By Lia Wharton
Lia Wharton is a 9th grade student at Centereach High School, as part of the Career Exploration Program, where she is shadowing a day in the life of journalists here at The Messenger.
The musical RENT consists of deep topics such as AIDS, drugs, homelessness, sexuality and death. This heart wrenching musical was performed at Centereach High School on April 4 and April 5.
Although this musical covers such serious issues it is performed in a way that celebrates love and friendship, failure and success, and even with nothing you still have something to give.
The musical takes place in Lower East New York City, specifically Alphabet City, on Christmas Eve. Mark, Roger, Mimi, Angel, Tom (Collins), Maureen, Joanne, and finally Benny are the main characters seen throughout the story. These eight friends battle HIV, eviction, drug addiction, poverty, love, death, and breakups. The musical opens with Mark filming Roger playing his guitar, singing “Tune Up #1”, the first song of the show. Benny, their ex-roommate-turned-landlord, married into a rich family and owns the building. Benny gives them an ultimatum: vacate or pay last year’s rent. The rent money would go to build his “cyber-studio” and tries to coerce them by turning off their heat.
Maureen and Joanne planned a protest performance in order to stop his unfair eviction. Mimi, a young exotic dancer who lives in the same building, started flirting with the musician, Roger. Roger ignores her flirtatious comments due to the death of his girlfriend and his HIV-positive diagnosis. Tom Collins, Mark, and Roger’s old friend got expelled from M.I.T., so he traveled to Alphabet City in order to visit them. On his way to their apartment, he was brutally mugged. Angel, the street musician as well as a drag queen who is also HIV-positive, finds Tom and offers to help with his wounds. They find that they are both attracted to one another, later starting a relationship. They join the protest, which ends in a police riot. After the protest, the eight friends went to celebrate at the Life Café. In this scene, Roger sees Mimi take her HIV medication which gives them common ground of them both suffering from the same challenging disease. Maureen and Joanne break up and Benny locks everyone out of their apartments.
On New Years Eve, they break into their apartments and Mark finds a voicemail from a tabloid that is offering him money for his footage of the riot. Benny arrives soon after and announces that Mimi persuaded him (with her talents) to do away with the crew’s debt and allowed them to live in the building rent-free. Mimi denies this, and she and Roger make amends. Due to this stressful situation, Mimi finds comfort in her old drug habits.
Come Valentines Day, all of the couples in the musical are living together. Roger and Mimi, Joanne and Maureen, Collins and Angel. Roger grows jealous because of Mimi’s job which causes them to break up. Maureen and Joanne end their relationship because of bickering, yet again. Angel’s health deteriorates fast since he is HIV positive, which leads to their untimely death.
Months pass and Mark quits his tabloid job to finish the film he was working on; Roger and Mark move back in with each other. Roger finally finishes the “one perfect song” he’d been writing for so long, and Mimi goes missing. Maureen and Joanne find Mimi unconscious and unresponsive in an alleyway on account of an overdose. In his last efforts to save her life, Roger sings a song specially made for her and she miraculously awakes. She said that while she was unconscious, she was going towards the warm light, but Angel told her she wasn’t done living.
These talented actors grabbed the audience’s attention with their beautiful singing combined where their ability to absorb their characters’ personalities. Annie Paulino, who played Maureen Johnson, encapsulated the viewers with her impressive soprano vocals during the song, “Over the Moon.”
Zachary Atkinson, who played Roger Davis, sang love songs, ballads, jazz songs, and more genres than you could name beautifully and soulfully throughout the whole two-and-a-half-hour show.
Gavin Wahlen, who portrayed Mark Cohen, was perfectly suited for his role. He was the perfect Mark based on his beautiful voice and his entire persona, the way he embodied Mark was beautiful.
Shivam Mahadevan, who played Benny, did an amazing job at showing off the character being torn between his old friends and his new life.
Gloria Caracappa’s character, Mimi, consumed her. She sang and acted gracefully and emotionally during her moving performances.
Domenic Santora played Thomas B. Collins; he embodied his character’s essence and performed excellently.
Rowen Wills, or Angel, was hilarious and talented when he needed to be, but deep and passionate when it was called for.
Bee Werner, who played the final main character out of the eight, Joanne, captured the struggles of being in a relationship, as well as being evicted.
It was a beautifully executed performance by everyone in the cast.
And, of course, there are no small roles, Lily Lacey, Payton Bassett, Mason Pastore, Alanna O’Brien, and every other person in the ensemble, stage crew, all of the teachers who assisted, lighting and sound, the choreographer, the costume department, the makeup artists, and of course, the music and acting director, Mr. Hough.
