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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Giving a
lease of life
Rent
The Arcadians
The Crescent Theatre
****
IT’S something of an irony that in this age of legal same sex marriage
and even a cross-dressing bearded lady winning Eurovision 2014, that the
term Bohemian, used once to once represent "a socialy
unconventional person or artist’’, has now been rendered to the
conventional under the hammer of social acceptance and political
correctness.
Rent, the musical is therefore almost historical, looking back now
to the late 90s in New York City where a group of artistic squatters
scratch out their existence in a The musical by Jonathan Larson
began its life as a small off-Broadway workshop. Based on
Puccini's opera La bohème, this tale of poverty and artistic struggle
encountered further irony as its eventual Broadway run went on to become
one of the longest running and most successful, grossing 280 million
dollars during its 12 year run, closing in 2008. Since then it has enjoyed a
popular revival and the diverse range of characters makes it ideal for a
good many amateur companies to have taken on.
The Arcadians is one of them
and they have embraced the controversy and dark overtones of the musical
with a great energy and passion. Although it is billed as a
rock musical it is not without its complexities and under the musical
direction of Lauren Coles the company delivered a very credible
performance with some outstanding solo parts and performers. Strongest of these was Simon
Burgess as Roger the struggling songwriter, who clearly has a great
understanding of the piece, claiming Rent to be his favourite musical
and having tackled the role previously on stage. Mark was played by
Chris Cahill and again delivered a king pin performance as the filmmaker
and story narrator. A force of alliteration alone
was Mairead Mallon as Mimi Marquez who like a few others struggled at
times in some of the more powerful songs but proved she has a sweet
singing voice in the gentler ballads. Amy Willis was Maureen and
took on the rousing individual song Over the Moon with flair and
energy .IT tech Tom Collins was played by Luke Hopson with his
Transvestite counterpart Angel played by Jonathan Blake. Both did a
great job and never shirked from the intimacy this relationship requires
on stage. Last of the lead parts were
Gabby Thompson as Joanne and Josef Fleming as Benjamin and again showed
they were capable of handling some very difficult musical sections. What
was impressive by the whole company was the acting and the clarity of
the dialogue was never lost during the performance. One improvement that could
have been made was the sound of the live band who performed very well
but were lost at times against the microphoned vocals This production pretty much
follows those that have gone before but overall though, under the good
direction of James Baldwin, the company produced a fully
paid up performance with no
arrears and with a favourable Rent review it’s well worth a short term
let on a seat. To 17-05-14 Jeff Grant
13-05-14 |
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