RENT on stage at the Paramount… Don’t miss it!

The audience was on their feet before the show ended. When the hoots and hollers eventually settled, I turned to my date and we smiled and simply shrugged in total awe. No words necessary. Simply in awe.

I could easily end this review now with, “Drop your plans and get tickets. RENT is playing at the Paramount and you’d be crazy to miss it. You have five days and the countdown has begun.”

However, if you need a little bit more encouragement I will offer a few highlights.

Joan Marcus, 2009

The rough industrial set provided a successful backdrop for the band of bohemian artists squatting in lower Manhattan circa the late 1980s. The love quarrels and triangles, junkie addictions, self identity crises, and the death of a friend lost to AIDS didn’t feel like dated pop culture themes. There was a timeless quality within each character and their role.

Friends of the original writer, Jonathan Larson said he poured everything he had into creating the work. It’s a culmination of his entire life as a penniless artist living in New York. The believable nature of each character is reflected in witty dialogue, clever banter, and sultry soulful solos. Unfortunately Larson died utterly unexpectedly just hours after the 1996 dress rehearsal without any notion that the show would go on to garner every major theatrical award, log over 5,000 performances on a 12-year Broadway run, and generate over a billion dollars in television and movie credits. RENT is the tragic gift Larson left behind for audiences around the globe to enjoy.

Two of the original cast members from RENT’s original Broadway run are in town, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. Both deliver impressive performances. Beyond these stellar characters my personal favorite was Justin Johnston as the vivacious and incredibly animated drag queen, Angel. However, my jaw actually dropped at Nicolette Hart’s first solo playing Maureen singing, “Over the Moon.” The list could go on but really… Words can’t do it justice. It’s an experience. Simply GO!

Shows continue at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (6/17/2009) and Thursday, 8:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. Saturday, and 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; $23-$63 (www.theparamount.com). Note: $20 rush tickets for seats in the first two rows are available at the Paramount box office starting 2 hours before each curtain, cash only, two per customer, while supplies last.