Rent The Musical

“Rent is a show about living, not a show about living with,” says Paul Watson, director of the musical, Rent presented by Whitehorse Musical Theatre. The show, which since its debut release in the early ‘90s has gained much success including winning the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical, and achieving the remarkable feat of being the eighth longest running Broadway show in history.

From October 7 to October 17, the Besen Centre in Burwood will play host to Watson’s direction of the production, which stars Katie Wood, Daniel Benge, Leigh Barker, Zule Khan, Steve Simmons, Katie Weston and Christian Cavallo.

Based on Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, Rent was originally written by American composer and playwright Jonathan Larson, who unfortunately did not live to see the success his musical would become.

The show begins on Christmas Eve in New York’s East Village, and follows the lives of three bohemian couples, namely, Mimi and Roger, Collins and Angel, Joanne and Maureen, and finally, filmmaker Mark. Their lives are plagued by poverty, and we watch as they deal with coping with the impact of AIDS, and coming to terms with mortality, sexuality, drugs and paying the rent.

“It is a show that deals with making a lot of choices,” explains Watson, who five years ago played Mark in the National Theatre Production of Rent. As a performer in the musical, Mark recalls being drawn to the directorial role thus rendering this production a particularly exciting opportunity.

In regards to his directorial approach, he explains: “We tried to take a realistic yet conceptual approach to it, sort of almost like a drama class approach to it. It is a very stylised production, which I think the Broadway one was – a rock concert mixed with a Brechtian drama piece.”

Since the show is based on and inspired by bohemians, a lot of research was carried out to find out more about that particular lifestyle. “The word ‘frugal’ kept popping up a lot every time we were doing research – a lot of descriptions about bohemians were frugality and a sense of making do with what you got rather than having everything at your finger tips,” he explains. “We tried to bring that into the show.” As such, you’ll find that a lot of the props used on stage are intentionally used for multi-purposes. But it is one particular item on the set that speaks volumes about the approach and true heart of Watson’s Rent.

“We have an abstract Christmas tree that is all welded steel, which represents a lot of the abstract art and the abstract sculptures that you can see in New York’s East Village,” Watson explains. “To decorate the tree, what we have asked the cast to do is to bring an element of anything that is something that reminds them of someone that they have either lost or would like to remember or would like to dedicate their performance to, and we are hanging [those things] on the tree.” Amongst the ornaments you’ll find on the tree are a trenchcoat and a brooch, bringing a personal touch to the production.

This act of remembering the people we have lost goes back to Watson’s belief that Rent is a show about living not living with. The musical was written at a time just after the ‘80s and the scare campaigns surrounding the AIDS virus. And since several characters in Rent contract the virus, it is easy for the disease to quickly become the protagonist and overshadow the true of the production.

“It was written in a time when there was a lot of fear, but that is not the premise of the show,” Watson explains. “The premise of the show is trying to overcome adversity and trying to live, and the words, ‘no day but today’ ring really true – it is the last line that is sung in the show. The biggest words for me are life, love, connection – it is trying to focus on the positives out of the negatives, and trying to celebrate life rather than frown upon it.”

Despite the seemingly heavy and dark circumstances that each character in the show is put into, there is a sense of optimism and life that surrounds the musical. “It doesn’t matter what shape or size or it doesn’t matter about love between two men or love between two women, or love between a man and a woman – it is still love. And I think that is the real heart of the show, which is life is something that we all relate to regardless of what choices we make, and so everybody in the show, every character, every ensemble character is entirely relatable.”

Rent is playing at The Besen Centre in Burwood from October 7 to 17. Tickets are $42/$38/$30 on Mondays and you can book at 92626555 or rentatwhitehorse.com.au.