No Day But Today

If you've been alive at any point over the past ten years, you've heard of RENT.

RENT is a rock-opera written by the late Jonathan Larson. The show is based on Puccini's, "La Boheme," and was one of the first shows on Broadway to feature gay, lesbian, and transgender characters. Its message is simple: Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. In other words; no day but today.

RENT has achieved enormous success since its debut off-Broadway, through its move to Broadway, and even still with its national and international tours. In November, 2005, RENT was adapted to a movie version, directed by Chris Columbus, and enjoyed enormous success, finding its way to the box office top-ten list for three consecutive weeks.

It is all too sad that the creator of RENT did not live to enjoy the fame and success of the show. At only 35 years old, Larson suffered a major aortic aneurysm and died unexpectedly on the night of January 25, 1996 - the night before RENT was to open its doors for the first time ever.

The RENT crusade has continued on, thanks in no small part to Jonathan's parents, Al and Nan Larson, as well as many other friends and family members.

The next leg of the RENT journey includes a "school version" which was recently released to only five theatre groups nationwide. Un-Common Theatre, which performs at the Orpheum Theatre in Foxboro, MA, was one of these groups.

“I saw RENT about ten years ago when it first opened, and my first thought was that I couldn’t wait until the rights were available so I could work with young actors on this show,” said director Christa Crewdson. “The cast has done a great job, and I’m very proud of them.”

The cast is diverse in their roots, spanning Hopedale, Roslindale, Boston, and Framingham, MA, and even Cranston, RI. They also span in ages, from 16 to 21.

The cast was very excited to be interviewed by Celebrities Defined, although I must admit on a personal note, I was much more excited than they were. A meet-and-greet with a RENT cast is something I have always wished for, and I was getting my wish on this day!

The cast filtered into the room designated for the interview. The last person to arrive was Brandon Grimes, who played Tom Collins. Upon entering the room, Grimes remarked that the gathering somewhat resembled that of the life-support meeting depicted in the show. It was later revealed that Grimes had performed with Un-Common before, most recently as the Cat in the production of Honk last summer.

When asked about the experience of performing in RENT, the cast was modest, but still very excited. One of the common threads throughout the actors was that they had each desired to make this show their very own. While they maintained the structural integrity of the show and the characters, this cast certainly brought very unique perspectives to the characters they played.

"I think it was intimidating, but it was our chance to make the show our own. We wanted to make it different; we didn't want it to be the Broadway replica," said Kevin Hanley, who played Roger Davis.

"It was definitely a challenge, but I was very excited to play Mark," David Mizzoni said of playing Mark Cohen. "I had seen it on Broadway twice, and I was very excited to make this role my own."

Many of the leads had not had much experience in musical theatre, which was surprising, considering their collectively remarkable performance. It seems they had been drawn in by the name of the show.

"I had never done musical theatre before, but I am planning on studying to become an actor at Emerson this fall," said Brittany Halls, the recent Boston-Latin graduate who played Maureen Johnson.

"I saw the auditions posted on a website, and I figured, why not? I had no summer plans for theatre," said Jake Zentis, who portrayed Angel Schunard.

Brittney Santoro, who portrayed Mimi Marquez, is no stranger to the stage. Although this is her first performance with Un-Common, Santoro has played Sandy in Grease at Cranston High School West. In fact, it was at Cranston West where she made friends with Mathieu Whitman, who pulled her into auditions for RENT.

Whitman has also been with Un-Common before. In fact, he has been with Un-Common for about eight years and is currently studying theatre at NYU. Whitman performed the role of Benjamin “Benny” Coffin, III. At first, seeing a Caucasian play the role of Benny, typically portrayed as African-American, may have made some patrons wary of his capability to perform such a role effectively. Not only did Whitman portray this role in a remarkably unique light, but I believe his portrayal of the character should be that to which all future performers playing Benny should look to when they are studying the character. Whitman also choreographed the show.

Kathleen Pierre, who portrayed Joanne Jefferson, at first claimed to never have participated in musical theatre, when Santoro pointed to her and stated boldly, “Yes you have! That counts!” Zentis confirmed, “If you can put it on the resume, then it counts!”

Choreographically, highlights included “Tango Maureen”, “Out Tonight” and “No Day But Today”, and of course, “La Vie Boheme”. Vocal highlights included, well, pretty much the entire show.

The cast seemed saddened that their endeavor with RENT was over, but they remained light-hearted, and each looked forward to their next theatrical endeavor.

Looking out into the audience on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, it was very clear that a new generation of RENTheads has emerged. The audience, primarily made up of an age group spanning from teenagers to twenty-somethings, knew every word to every song in the entire show. It was obvious that many were finding it difficult to remain still during the performance.

You can check out Un-Common Theatre Company’s website at www.uncommontheatre.com, or you can check out the website for the Orpheum Theatre at www.baycolonyproductions.com for upcoming events and shows.

Matthew Trowbridge
Reporting Journalist – Celebrities Defined

Special Thanks to Janice O’Brien for her revisions and support.