Arts & Culture
Theatre department brings “RENT” to the stage
The Pointer
kshan945@uwsp.edu
The University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Department of Theatre and Dance is set to unveil their first musical of the season next week with their production of “RENT.” “RENT,” showcases the view of a year in the life through the countdown of 525,600 minutes in a viewpoint of starving artists in New York City. They discover the question of measuring a year through trials, sickness and ultimately - love.
“RENT” is a rock opera, based on the opera, “La Boheme” and was written by Jonathan Larson. Larson didn’t get to see the off-Broadway premiere of “RENT,” due to his sudden death in 1996. Impoverished young artists and musicians face the ongoing toil of AIDS and try to survive one more day. Larson wanted musical theatre to be brought to the “MTV generation” so that kids would be able to relate more to musical theatre in general. This dream was accomplished, though he didn’t get to see it lived out.
“RENT” moved to Broadway and won a Tony for Best Musical, and also increased the popularity of musical theatre. It was eventually made into a “movie-musical” containing many of the original cast. “RENT” closed on Sept. 7, 2008, after a 12-year run and 5,124 performances.
The characters of “RENT” are noted among many musical theatre productions as challenging, yet exciting. The in-depth struggles, and “baggage” that each has to face are very strenuous to portray on stage. The actors and actresses in the UWSP Theatre Department are struck with a great challenge in playing these roles. They are being helped along by director Tyler Marchant who spent many years in New York where the play is set, developing his theater background. Derek Prestly, a senior BFA musical theatre actor is portraying the role of Mark – the “narrator” and eyes of the production.
“‘RENT’ is not a walk in the park. Its content is so emotional and powerful, and so it has been a challenge thus far to be able to find the truth and sincerity in that emotion. Also, it is a beast of a show to sing. It’s a rock opera, so it is essentially two hours and 40 minutes of non-stop singing. So that is a definite challenge, trying to keep your voice healthy through all the singing,” says Prestly.
Elizabeth McMonagle, who plays the role of Maureen, has been impacted by both on and off stage by her involvement in “RENT.”
“It isn’t often that I get to play the love interest or the wild child. Maureen has always been one of my dream roles. Two weeks after being cast I was learning the music and lines thinking, ‘There’s no way I actually get to do this!’ It has been a challenge for me to not think of previous productions, but I think with every role you want to try to make it your own and memorable,” said McMonagle.
Not only are the actors and directors working hard to make this production come alive, but also the scene shop and costume shop are trying hard to live up to the expectations of what people know “RENT” to be.
“[The set] is without a doubt one of the biggest and most complex sets I’ve seen in my three and a half years being here,” said Prestly.
“The challenge with this show is that there is a strong stereotype of what “RENT” should be; I think the cast have not only paid tribute to the characters and honored Larson’s work, but have also made them deeper and more real. Vocally, I often forget that this is an academic performance as some numbers, in my opinion, sound better than the original Broadway recording,” said Ben Kern, Assistant Director of “RENT.”
In order for the actors and actresses to get what this show has accomplished throughout the years of its production, they began to research all the things that fans have said about RENT, along with watching the last Broadway production of RENT on DVD.
“‘RENT’ has the ability to change people. Early on in rehearsals, we watched a documentary on the show’s final performance on Broadway a few years ago. Hundreds of people came to the theater that day in hopes of getting a handful of rush tickets still available. And outside the theatre, there was a giant wall where fans could write whatever they wanted. There were people who wrote that ‘RENT’ changed their lives; that they were considering ending their lives but ‘RENT’ gave them hope. There was even a couple who met in the rush line of ‘RENT’ years ago and have been together ever since. The message is so powerful and speaks to everyone who sees it,” said Prestly.
Tickets are going fast, the Nov. 13, 14, 15, 20, and 21 shows are already sold out, leaving only two days with available tickets, Nov. 18 and 19.
