RENT
1:00 PM, Sat., 2/28
7:00 PM, Sun., 3/1
2:30 PM, Sat., 3/7
Severance Art Studio (1401 N. Wishon Ave.)
$12
RENT, School Edition
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
Directed by Daniel Chavez Jr.
Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer-prize winning Broadway musical is based loosely on Puccini’s
opera La Bohème. It follows a year in the lives of seven friends living the disappearing
Bohemian lifestyle in New York’s East Village. AIDS and both its physical and emotional
complications pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel. A talented young cast pours their heart and soul into amazing songs, including SEASONS OF LOVE and LA VIE BOHEME. Rent, School Edition, is thrilled to be part of the Rogue Festival, and performances will continue through March 15th.
California Arts Academy
Fresno, California, USA
www.calartsacademy.com
Genre: Musical Theater
Rating: PG-13 120 minutes
Mature language and subject matter,
No latecomers admitted
Filed under: 2/28 Saturday, 3/1 Sunday, 3/7 Saturday, Severance
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4 Responses to “RENT”
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* The Rogue celebrates the freedom of expression and we encourage you to review as many shows as you can catch at Rogue 2009. However, "flaming" (i.e. personal insults, name calling, etc) are not reviews and any such comments will be deleted.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
DADGUMMIT!
First the incredible negative…and when I have such passion about such a comment, I want to be sure to say it to the face(s) of the people involved, but there wasn’t time tonight, but know that I will take my chance to say this to them:
HIRE A FRICKING SOUND ENGINEER WHO UNDERSTANDS THEATRE AND SPACES.
in smaller letters: hire a lighting designer also.
The tickets for this show were $12 dollars. Charge us $15 and hire/rent whatever you need so we can consistently SEE and HEAR these fine young actors. Lower the volume of the band. Turn on mics on time. Focus your speakers. Give those poor kids better placed monitors. Get a decent board operator.
When there were sound issues for Rocky at Severence, I didn’t complain much…hey, these were adults and (hopefully) paid performers. For Rabbit Hole, these were adults, and it wasn’t so bad (or technically demanding).
But mess with one of my favorite shows and kids who worked their dang arses off?? No. NO! It’s a horrible dis-service to them and to the director.
Now, for the positives: WOW. These kids can sing and act and as I said, clearly busted their humps to make this show happen. Director Daniel Chavez found great local talent and stretched each and every one of them to their limit. I saw performances and heard singing that, by the end of tonight’s performance, had left these kids spent.
RENT is a very hard show to do, and I was concerned they were going to cut too much of the adult matter, but they were very true to Jonathan’s original vision (BOO for cutting away before the two boys kiss and cutting the two girls kissing. We get to see the boy/girl leads kiss a lot, and Fresno IS ready if you make it happen).
Luckily, the main leads proved early on that they could sing well and in-tune, so later when they got pitchy in parts I realized it was cuz they couldn’t hear the monitors of the band.
Oh, yeah, the band was AMAZING, almost all kids as well! While the sound was too loud, the actual playing was amazing. The unfortunate sound mix buried so many crucial lines of text, however.
I was really touched by the emotions showed by these kids (age 15-19), and had to stand and applaud them for allowing themselves and their talents to be stretched by Chavez. The Cal Arts Academy is taking over where Children’s Musical Theatreworks has dropped the ball since Joel left…daring choices and top top talent. But what I really appreciated were the solo singing opportunities given to each and every member of this cast, no matter the talent level…like I said, Chavez stretched them to the maximum of their abilities.
BIG kudos for tackling this production, huge rounds of applause for these amazing kids, especially the main leads, and my hat is WAY off to Daniel Chavez as director. Clearly he knows how to handle kids and bring the very best out of them.
Shame big portions of their work was lost to the technical side…but I hope that doesn’t get them down. Rest your voices, kids….and come back super strong next week.
MUST SEE for anyone, but get their early, this one sells out for sure.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:50 pm
ugh. sorry for my spelling errors…trying to eat and type at the same time before the next show!
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:31 pm
It’s great to know that Fresno has such talented young performers. The cast really went for it & delivered. Strong vocals by the principal characters - Roger, Mimi, Maureen, Benny, Tom, Angel, Marc & Joanne - & the ensemble. Although with the sound situation, some of the vocals did get lost (I saw Sunday’s performance). But sound issues aside, this is definitely as MUST SEE show!
My favorite song is “I’ll Cover You (Reprise)”. The actor playing Tom Collins was so involved in the moment, I got teary-eyed & chills. It was one of several wonderful moments this young cast executed whole-heartedly.
Thanks Cal Arts Academy for bringing us this show & showcasing a wonderful crop of young stars in the making.
March 2nd, 2009 at 7:44 pm
This show is a MUST SEE! The whole cast is very talented, and pours there soul into these deep songs. I was a little worried that the ‘School Edition’ would take away from the story line, but i was pleasantly suprised. Sometimes the sound wasn’t the best, but I don’t think it took away from the story line one bit. Great performances were given, especially the performances of ‘Joanne’, ‘Roger’, and ‘Angel’. Get your tickets now, this is a definite sell out!!!