Review of 'Rent 20th Anniversary Tour' at the Palace Theater

Waterbury, CT - I guess I should have felt old attending 20th anniversary tour of ‘Rent’ at the magnificent Palace Theater in Waterbury. It was at least ten years ago that I had seen a touring company of Jonathan Larson’s masterpiece with my son in this very theatre; now that boy is 21 years old. Yet somehow, I did not feel old at all and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the tour that is reminding us that there is “no day but today” on the Palace Theater stage through Sunday, April 15.

The Saturday matinee audience contained theatre lovers of all ages, although the front two rows contained lots of young faces. Many obviously knew many of the lyrics, but the crowd was respectful of the performers and sang along quietly. That does not mean that they did not cheer when necessary and there was a standing ovation at the two curtain calls.

What I love about this show is the music of Mr. Larson that I know so well and with the voices of this cast and the talent of the musicians in the onstage orchestra, justice was done to the score. There seemed to be a few tweaks to the arrangements and a few costumes appeared to be updated without leaving the intended bohemian era. Maureen’s black catsuit included a short skirt and Mimi’s equally costumes included a lot of colored leather.

The grungy set was still there, minus the video monitors for Maureen’s performance piece, but what struck me about the visuals was the stellar lighting designed by Jonathan Spencer. From subtle to glaring, the actors were lit to perfection, adding much to the look of this piece. My companion and I felt that the sound was far too loud for a good chunk of the musical numbers, with the result being many lyrics were difficult to understand even for someone who had memorized them years ago while listening to the soundtrack. Kudos to the conductor Matthew DeMaria and his four musicians on their fine work.

The cast was composed of many talented and very young performers of many ethnicities. The ensemble blended perfectly on the iconic “Seasons of Love” that opens the second act (Alana Cauthen vocally knocked it out of the park as the soloist for my favorite song) and they performed beautifully whenever one of them stepped up to sing for a supporting role. Aaron Alcaraz, an Ithaca College graduate, spread the love in the role of the gentle Angel and Jasmine Easler did very well as the lawyer that is the on-and-off girlfriend of Maureen, Joanne Jefferson. Logan Farine from Pittsburgh, PA wore the black leather as songwriter Roger Davis. Sammy Ferber stepped out of the role of Gordon to wear the scarf of filmmaker Mark Cohen.

Marcus John was the now well-off Benny Coffin III and Lyndie Moe, who just completed her freshman year at Rider University, sported that black catsuit and easily mastered the mostly ridiculous performance piece with the cowbell. Josh Walker played the role of Tom Collins and brought tears to many eyes on the reprise of “I’ll Cover You.”

The standout for me was Paola Hernandez as the sexy but doomed Mimi Marquez. Ms. Hernandez was born and raised in Puerto Rico and is an alumna of Circle in the Square Theater School in NYC. This young woman can SING and brought the perfect amount of stage presence to the role; she looked pretty amazing in those costumes as well.

Tickets remain for the the Saturday evening performance and the Sunday matinee at 1:00pm. I highly recommend that ‘Rent’ lovers check out this tour that shines despite the grittiness of the set; and if you have never experienced this show (and it is an “experience,”) the anniversary tour is the perfect time to do so.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues and she posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theater Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417