"Rent," show #922

Selma Arts Center has launched into its final weekend of Jonathan Larson’s opus, Rent. The unfinished reality of the show–Larson passed the evening before the first Off-Broadway preview performance of Rent–requires a successful production to have a strong director at its helm; a committed, unified cast; and dynamite vocalists who can clear up some of the unedited muddyness Rent leaves in its wake (all things I’m convinced Larson would have continued finessing had he been alive to finish his work). Michael C. Flores has directed and choreographed a uniformly affecting production that, for the first time I’ve felt when seeing Rent (this is my 8th unique production of Rent I’ve seen) is that it enjoys being a musical. I’ve seen past Rents where the emotion, grunge, and rock-opera aspect of it all takes so much focus and asks for so much attention that the fun of it being a musical gets lost; such is not the case in Flores’s helming, and the cast and team support this in their talent and commitment to the story.

(Center-Gavin Flores (Mark) and cast members of Rent; Photo source: Selma Arts Center)

Gavin Flores is a charismatic Mark, serving as de facto protagonist and narrator to the year measured in love that this musical takes place in. Flores has a knack for impassioned deliveries of both song and brief scene, while finding every ounce of funny he can squeeze out of the lonely filmer-of-the-moments. It’s not often an actor can truly land their Mark as a character worth feeling for, but in Flores’s solo leading into act two’s “Halloween,” the haunting reality of him possibly ending up alone hits in a gentle-yet-impactful way. His leading of the opening title song and the famous “La Vie Boheme” are superb, marking his Mark as a Mark worth rooting for. Playing foil to Flores is Jack Hammerstrom as an angsty Roger, the tortured rock musician with the most baggage coming into the start of the show. Hammerstrom gives some stellar vocal runs in his opening solo, “One Song Glory,” and relies heavily on delivering the emotions of his many vocal turns rather than giving the lyrics their due. With such a layered role in Roger’s journey, Hammerstrom succeeds in ensuring Roger’s emotional turns and arc is given true voice. 

(Down Center-Gavin Flores (Mark) facing Jack Hammerstrom (Roger), surrounded by cast members of Rent; Photo source: Selma Arts Center)

Annelise Escobedo is a dynamite Mimi, giving a fully-realized performance as the dancer who’s trying to do better by surrounding herself with love and support. From an alluring duet opposite Hammerstrom in “Light My Candle” to a fantastically delivered “Out Tonight,” Escobedo gives her Mimi a whimsical, dreamy, but rooted-in-reality woman  who had to grow up too fast and not by choice. As the turmoil of Mimi’s second act unfolds, Escobedo’s physicality, facial expressions, and overall demeanor shifts appropriately and sets up a stunningly delivered “Without You.” However, it’s the anger in her delivery of her eulogy portion leading to “I’ll Cover You (reprise)” that makes a stamp on the show; anger is very much part of grief, and Escobedo’s raw delivery of a bit that is usually done in the deceased’s usual sassyness (assumedly for a release through laughter) is a choice that is daringly vulnerable. Soular Miguel does well as Angel, the emotional heart and pull of the show. Miguel’s performance of “Today For You” is a fun upbeat, staged well by Michael C. Flores, and “Contact” beautifully showcases Miguel’s vocals and natural fit for the role. Jessica Ellesse Meredith’s Joanne is excellent, bringing a belt that suits the role’s vocal runs perfectly, and Meredith’s balance of uptight Harvard grad and hopeless romantic for the eccentric Maureen is delivered with aplomb. Meredith teams up with Flores in a tension-filled “Tango Maureen,” where the paranoia of infidelity and the camaraderie of similar company is expertly flaunted. 

(Willow Rogers (Maureen) and cast members of Rent; Photo source: Selma Arts Center)

Ke’Lea Flowers delivers a calm, cool, and emotionally devastating Collins. From the moment Miguel and Flowers meet as Angel and Collins, the chemistry is effortless and is sustained through Flowers’s outstanding leading of “I’ll Cover You (reprise).” Adam Chavez as the corporate voice-of-reason, Benny, a role made to be hated and needing a lot of hateable likeability to truly land. Chavez finds the honesty in Benny and leads a solid “You’ll See” to establish who he is and what his actual motivations are. Cleaning house in rounding out the principal cast is Willow Rogers in a scene-stealing turn as Maureen. Honestly, Rogers delivers the funniest “Over the Moon” I have ever seen (no offense, Idina, and Eden, etc.) and is supported by Michael C. Flores’s staging and use of the supporting ensemble to enhance the off-beat performance art the monologue is written to give. Rogers and Meredith are a terrific tag team in dueting “Take Me or Leave Me,” a face-off that is filled with equal parts attraction and adversarial disdain. 

(Soular Miguel (Angel) and Ke'Lea Flowers (Collins); Photo source: Selma Arts Center)

The ensemble is a solid group of vocalists (kudos to Mindy Ramos’s great vocal direction) and in their featured bits as parents, street urchins, drug dealers, and all sorts of other lively characters which fill out the streets and hubs of New York. Michael C. Flores has a knack for adding choreography and staging where numbers aren’t required of it, but always in service of the script and score, and in support of giving visual enhancement to propelling the story. Giving the stage a stellar look is Nicolette Andersen’s scenic design, Vinny Galindo’s energy-infusing and moody lighting design, and Javier Puga Jr.’s costume design, which gives character and era-appropriate pop to the cast. Rent is a hallmark in the modern musical canon and when it’s given the treatment Michael C. Flores and company have given it, it’s a Rent worth seeing. Go see this show!