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RENT
Presented by:
Fab Nobs
Theatre
Venue:
Fab Factory
Reviewer:
Leah Anderson
‘Having received accolades such as the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for Best Musical, and
after surviving on Broadway for twelve years, Rent is a show which,
upon making its amateur theatre debut, was met with massive
expectations from theatergoers and each company that has attempted
it, in my opinion, has not moved very far away from the original,
successful Broadway ‘Rent’ conventions.
There have been some risks taken in
this interpretation of Rent but, For the most part, Fab Nob’s have
created an energetic and entertaining, but largely conventional
interpretation of this modern classic.
I was initially skeptical about the
casting of this show but I’m pleased to say that for the most part,
I was pleasantly surprised at the transformations some of these
actors have made to create the characters we saw on stage. Karl
McNamara created a darker, more brooding ‘Roger’ than I have seen
before and despite some obvious vocal problems, persevered to create
an angst-filled character which worked beautifully against the more
up-beat and satisfyingly geeky Dale Mastin as ‘Mark’. Karl created a
Roger who had emotional baggage, a lifetime of scars and a
justifiably depressed outlook for someone who has lost a girlfriend
to suicide and is facing a battle with AIDS.
Two other stand-outs in this cast
were, without a doubt, Mel Ott as Mimi and Sam Kitchen as Tom
Collins. Mel demonstrated performance maturity and focus well beyond
her 21 years as she created a character that was grungy,
drug-affected, bratty and struggling with life while still having a
sense of humor. Her comic timing was impeccable. Sam Kitchens as
Collins was subtle, heart wrenching, realistic and simply beautiful
to watch. I found that when Sam was on stage, it was difficult to
look anywhere else and his stage presence was only matched by a
smooth-as-silk voice which drew the audience right into his
emotional journey. Big congratulations to Karl, Mel, Dale and Sam on
an authentic and believable embodiment of their characters.
Things to think about when staging a
production like this. In my opinion the character of Maureen needs
to be feisty, sex-charged and full of energy, In this case, I think
Jessica Nichols missed the mark. There were times when I simply
could not believe that she and Joanne had chemistry or that she was
the attention grabbing siren described in ‘Tango Maureen’ and ‘Take
me or leave me’. Jessica’s voice was faultless and her delivery was
strong, but her affection towards Katie Cullinan’s Pragmatic, calm
and sophisticated ‘Joanne’ seemed contrived and in a side note, it
was unfortunate that sound/microphone issues prevented much of
Katie’s beautiful performance to go unheard.
Finally, Danny Medica’s ‘Angel’ was
sweet and entertaining but I believe his stature made the delicate
feminine aspects of his character unattainable for Danny. His makeup
was a bit too ruddy for my liking and although his character got
giggles from the audience it may have been due to the novelty of
seeing Danny in drag. I also found it difficult to believe that
Angel held any real feelings for Collins – Despite singing every
note perfectly and with the right intonation, Danny seemed a bit
uncomfortable on stage.
Lighting by Jason Bovaird was, as
usual, elaborate but still tasteful and the set was thoughtfully
constructed and became, an important part of this hugely
ensemble-driven show. And speaking of the ensemble, they made this
show what it was – they never pulled focus, and enhanced every scene
beautifully.
As always, it is difficult to know
which decisions were those of the director and which ones came from
the development of the cast, but either way, Robbie Carmellotti has
shaped this cast into a believable group through tasteful
choreography and stage directions. My only criticisms in this area
centered on the songs ‘light my candle’ and ‘La Vie Boehme’.
In ‘Light my candle’ Mimi’s attempts
to touch Roger became repetitive as each one was met with the same
‘snap at her, then pull away in shocked withdrawal’. I would have
liked to see some more development here. Finally In my humble
opinion, we have seen the ‘choreographed hand and shoulder movements
while sitting at a long table’ in ‘La Vie Boehme’ a million times.
Yes it works, but I think its time someone tried something new.
Drew Downing as Musical Director, One
word ‘Flawless’. Tight cut-offs, strong blended harmonies, good
levels and a great band. Drew has done a magnificent job with this
show and there was simply no way of telling that had not been the
musical director all along! Congratulations.
All up, a solid show with some
standouts, some room for improvement and a lot of happy audiences,
so well done FabNobs!
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