Rent Review

Last Sunday, Indian takeout sounded like an awesome idea. Normally my wife and I have a stack of coupons for $7 off a 2 dinner order for both Amar India and Jeet India. However, this time we couldn't find one that wasn't expired. Thankfully there's always one in the Dayton City Paper so I wondered around the strip mall Jeet is in until I found my coupon.

Anyways... while flipping through the paper I happened to see that Rent was being performed at the Playhouse South Community Theater. I had never seen Rent before and we didn't have any plans this weekend so my wife and I figured, what the hell!

The Venue: The theater was located in a building that looks like it used to be a high school but has been re-purposed into a community theater (and a preschool). The concessions were good and very inexpensive ($1 for drinks, 50 cents for popcorn). My biggest issue was there was too much interference/feedback from the microphones during the performance.

The Cast:

Sean Jones as Mark Cohen: I thought Jones did a good job playing Mark. The highlight was probably the Tango: Maureen, where I think Jones did a good job with the witty banter and dancing. At another point he did flub a line I believe, but recovered nicely. On the rating scale provided by the theater (1- Average, 2-Good, 3-Excellent) I'd give Jones a solid 2.

Bobby Mitchum as Roger: I enjoyed Mitchum's portrayal of Roger, however I can't pinpoint what stood out. Perhaps it was his voice... highlights include the duets with Mimi, Light My Candle and I Should Tell You. 2.

Jamal Caan as Tom Collins: For some reason I had a difficult time understanding Caan's Collins. He just seemed a little soft spoken. I thought he did a good job making the relationship between Collins and Angel seem real. 2.

Tina deAlderete as Mimi Marquez: The real standout of the show in my opinion. deAlderete's dance background really showed when she worked the stage during Out Tonight. Her facial expressions really drew me in and I thought her vocals were one of the best in the cast. 3.

Lindsay Sherman as Maureen: I'm torn on this one. Sherman did a great job with Maureen's protest speech. I thought she really nailed the slurping milk scene. And the mooing was hilarious. But... I wasn't a big fan of her voice. At times I think she was overpowering it. 2.

Kelly Campbell as Joanne: The duet with Sherman's Maureen was one of my least favorite parts of the show... the singing at times was so piercing it hurt my ears. However, Campbell did a fine job with Jones' Cohen during the Maureen Tango. 2.

Mike Embree as Angel: Angel seems like a character an actor can really work with and Embree was up to the challenge. The jumping on the table in the drag queen santa outfit was awesome. Embree's bio says he was in Cabaret and I'm going to assume he was the Emcee. I would have liked to have seen that. 3.

Ben Miller as Benny: I find it strange that in a show that is almost all song, this main character never got a chance to air out the pipes. Maybe that's the point as Benny was the bad guy who abandoned his artist friends. Anyways, there wasn't a lot to judge this performance on. 2.

Ensemble: Hard to match up the names with the various roles, but the actress playing Alexi Darling was funny in that role, the The Homeless Woman who told off Mark Cohen was good, and the big tall guy resembled the big tall guy in Doctor Horrible which has to be good for some bonus points. (Now there's an idea Playhouse South... do Dr. Horrible!)

Overall I enjoyed the show. I hope I wasn't too hard on the cast, but I was trying to give a fair and honest review. The majority of the ensemble songs were well done and I would recommend checking it out. The wonderful performances by deAlderete and Embree, the solid showings by Jones and Mitchum, the surreal performance by Sherman during the protest, and the relationships between the couples (Roger&Mimi, Angel&Tom, and Maureen&Joanne) more than make up for a few sound issues, a little difficulty understanding some of the actors, and a duet that didn't quite hit the right notes for me.