. They’ve created a true community - one that lives together, and at times, dies together. This intimate production peels back the curtains (no, really, there aren’t any curtains!) and invites the audience to share in the energy, sorrow, angst, and joy of the story alongside the actors. That’s because the small company of 14 actors will be both participants and viewers of the story, just like you - creating a communal experience for all. There is no fourth wall here. I would be remiss not to mention that the brilliant Mr. Larson passed away 10 days before his 36th birthday - and only a few months before “Rent” debuted on Broadway. A visionary gone way too soon and with so many more works of art yet to create. I would like to dedicate this production to a few other artists and visionaries in my life who left this world far too soon, including Helen Holliday, Greg Shaw, Allan Kollar, Sam Mossler, and my mentor, Thomas J. Kidd. I hope you will leave having felt something transformative - and be able to take the life lessons of “Rent” with you: live as if today might be your last, stand up for what you believe in, create community, create art, and do it unapologetically. —Danae DeShazer
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This article was originally published by Sarasota Herald-Tribune: www.heraldtribune.com/story/entertainment/theater/2022/09/09/jonathan-larsons-rent-makes-belated-debut-manatee-players/7962083001/  Like “Oklahoma!” “West Side Story,” “A Chorus Line” and “Hamilton,” Jonathan Larson’s “Rent” revolutionized by changing the subject and sound of musical theater.
Even though it has been 26 years since “Rent” first became a sensation at the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop and become a flashpoint for young audience members at the time, it still has a lot to say even if times have shifted our focus to different social issues, said Danae DeShazer, who is directing and choreographing a new production for the Manatee Players. “Just like any good piece of theater, it should still speak to today, even if some things seem dated,” she said. “It was revolutionary and it still is with all the things we love about theater. It’s about how to live life, how to live a good life, about death and loss and society and creating community.” The musical, loosely based on the Puccini opera “La boheme,” is about a group of artists, struggling to create and support themselves, pay for housing, maneuver through relationships and deal with the AIDS crisis. It became a legendary show when its creator died unexpectedly on the night before the first off-Broadway preview. Larson’s death brought extra attention to the musical, which earned enthusiastic reviews and a transfer to Broadway, where it ran for 12 years. DeShazer, perhaps best known as a performer in area theaters, is staging the production in the intimacy of the Manatee Performing Arts Center’s Bradenton Kiwanis Studio Theatre, which suits her concept. “I think what’s unique about ‘Rent’ is that it can be done in a big space and have a lot more of a theatrical feel, but it also works in a small space like the studio theater,” she said. Her cast will feature 14 performers – eight principals and six ensemble members. Keeping it simple She describes it as a “pretty bare bones” production with scaffolding and some folding chairs and the cast members visible at all times. (Ralph Nurmela is designing the set, Patrick Bedell is the lighting designer and Caren Brady is creating the costumes.) “We’re breaking the fourth wall between the audience and the actors and providing that energy to the story the entire time,” she said. DeSshazer is going for an intimate communal feeling. “I want the audience to feel they really are experiencing something unique to the night that they joined us. That’s what’s wonderful about live theater.” Her cast is led by Jason Ellis as the filmmaker Mark, Derek Luna as his musician roommate, Roger, and Ariella Pizarro Johnston as the exotic dancer Mimi. Eldred Brown plays the professor Collins, with Brian Craft as Angel, a drag queen and drummer. Vera Samuels plays the performance artist Maureen opposite Madison Bradley as her attorney girlfriend, Joanne. The ensemble includes Caitlin Ellis, Karli Gunderson, Kathleen Kay, Ashley Figlow, Jason Moore and Michael DeMocko. Katie Priest is the musical director, who has been working with the cast on such songs as “Seasons of Love,” “La Vie Boheme,” “Take Me or Leave Me,” “Light My Candle” and “One Song Glory.” The cast members will be singing to prerecorded tracks. DeShazer said with the size of the theater, it “wasn’t feasible to have a live band in the space.” Like most productions in the Kiwanis Studio Theatre, “Rent” is part of the theater company’s Action through Acting program, which allows it to partner with community organizations that work on issues raised by the shows on stage. For “Rent,” information about CAN Community Health, will be available for audience members. Even though it is based on an opera, it is not necessary to have heard or seen “La boheme” to appreciate “Rent,” though fans of the Puccini work will recognize characters and situations that parallel the opera, DeShazer said. “What may be unique for the Bradenton-Sarasota area is that we have a world class opera company here so more people may be familiar with the opera than in other places where ‘Rent’ is performed,” she said. ‘Rent’ By Jonathan Larson. Directed and choreographed by Danae DeShazer. Runs Sept. 14-Oct. 2 in the Manatee Performing Arts Center’s Kiwanis Studio Theatre, 502 Third Ave., West, Bradenton. 941-748-5875; manateeperformingartscenter.com Follow Jay Handelman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact him at [email protected]. And please support local journalism by subscribing to the Herald-Tribune. |
